La Vie en Rose – the night Christine Huvos lived it
Thursday 30 November 2017
This was the evening
that Christine Huvos Federspiel always hoped she’d celebrate – an occasion to
sing on stage some of her favourite chansons and standards in front of an
audience of her friends and members of the public. Thanks to her husband, the
well-known Zurich GP Dr. Urs Federspiel, on Thursday 30 November 2017 she was
at last able to realise her ambition – and in what style! In a collaboration
with the Pepe Lienhard Big Band and
to the benefit of the hospital support charity
Lebensfreude, Christine took to the stage of the famous Zurich Volkshaus to sing many of her favourite songs on
the occasion of her 60th birthday. And thanks to advice from Pepe and
support from a dedicated group of backstage workers, on a very snowy night she
succeeded in raising the roof.
Stylish songstress
The program consisted
of big band standards and swing
numbers from the 18-strong Pepe Lienhard outfit interspersed with vocal classics
in the style of Hollywood, Piaf and Christine’s own inimitable style. Thanks to
help from her dresser and stylist Susann Melzer, Christine graced the stage in
three glittery dresses in gold, red and black, together with a number of
suitable props. Her voice was on strong form tonight as she managed to avoid
all the seasonal coughs and colds plaguing some audience members. She never put
a foot, or a note, wrong. And Christine’s formidable language skills once again
stood her in good stead as she performed Mack
the Knife, Petite Fleur and Big Spender with equal grace and ease. The Zurich-based
band accompanied Christine with appropriately subtle and supportive brass
sounds, enhanced by solos on clarinet, saxophone and piano.
Master of ceremonies Röbi Koller ensured that the program
ran smoothly, and he also quizzed our favourite diva about her background – how
did she come to be at ease in so many languages? She explained that she was
born in the US, grew up in Vienna, studied in America and in Paris, and taught
in international schools before settling down to enjoy her life in Zurich. She
could also have mentioned that for fifteen or more years she has been a leading
light in ZIWA, the Zurich International
Women’s Association, where she founded the On Stage group, and now runs a
French Conversation group as well as participating in many other social
activities.
Wonderful big band
How the collaboration
with Pepe Lienhard for this event came about is unclear – maybe the wives know
something -, but the band certainly acquitted themselves wonderfully on this
iconic stage, where Lenin once spoke. They opened the show with a Count Basie
number, The Heat is On, followed up by I’ll Never Smile Again. Surely not true?
In between vocal sets, they performed such classics as Moonlight Serenade and In the Mood (remember the Glen Miller
Story?), Moanin’ featuring a trumpet solo, and Sing, Sing, Sing showcasing the
drums, and ending on an optimistic note with the World War II classic, We’ll
Meet Again. We also witnessed a brief
but touching moment when Christine’s husband Urs came on stage for a dance with
his talented wife; I’m sure that didn’t go unnoticed by the many of his
patients in the audience.Great support team
In order to achieve
this seamless performance, Christine owes thanks to a number of people: her
dresser Susann Melzer from MODISSA, dramatic advisor Isabelle Gutleben, stylists
Claudine Gablinger, Bettina Psora and Philippe Diaz, photographer Niklaus
Stauss, film-maker and long-time collaborator Eugen Schwyn, lighting operator Simon
Blum, Mary-Jane Parlett from the Arthur Murray Dance School and her brother Giuseppi Parlett, and practice assistants
Andrea Baumann and Melanie Nef. Not to forget rehearsal accompanist Csilla
Varga, and, very importantly, music arranger Carlo Schöb.
And with the eventual proceeds from the sale of
CDs, ticket sales, and any DVDs going to local
hospital charity Stiftung Lebensfreude, I’m quite sure that the evening
turned out to be everything that Christine had hoped for and more! She can
finally say with conviction ‘Non, je ne regrette
rien’.
Julia Newton. 8 December 2017.
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