Rina Ketty (1 March 1911 – 23 December 1996), whose real name was Cesarina Picchetto, was an Italian singer. She is best known for singing the legendary song "
J'attendrai
"J'attendrai" (French for "I will wait") is a popular French song first recorded by Rina Ketty in 1938. It became the big French song during World War II; a counterpart to Lale Andersen's " Lili Marlen" in Germany and Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Aga ...
," which became a huge hit during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and was appreciated by Allied soldiers and Axis soldiers alike (equalled only by
Lale Andersen
Lale Andersen (23 March 1905 – 29 August 1972) was a German chanson singer-songwriter born in Lehe (now part of Bremerhaven). She is best known for her interpretation of the song "Lili Marleen" in 1939, which by 1941 transcended the conflic ...
's "
Lili Marleen
"Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis powers, Axis and ...
" and, perhaps, by
Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 1917 – 18 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is Honorific nicknames in popular music, honorifically known ...
's "
We'll Meet Again
"We'll Meet Again" is a 1939 song by English singer Vera Lynn with music and lyrics composed and written by English songwriters Ross Parker and Hughie Charles. The song is one of the most famous of the Second World War era, resonating with ...
").
Early life
Often thought to have been born in
Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
, Cesarina Picchetto was actually born in
Sarzana
Sarzana (, ; ) is a town, ''comune'' (municipality) and former short-lived Catholic bishopric in the Province of La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. It is east of La Spezia, on the railway to Pisa, at the point where the railway to Parma diverges to the ...
, a small village in
Liguria
Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...
, on 1 March 1911. In the 1930s, she went to Paris to meet up with her aunts, where she became enthralled by the artist communities of
Montmartre
Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...
.
Career
Ketty began singing in 1934 in the
Lapin Agile
Lapin Agile is a famous Montmartre cabaret, at 22 Rue des Saules, 18th arrondissement of Paris, France.
History
The venue existed circa 1860 under the name Au rendez-vous des voleurs, meaning "Where the Thieves Meet". Some twenty years la ...
cabaret with songs by
Paul Delmet,
Gaston Couté
Gaston Couté (23 September 1880 – 28 June 1911) was a French poet and singer, known for his pacifist and anarchist texts.
Biography
Couté was the son of a miller and went to the lycée Pothier in Orléans, but left before taking the bacca ...
,
Théodore Botrel
Jean-Baptiste-Théodore-Marie Botrel (14 September 1868 – 28 July 1925) was a French singer-songwriter, poet and playwright. He is best known for his popular songs about his native Brittany, of which the most famous is ''La Paimpolaise''. Dur ...
, and
Yvette Guilbert
Yvette Guilbert (; born Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, 20 January 1865 – 3 February 1944) was a French cabaret singer and actress of the Belle Époque.
Biography
Emma Laure Esther Guilbert was born in Paris on 20 January 1865 to a modestly w ...
. In 1936, she recorded her first songs (on the French
Pathé Records
Pathé Records was an international record company and label and producer of phonographs, based in France, and active from the 1890s through the 1930s.
Early years
The Pathé record business was founded by brothers Charles and Émile Pathé, ...
label): "La Madone aux fleurs", "Près de Naples la jolie" and "Si tu reviens". None of these songs achieved wide acclaim.
Things changed for the better in 1938, when Ketty recorded the songs "Rien que mon coeur" — the French version of an Italian success song — and "Prière à la Madone." "Rien que mon coeur" won the acclaimed Grand Prix du Disque. Her name as a singer became well established with the song "Sombreros et mantilles," the text of which had been written by Chanty and the music by Jean Vaissade.
Also in 1938, Ketty recorded "
J'attendrai
"J'attendrai" (French for "I will wait") is a popular French song first recorded by Rina Ketty in 1938. It became the big French song during World War II; a counterpart to Lale Andersen's " Lili Marlen" in Germany and Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Aga ...
" ("I will wait"), a translation of the Italian song "Tornerai" (music by Dino Olivieri and text by Nino Rastelli). The song had been a huge hit for
Carlo Buti in Italy the year before. The text of the song, written in French by Louis Poterat, expresses the longing of many women anxiously awaiting the safe return of their sons and husbands from war. When released by
Pathé Records
Pathé Records was an international record company and label and producer of phonographs, based in France, and active from the 1890s through the 1930s.
