La Esterella

Ke Riema and La Esterella

La Esterella (born May 7, 1919 in Antwerp as Esther Lambrechts; † April 11, 2011 ibid) was a Flemish singer . She gained fame primarily through the classic Oh! Lieve Vrouwetoren. Her deep voice was her trademark, due to which she was sometimes called the “Belgian Zarah Leander ”. La Esterella was the first Flemish artist to achieve international success.

Life

La Esterella first worked as a seamstress . She occasionally sang at parties and was discovered by the conductor Jacques Kluger. However, due to the lack of consent from her parents, she declined the offer to sing in his band. In 1940 she began to take part in singing competitions in the Antwerp Varieté Oud-België and was discovered by her future husband and manager Charly Schleimovitz. She began her career as a singer of popular and romantic songs as well as light classical music. Its ambitus was three and a half octaves.

During the Second World War , La Esterella was forced to perform in Germany, where she was called "the cannon". After the war she achieved her breakthrough and from 1948 to 1954 she played for six months a year in the theaters of the British seaside resorts. In 1948 she sang in the BBC's television studio , becoming the first Flemish singer to appear on television. In the same year, she also gained fame in other European countries, including France , Norway and Czechoslovakia , where she performed at least one song in each of the national languages.

In 1953 she was offered a recording contract with Philips Records . The company advised her to only sing in Dutch in the future. Your song “ Oh! Lieve Vrouwe toren ”from the same year was an instant success. By 1959 she achieved several hits. When her husband became seriously ill that year, she decided to cut back on her professional activities and appearances and finally ended her career after her husband's death in 1962.

La Esterella subsequently took up a job as a secretary and married Victor Van Buel († 1980) in 1970. After her retirement in 1982, she surprisingly accepted an offer from the radio presenter Jos Baudewijn to appear on his show “Varsh State Vrij” . She sang Frank Sinatra's Ol 'Man River and received such positive reactions that she decided to start her career again. However, she was unable to build on her earlier successes. Her last album "Liedjes die ik graag zong" was released in 1988. In later years she still recorded a few songs, including in 1995 with Coco Jr. In 2000, she worked with Alex Callier from the band Hooverphonic and Regi Penxten from Milk Inc. on the soundtrack for the Belgian film Shades .

La Esterella has appeared regularly in television programs ( Klasgenoten , 20 jaar Gaston en Leo , Gaston 80 ) and television films ( La Esterella, a diva , Steggerda plays Steggerda ) over the course of her career . In 2003 she had one last appearance in the short film " A Piece of Cake ".

In 2004 she presented the poem “ De kathedraal antwoordt ” with the poet Tom Lanoye . Occasionally, despite age-related health problems, she still appeared on large stages and completed TV appearances. She last sang on January 5, 2007 in the TV show gala Gaston 80 with Paul Michiels in a duet. In 2008 she fell ill and spent three months in a hospital. Subsequently, La Esterella was forced to move into a nursing home. She died on April 11, 2011 in a hospital in her hometown of Antwerp. With great public sympathy, they said goodbye to La Esterella in the Cathedral of Our Lady . Tom Lanoye praised it in his funeral speech as a " monument of Flemish folk culture ". She found her final resting place on April 18 in an honorary grave in the Schoonselhof cemetery .

Awards

In 2001 she received the “ Voor een Leven Vol Muziek ” award from Radio 2 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Flemish Music. As a further honor, La Esterella was accepted into the Leopold Order as an officer.

Discography

Singles (selection)

• And again a beautiful day comes to an end (1942/43)
• Avenue door jou (1952)
• Oh! Lieve Vrouwe gates (1953)
• For een kusje van jou (1953)
• Het lied van mijn hart (1953)
• Eeuwig (1953)
• Thanks (1953)
• All moeders (1954)
• In Ever Hard (1954)
• Kom bij mij (1954)
• 't Is zo goed (1954)
• Ave Maria (1955)
• Goedenacht ... dead tomorrow (1955)
• Zachtjes, zachtjes (1955)
• Mandolino (1955)
• Heden en verleden (1955)
• Weldra komt de dag (1955)
• Zonneschijn voor iedereen (1955)
• Arrivederci Roma (1956)
• La luna (1956)
• Refrein (1956)
• Ga hand in hand (1956)
• Bij het open vuur (1956)
• Het Lied van Lima (1957)
• Klimrozen bloeiden (1957)
• Verliefde ogen (1957)
• Steeds denk ik aan jou (1958)
• Maria's child (1958)
• Rozen vallen uit de hemel (1959)
• Liefdesvreugd, Randesleed (1959)
• Het liedje zonder woorden (1959)
• De dag dat ons kindje komt (1959)
• Mexicaans randeslied (1959)
• Zeg de waarheid (1960)
• Vieni, vieni, qui (1960)
• Carnaval in Madrid (1962)
• Heimwee (1984)
• Do you know what it means (1999)

Albums

• De gouden stem van La Esterella (1, 2 en 3) (1969, 1970 en 1971)
• The best of La Esterella (1974)
• Liedjes die ik steeds graag zong (1988)
• De levende legende (1989)
• The best of La Esterella (1997)
• Oh Lieve Vrouwe gates (2002)

Web links

• Official homepage (Dutch)
• Short biography with pictures on flandersinfo.be
• La Esterella in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Face of Flanders: La Esterella , flanderstoday.eu. April 20, 2011. Archived from the original on April 23, 2011 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  
2. ↑ Flemish icon: La Esterella is dead , flanderninfo.be. April 12, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   
3. ^ Antwerp buries La Esterella , flanderninfo.be. April 16, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.