Renée Claude

Claude, Renée
Renée Claude (b Bélanger). Singer, stage actress, b Montreal 3 Jul 1939. Renée Claude studied piano at the École Vincent-d'Indy and took singing lessons with Alphonse Ledoux. In 1955 she won first prize in the program "Découvertes de Billy Munro" on CKVL (Verdun). In 1960 she made her first appearance on the CBC program "Chez Clémence," and began singing at the boîte à chansons in Quebec City. At the beginning she performed French songs, especially those of Léo Ferré and Georges Brassens. The first Canadian song she performed was "Ton Visage," written for her by Jean-Pierre Ferland. She was invited to appear on NBC TV's The Johnny Carson Show in May 1967 and later that year performed at Expo 67.

Singing Career
Claude's first recording success, Michel Conte's "Shippagan" (1967) was followed by Stéphane Venne's "C'est le début d'un temps nouveau," "Le Tour de la terre," and "C'est notre fête aujourd'hui." In 1968 Claude was awarded the Méritas trophy (best performer) in Montreal's (TV) Gala des artistes organized by the weekly magazine Radiomonde, and in June 1970, with Michel Conte's "Viens faire un tour," she won first prize in the "Concours de la Clé d'or," which led to the international competition "Chanson sur mesure."

Following a two-week engagement at the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 70 in Osaka, Claude returned to Canada to perform with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra at the Place des arts (PDA) in August. Her performance at the Variety Theatre of Moscow in 1971 was followed by appearances in several cities in the USSR, and she returned there the following year. She participated in the St-Jean-Baptiste celebrations on Mount Royal in 1975. In 1976 she sang at the Place des nations (Man and His World, Montreal), at Camp Fortune (Ottawa), and at the National Arts Centre. In Paris she appeared in the telecasts "Roger Pierre et Jean-Marc Thibault" (1971), "Spécial Québec" with Yvon Deschamps, André Gagnon, and Gilles Vigneault (1976), and "Numéro un... le Québec."

Renée Claude represented Canada at the 1966 Sopot Festival in Poland with "Tu es noire" by François Dompierre and Stéphane Venne; at the competition "Chansons sur mesure" in Paris in 1969 with the song "Le Geste" by Jacques Blanchet; at the 1970 Olympiades de la chanson in Athens; at the 1972 World Festival Onda Nueva in Caracas; and, as a guest, at the 1976 International Festival of French Song (Spa, Belgium).

She has given many recitals in Montreal at the Comédie-Canadienne, at the Patriote, at the PDA, at the St-Denis Theatre, at the Méridien Hotel's boîte à chansons and in Quebec City (at the Palais Montcalm, at Laval University and the Institut canadien, and at the Grand Théâtre). She has toured extensively in Quebec, Ontario, the US, and Europe. Among those who have composed music or lyrics for her songs are Jacqueline Barrette, Michel Conte, Marc Desjardins, Clémence Desrochers, François Dompierre, Jean Fugère, André Gagnon, Germain Gauthier, Mouffe, Luc Plamondon, Stéphane Venne, and the musicians of the Ville Émard Blues Band.

Theatre, Opera, TV, and Film
At the beginning of the 1980s, Renée premiered two theme shows, the first based on the work of Clémence Desrochers ("Moi, c'est Clémence que j'aime le mieux," 1980), the second based on George Brassens ("Georges Brassens, j'ai rendez-vous avec vous," 1981). In 1987, she appeared on stage with Claude Léveillée in "Partenaires dans le crime" at the Théâtre Arlequin in Montreal. She performed at the Festival de St-Malo in 1988 and at les Journées internationales Georges Brassens in Sète in 1989. She then appeared as Robertine Barry, journalist and patron of Émile Nelligan in the opera Nelligan by Michel Tremblay and André Gagnon. In 1991 she performed songs by Georges Brassens at the Paris Casino and in Milan. That year she performed for the first time in the theatre, in Marthe Mercure's Tu faisais comme un appel. She subsequently took part in the TV series "Avec un grand A," (Radio Québec) written by Jeannette Bertrand, and in 1998 appeared in the film C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux (Denise Filiatrault, director).

Awards and Recognition
Claude's natural elegance and her refined, tender, and sensuous voice have combined to make her an exceptional performer, especially of love songs. The Montreal boîte à chansons Le Patriote established a Renée-Claude trophy and awarded it to numerous performers between 1965 and 1972. In 1996 Claude was awarded the Prix Charles-Cros in Paris for her album On a marché sur l'amour. Renée Claude was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2009.

Discography
Renée Claude, vol 1. 1963. Sel S-398.024

Renée Claude, vol 2. 1964. Sel S-398.071

Renée Claude, vol 3 ("Il y eut un jour"). 1965. Sel SSP-24130

Renée Claude, vol 4. 1966. Sel SSP-24146

Renée Claude: Le Disque d'or. Sel S-398.150

Renée Claude "Shippagan". 1967. Col FS-673

Renée Claude. 1968. Barclay 80038

Le Tour de la terre. 1969. Barclay 80065

Le Début d'un temps nouveau. 1970. Barclay 80087

Tu trouveras la paix. 1971. Barclay 80116

Je reprends mon souffle. 1972. Barclay 80141

Ce soir je fais l'amour avec toi. 1973. Barclay 80177

Les Grands Succès, vol 1. 1973. Barclay 75008

Les Grands Succès, vol 2. 1975. Barclay 75018

Je suis une femme. 1975. Lon LFS-9012

L'Enamour/Le Désamour. 1976. Lon LFS-9019

Bonjour. 1979. Solset SOLT-1001

Moi c'est Clémence que j'aime le mieux. 1982. Pro-Culture PC-6016

Renée Claude. 1986. Groupe Marc Desjardins GMD-1302-04

Renée Claude chante Brassens. 1988. Groupe Marc Desjardins GMD-1303-05

J'ai rendez-vous avec vous. 1993. Transit TRMC-9018

On a marché sur l'amour. 1994. Transit TRMC-9109-10

Entre la terre et le soleil. 2006. Transit TRCD 9118/9

See also Discography for Chansonniers.

Author Benoît L'Herbier, Denise Ménard, Suzanne Thomas

Bibliography

Belleau, Massue. "Renée Claude: 'Je ne suis pas une fille triste'," Maclean's, Apr 1965

Brouillé, Jean-Louis. "Renée Claude en face de Renée Claude," L'Actualité, Nov 1970

"Two singers try to cross the pop music culture gap," Canadian Composer, 63, Oct 1971

Grégoire, Daniel. "Cette mystérieuse Renée Claude," Madame, vol 1, Sep 1974

Beaulieu, Pierre. "Renée Claude aux prises avec son image," Montreal La Presse, 23 Jun 1979

Links to Other Sites
Celebrating Women's Achievements
An extensive collection of biographies of women who have made substantial contributions to Canadian culture and society. Also offers teaching guides and reference sources. From Library and Archives Canada.

Governor General's appointments to the Order of Canada
Scroll down the page and click on the links to brief biographical notes of recent appointees to the Order of Canada. Click on "Find a Recipient" on the left side of the page to find previous recipients. From the website for the Governor General of Canada.