Early years
The Pathé record business was founded by brothers Charles and Émile Pathé, ...
, Ketty's version of "J'attendrai" was immediately an enormous success, and later became an
emblem
An emblem is an abstract art, abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a monarch or saint.
Emblems vs. symbols
Although the words ''emblem'' and ''symbol'' ...
of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Several composers wrote songs for Ketty with her charming Italian accent in mind, including Paul Mirsaki (with his "Rendez-moi mon coeur," which was actually a reprise of "Sombreros et mantilles," but this time the text remained much closer to the Spanish original) and Jean Tranchant (with "Pourvu qu'on chante").
In 1939, Ketty ventured into classical music with the song "Mon coeur soupire," an adaptation of "Voi Che sapete" from
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
's ''
The Marriage of Figaro
''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienn ...
''.
Following the Nazi
Occupation of France
The Military Administration in France (; ) was an Military Administration (Nazi Germany), interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western French Third ...
, Ketty – due to her Italian upbringing – wanted to be viewed in public as little as possible during the conflict; she performed on stage only in Switzerland. Upon the
Liberation of France
The liberation of France () in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance.
Nazi Germany in ...
, she started out again, this time with a concert in the
Alhambra-Maurice Chevalier
The Alhambra-Maurice Chevalier was a music hall located at 50, rue de Malte in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. It opened on August 11, 1866, and after a long history, and many name changes, was finally demolished in 1967. When the theatre ori ...
theatre of Paris followed by a 5-month tour through the whole of France. However, she was unable to regain her pre-war fame.
Ketty was often described as an exotic and sentimental singer; in this
genre
Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
she was overtaken by
Gloria Lasso, who later in turn was overtaken by
Dalida
Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida (, ; ), was an Italian naturalized French singer and actress. Leading an international career, Dalida has sold over 140 million records worldwide. Some ...
(who even recorded a disco version of "J'attendrai").
Ketty's
repertoire
Repertory or repertoire () is the list or set of works a person or company is accustomed to performing. Whether the English or French spelling is used has no bearing, but it was the French word, with an accent on the first e, , that first took ho ...
was now enlarged with new songs such as "Sérénade argentine" (1948), "La Samba tarentelle," and "La Roulotte des gitans" (both 1950). She moved to Canada in 1954, and lived there some twelve years. In 1965, she again tried to achieve success with a tour through France, but to no avail.
Ketty performed her final concert in March 1996. She died in the Broussailles hospital of Cannes on 23 December 1996, aged 85.
Personal life
In 1938, Ketty married
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
player Jean Vaissade, who wrote the music to "Sombreros et mantilles." They divorced in 1940. Her second marriage was to Jo Harman, and together they started a restaurant in
Cannes
Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
.
Legacy
More than 75 years after its creation, the song of "J'attendrai" still brings fame to its performer, mostly for its appearance in ''
Das Boot
(; ) is a 1981 West Germany, West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer and Klaus Wennemann. An Film adaptation, adaptation of Lothar-Günthe ...
'', a now legendary German film directed by
Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. His international breakthrough was the 1981 war film (1981), which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Directo ...
.
Discography
* 1938 – ''Sombreros et mantilles''
* 1938 – ''J'attendrai''
* 1948 – ''Sérénade Argentine''
* 1950 – ''La Roulotte des gitans''
Bibliography
* Brunschwig, C.; Calvet, L.J & Klein, J. C. (1996): ''Cent ans des chanson française, 1880–1980''. Éditions du Seuil, Paris (, 978-2-020-6000-4 and 978-2-020-02915-5, OCLC 319774045) (http://worldcat.org/oclc/319774045&lang=fr))
* Lucini, G. (2014): ''Luci, lucciole e canzoni sotto il cielo di Parigi – Storie di chanteuses nella Francia del primo Novecento''. Segni e Parole, Novara, 160 p. ()
External links
Du Temps des Cerises aux Feuilles Mortes – Un site sur la chanson française de 1870 à 1945Rina Ketty Song lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ketty, Rina
1911 births
1996 deaths
Pathé-Marconi artists
People from Sarzana
Italian emigrants to France
French-language singers of Italy
20th-century French women singers