Nana Mouskouri’s recording of “Plaisir d’amour” appeared on her 1971 album Comme un soleil. The track runs 3:22. It is one of the best-known modern readings of a song that is almost two centuries older than the record.
The song is a classical French love song written in 1784. The composer was Jean-Paul-Égide Martini (1741–1816). The text comes from a poem by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian (1755–1794), which appears in his novel Célestine. So Mouskouri was not the writer. She was one of many singers to take on a piece that was already a standard.
What the song is about
The song is a short, bittersweet story. A lover is abandoned for someone else, then finds that the new partner has been left in turn. The refrain sets a brief joy against a lifelong sorrow. The melody is gentle and unhurried, which makes the sadness feel quiet rather than dramatic.
Mouskouri’s version changes the point of view slightly. Her wording of the opening verse is not identical to Florian’s original, and that tweak places the singer inside the story from a different angle. The song stays a lament about promises that do not last.
The song in 1971
By 1971 Mouskouri was a major international voice, and she recorded in many languages. Comme un soleil is a French-language album. The song also appeared the same year on an English-market release, A Place in My Heart. It later turned up on compilations such as The Ultimate Collection in 2007.
The songbook edition of her version credits the arrangement to Alain Goraguer. It is written for voice and piano with guitar chords, in E-flat major. Her treatment suits the song’s age: it is restrained and puts her clear voice up front.
The song has also appeared in other settings of her career. Alexis Weissenberg, the pianist, accompanied her in it on the television programme Musique and Music, broadcast on 16 October 1977. That pairing of a pop-folk singer and a concert pianist fits a piece that has moved easily between the salon and popular music.
A song that kept being reinvented
The piece was a success from the start. Hector Berlioz arranged it for orchestra in 1859. Louis van Waefelghem arranged the tune for viola d’amore or viola and piano in the 1880s.
Recordings followed in the twentieth century, including:
- Yvonne Printemps, 1931, for His Master’s Voice
- Rina Ketty, 1939, with extended words
- Paul Robeson, 1940
Mouskouri’s recording sits in this line. It is not the earliest. A database of recordings lists Monsieur Fernand in 1902 as the first one it knows of. Other artists who later covered the song include Karrin Allyson and Paul Mauriat’s orchestra.
Where it stands now
Her version is still easy to find on streaming services. It is on Comme un soleil and on several compilations, among them Gold and Les 50 plus belles chansons de Nana Mouskouri. For anyone who reaches the song through her name, it is a good first step into a tune that has lasted well beyond its age.