Whale mountain

Wal-Berg or Walberg , originally Voldemar Rosenberg , also Vladimir Walberg (born November 13, 1910 in Istanbul , † July 12, 1994 in Suresnes ) was a French composer and orchestra leader of light music. In particular, he is known as a film composer.

Wal-Berg had Russian roots. He studied piano at the Conservatory in Berlin, where he received a first prize, and composition, orchestral conducting and harmony at the Paris Conservatory. His teachers included Samuel Rousseau , Noël Gallon , Henri Rabaud , Philippe Gaubert and Pierre Monteux . He gave up his studies to become a pianist in the Boeuf sur le toit music cabaret in Paris.

From 1932 to 1936 he was responsible for orchestrations at the Polydor record company , including for Marlene Dietrich . From 1937 he held the same position at Pathé Marconi . He worked for leading singers of the time such as Jean Sablon , Joséphine Baker , Charles Trenet , Léo Marjane , Damia and began writing film music ( Katia von Maurice Tourneur with Danielle Darrieux ).

During the Second World War, in which he lost almost his entire family, he moved to Monte Carlo and organized concerts in which he combined popular music such as jazz (Cole Porter, George Gershwin, etc.) and classical music (Ravel, Debussy, Chabrier, Paganini, Bach chorales etc.). This resulted in a series of programs on ORTF , in which artists such as Yehudi Menuhin and Andrés Segovia appeared. Recordings and concerts were also made in this format. He made music with Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt (1951) and accompanied opera singers such as Victoria de los Ángeles , Mathé Altéry , Janine Micheau (1917–1976) and Mado Robin and solo artists such as the flautist Roger Bourdin and the violinist Christian Ferras .

In the 1950s he composed for Juliette Gréco . In the 1960s he released successful potpourri records on Barclay Records such as Ein Abend in Wien (Un soir à Vienne), An evening in the opera (Un soir à l'Opéra), An evening in Baghdad (Un soir à Bagdad), Soirée of the operetta ( Soirée d'Opérette ) and An evening in Moscow (Un soir à Moscou). He has also conducted operettas such as Bluebeard by Jacques Offenbach (Théâtre de Paris 1971) and Un Violon sur le Toit (Marigny 1971). There are also recordings of both pieces by him.

With the librettist Roger Fernay (1905–1983) he wrote the operetta Casanova (Nancy 1955), which was performed with great success in various French cities. In 1946 his Grand Jazz Symphony premiered. He composed around 300 symphonic pieces, including a concerto . He wrote the music for around 40 films and orchestrated the ballet by Charles Trenet Un Parisien à New York .

Filmography (selection)

• 1938: Katja, the uncrowned Empress (Katja)
• 1946: To little luck (Au petit bonheur)
• 1946: Adieu, Chérie
• 1946: As long as I live (Tant que je vivrai)
• 1948: After the storm
• 1951: Guilty (Coupable?)

Web links

• French biography in operetta
• Wal-Berg in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Wal-Berg at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information on Wal-Berg in the database of the Bibliothèque nationale de France .