Paule Coudert

Les compilations sont souvent l'occasion de découvrir un artiste, et dans bien des cas, rassemblent quelques hits et des chansons mineures qui ne donnent pas envie d'aller au-delà. Le cas ne se pose pas pour Marie-Paule Belle dont le répertoire, phagocyté par le succès de « La Parisienne », gagne à être connu et parcouru d'album en album. Ce Best of permet de retrouver quelques perles des débuts, « Antonio Carlos Maria Brésil » (hommage à la bossa nova), « Quand nous serons amis », « Jersey Guernesey » ou « Je veux pleurer comme Soraya » et « Wolfgang et moi ».

Because of it's favored geographical situation, the city of Lyon, with it's four annual trade fairs, was the unchallenged economic capital of the kingdom of France during the Renaissance period: as Jean Delumeau has underlined: "we have provisionally numbered at 209 the societies of merchant bankers in France during sixteenth century, of which 169 were found in Lyons, and of these 143 were Italian". These rather rough figures nevertheless show us the role played by the strong Italian community which had settled in the town, even if it's representatives were not all merchants. It was in the field of music that the Italians contributed in making Lyons an artistic centre of prime importance. These Italians included the Milanese lutenist and merchant, Giovanni Paolo Paladino.