Customer Rating: 
Summary: Olympic heights
Comment: It is one thing to listen to old digitally remastered versions of Edith Piaf records, but quite another thing to hear live recordings of her actually performing. The songs on this CD are actually a collection of a variety of performances that Piaf gave at the famous Olympia Theatre. The songs on this CD are all very excellent and what really comes through is Piaf's sheer joy in performing. There are some amusing moments where Piaf struggles to remember a detail about a song which are charming as they doubtless were when she was performing. Her skill as an incomparable artist comes through at this CD. It is the overall excellence of this series of recordings and others that have contributed to the status of Piaf as a major artist of the 21st century.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Finest of Her Late Live Recordings
Comment: To the French, Edith Piaf is a source of great national pride, and continues to be an enduring icon nearly 50 years after her death. To Americans, she has unfairly been labeled by some as, "The French Judy Garland" more for the circumstances of their tragic life stories, their drug addiction, and the fact that both died at age 47, than because of any vocal similarity. Still, both were powerhouse singers of enormous strength and dramatic ability, especially for their uncanny ability to transform a song into heartfelt expressions of amazing intensity.
When it comes to Piaf, there are many different camps of opinion on the subject of her best recordings. I find that many fans who are fluent in French prefer her 1940's studio recordings to the more dramatic vocal beseeching of her live 1950's and early 1960's recordings, made shortly before her death. Conversely, her English speaking fans, many of whom understand little or no French, frequently prefer the later period, and the live recordings from that period in particular. I am among those who champion her late period, although lately I have found a new fascination for her earlier works.
As such, I believe there are few better introductions to Piaf than this collection, which contains my favorite versions of some of her biggest hits, in particular the songs Milord, C'est a Hambourg, Enfin L'Printemps, Padam...Padam, L'accordeoniste, Mon Manege a Moi, Bravo pour Le Clown, Hymne A L'Amour and Non Je Ne Regrette Rien. Piaf's voice was never stronger, and the appreciation of her audience (as heard in the abundant applause) never more heartfelt, than on these live tracks, all recorded at the Paris Olympia - her artistic home, and scene of some of her greatest triumphs during the last decade or so of her life.
There are also a few songs on this CD that I was previously unfamiliar with that I have also become quite fond of. Avec Ce Soleil and Mon Vieux Lucien (which has a rather bizarre false start that elicits quite a bit of laughter and applause) have added themselves to my list of Piaf favorites. And while I have one or two favorite live performances from the Olympia on vinyl that EMI has chosen to exclude from this recording, the list of my favorites is complete enough that I cannot hesitate to recommend this wonderful CD. I own about a dozen CD's of Piaf from various periods of her life; for me, this collection contains some of the most thrilling performances by this wonderful artist, a singer who had few equals in the 20th century.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Inconsistent sound, but one of the very best Piaf discs
Comment: Edith Piaf sang at the Olympia Theatre in Paris many times, making the venue so synonymous with her own name that eventually Jeff Buckely dreamed of playing there. EMI's AT THE PARIS OLYMPIA DISC contains material from five Piaf concerts from 1955, her first show there, until 1962, one of her last concerts, for a total of twenty tracks. These include truly stunning songs, such as the moving "Heureuse" and energetic "L'Accordeoniste", and fortunately there is only a few spots where Piaf sings in English, a style which alienates many fans.In contrast to the myriad budget Piaf compilations, it is clear that care has been taken with AT THE PARIS OLYMPIA. The sound quality is better than one would expect from 1950's live recordings. There are detailed liner notes written by one Ralph Harvey which discuss each concert and the sungs performed there, speaking frankly about Piaf's ill health and drug dependency in her final days. Unfortunately, this compilation from four separate sources means that the audio quality is inconsistent. The opening "Milord", dating from 1962, is clear and distinct, but 1961's "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien", for example, sounds flat and uninspiring (though from the applause, the audience present certainly enjoyed it). All in all, this is one of the best Piaf discs, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it. I feel it would also make a better introduction to her work than her studio albums or any of the low-quality compiliations which mix studio and live material.
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