Alec Siniavine

Odessa, Ukraine

Alec Siniavine (real name Alexandre Siniavine), born May 4, 1906 in Odessa and died September 20, 1996 in Paris, was a French pianist, composer and conductor in the field of songs and variety music.

Siniavine grew up an orphan in Romania; as a child, he took piano lessons. At the age of 18, he attended the music conservatory in Bucharest and also took law courses at university. He made his first professional appearances in nightclubs and cabarets. He moved to Paris on a scholarship and first performed at Café Tabac Pigalle. He also played weddings and banquets. In the early 1930s, he had the opportunity to play on the ocean ships of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. In 1933/34, he worked in Monte-Carlo, where he met Germaine and Jean Sablon. Siniavine, now a French citizen, played with Django Reinhardt and André Ekyan in April 1934 during a first recording session with Jean Sablon: "Je Sais Que Vous sont Jolie", Columbia.

On behalf of the music publisher Raoul Breton, Siniavine composed the music for a song text by Louis Sauvat ("La Derniere Bergère", English version The Last Bergère). Jean Sablon then recorded "La Dernier Bergère", the recording session with Sablon and Reinhardt took place on January 7, 1935. Siniavine's "La Dernier Bergère" became a major success in Sablon's career. In the following years, he also worked with Edith Piaf, Jeanette MacDonald, André Claveau, Lucienne Delyle, Maurice Chevalier, Danielle Darrieux, Juliette Greco, Patachou, Paul Misraki (“Insensiblement”) and Fançois Deguelt. From the end of the 1930s, he performed with musical evenings in cabarets such as the Sporting d'été (1938), Carrère (1942 and 1947), the Ciro in Monte-Carlo, in Les Capucines in Paris (1946). In 1953, he opened his own nightclub with his friend André Claveau.

He also wrote a musical comedy with Jean Delettre (La belle saison) and the music for the show Version française, created in 1950 at the Théâtre de l'Arbalette in Paris (with Louis de Funès then unknown). His songs and compositions also include "J'ai Qu'a L'Regarder" (1943, with Edith Piaf), "Balançoire", "Poème d'Amour" (with Yves Allain), "Le Trottoir Aux Chansons" (with Henri Contet), "Une Nuit Mon Amour" (1949, text by Sergelys), "Lettre d'Ispahan", "Ce Jour Tant Expectu" (1960, with Charles Aznavour) "La Vagabonde" (with Jean de Lettraz and Jean Delettre) and “Les Dames De La Poste” (with Francis Blanche).