Customer Reviews

C'Etait Ici

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C'Etait Ici is an amazing recording of a live show that I wish I could have seen. If your knowledge of Yann Tiersen is limited to Amelie, this is the best CD for you to test the waters. A great 2 disc collection featuring some of the best vocal and instrumental pieces that are scattered throughout his other works. Songs that whisk you off to Paris, songs with lyrics that hit home, and songs that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Such as the vocal tracks from the uplifting Le Meridien, the "do what you gotta do song" Les Jours Tristes. Not to mention the impeccable Monochrome from the Le Phare album (I personally prefer the live version). Then there's the piano pieces like, Rue Des Cascades and Le Moulin, songs so amazing I can't even fathom that a human composed them. So basically you get a grand mix, huge orchestra instrumentals, quiet solo piano pieces, songs in French, songs in English, female vocals, Yann vocals... all magic.

How is it possible not to be taken away by the charm and power of this live by French composer Yann Tiersen. His unique style and sound, that some of you may have encountered on Amélie Poulain or Goodbye Lenin's soundtracks takes a whole new intensity when played live by the maestro and his guests.
This double live album, recorded in February of 2002 at La Cité de La Musique of Paris with the Synaxis Orchestra (directed by Guillaume Bourgogne) is the most poignant and heartfelt work in the whole of Tiersen's quality catalogue.
Of course, the guests, the "Tiersen Family" as many of them can also be found on his "Black Session" recording, bring a little extra grain of salt to Yann's music but, would all the tracks they're featured on be absent from this tracklist we have had the perfect display of the grace within Tiersen's music.

Beautiful music! Also very rocking and soulful. Enjoyed this composer in Amelie - however I feel in love w/ him for this album! Just saw him live last week. Even better.

I simply love these two CDs, I've been listening to them for a month in my car and they always manage to give me a peaceful feeling, I can't have enough of this music! I'm familiar with both French music in general and the movies (Amelie, Goodbye Lenin), but this is something I listen for itself, regardless the reason it was composed for.

I'm not a fan of live CDs and I'm even less of a fan of import CD prices. So please bear that in mind when I say this is one of the most fantastic music purchases I've ever made!

Like many non-French speaking people I was introduced to the music of Yann Tiersen through the film AMELIE. And after playing the film soundtrack a few hundred times I grew hungry for more Tiersen. I searched around, and this CD was the best choice I found to sample Tiersen's other music.

Basically you get a "best of' Tiersen's work on this 2 disc set. Some familiar tracks from the AMELIE soundtrack are present here, but several pieces that were instrumentals on the AMELIE soundtrack have vocal arrangements (some in English & some in French) on them here. Also, Tiersen does something I love in live shows--he segues beautifully from one song into another without being choppy or jarring. Absent from this live set is my biggest pet peeve of live CDs--the audience background noise. Thankfully the audience at this performance just lets Tiersen play his music, and man does he play! His passion is so visceral, so palpable that I could feel it through my speakers. And the most you can expect from good music is it makes you feel--that what Tiersen's music does on this CD.

And a quick note on the import price. I got it for $28 here on Amazon, and if you choose free s&h that breaks down to only $14 a CD, which is a bargain for the great music you're getting.

A must have for any Yann Tiersen fan.

Pues eso, que aunque el yann tiersen sea francés hay que reconocer que es muy buen músico.

lets just say i kiss the ground he walks on. Yann tiersen
never fails to amaze me. He is a gift from above, and
one of my goal in life is to watch him live!!!People...do yourself a favour and buy this cd.....