The prince of operetta, the enchanter of an entire era, the representative of a genre that has almost disappeared. Francisco Lopez was born in the Basque Country, but after graduating as a dentist, he taught himself to play the piano, composing songs in his spare time. Demobilized in 1942, he frequented Parisian cabarets with his rugby buddies, making many acquaintances in the artistic world. André Dassary, a former singer with Ray Ventura, introduced him to Raymond Legrand, whose orchestra recorded four of his songs. This was the start of a success story that would be linked to that of his many interpreters, including Tino Rossi, Georges Guétary ("Robin des bois"), Suzy Delair ("Avec son tralala"), Maria Candido ("Rossignol de mes amours") and Maurice Chevalier. He also reunited with a Basque acquaintance, Mariano Gonzáles, the future Luis Mariano. In 1945, with Raymond Vincy's help, he wrote the operetta La Belle de Cadix for the Casino Montparnasse and offered the role to Mariano. The success was immediate, and remained so until the singer's death in 1970, thanks to the perfect match between the tenor's voice and Lopez's music, full of Spanish ballads and light refrains. Andalousie, Le Chanteur de Mexico, La Route fleurie and, of course, Violettes impériales are the operettas whose music remains the most famous of the 50 written by Lopez, and some of which were revived on the silver screen. But as time went by, the productions of the 70s and 80s lost their charm by plagiarizing themselves.
C. de G.
