|
It
is
obvious
that
Olivier
Toussaint
is
a
very
busy
man,
better
say
he
is
a
very
busy
business-man.
Never
ask
him
his
job,
he
would
be
in
trouble
to
give
you
an
answer
straight
away.
As
a
matter
of
fact,
he
is
at
the
same
time
a
record
producer,
a
composer,
a
singer,
an
arranger,
a
globe-trotter
(have
a
look
at
his
passport!)
and
he
also
takes
care
of
several
artists
and
companies
management.
His
great-grand
father,
Gilbert
Duprez,
was
a
very
well
known
Opera
singer
under
the
2nd
Empire.
His
Father's
parents
met
at
the
Opera
:
they
were
both
singers.
"My
mother
is
an
excellent
pianist"
says
Olivier
Toussaint,
"She
performed
in
big
orchestras.
As
you
can
see,
since
I
was
a
kid,
classical
music
has
always
been
part
of
my
life:
many
artists
used
to
come
to
my
parents
to
play
piano,
violin
and
cello
for
hours.
Anyhow,
this
classical
music
background
didn't
really
fit
to
my
expectations,
I
was
much
more
carried
away
by
Jazz,
easy
listening
orchestras,
American
and
British
groups
such
as
The
Platters
or
The
Shadows,
solo
singers
such
as
Paul
Anka
and
of
course
in
1963
I
fell
in
love
with
The
Beatles......."
Olivier's
mother
wanted
him
to
go
to
University.
He
successfully
graduated
in
Sociology
and
Economic
Science.
But
degrees
didn't
prevent
him
to
take
part
as
lead-singer
in
several
groups
which
he
set
up
himself.
By
chance,
he
met
with
Paul
de
Senneville
with
whom
he
started
a
partnership
in
1968.
"At
that
time
Paul
de
Senneville
was
managing
Michel
Polnareff's
career.........
I
was
virtually
nothing."
"We
started
to
write
songs
together
and
rapidly
our
song-writing
team
got
well
known:
our
titles
were
recorded
by
major
French
singers
such
as
Michel
Polnareff,
Mireille
Matthieu,
Michèle
Torr,
Christophe,
Hervé
Vilard,
Dalida,
Petula
Clark
and
Claude
Francois.
All
in
all,
the
partnership
Paul
de
Senneville/
Olivier
Toussaint
as
songwriters
and
producers
totalizes
around
100
millions
of
records
sold
internationally.
 Pretty
soon
they
also
got
involved
in
Production
business:
they
started
up
the
group
"Pop
Concerto
Orchestra"
with
Olivier
Toussaint
as
lead
singer.
then
they
launched
a
second
Rock
'n'
Roll
group
"Anarchic
System."
Over
a
period
of
5
years
both
groups
sold
several
millions
of
records.
1975
is
the
major
breakthrough
for
Paul
de
Senneville
and
Olivier
Toussaint
with
the
triumph
of
"Dolannes
Melody"
which
launched
the
trumpet
player
Jean-Claude
Borelly.
A
year
later
they
discovered
Richard
Clayderman
an
established
him
as
the
top
French
record
seller
world-wide:
more
than
65
millions
of
LPs
sold.
Olivier
Toussaint
is
fascinated
by
foreign
cultures
and
languages:
during
his
numerous
trips
abroad
his
favourite
"hobby"
is
to
pick
up
as
many
words
as
possible,
this
way,
he
is
now
very
fluent
in
several
European
languages.
"I'd
rather
sing
in
Italian
or
English
than
in
French",
says
he.
Since
1978,
Olivier
Toussaint
found
it
essential
to
break
his
artists
abroad:
obviously
he
was
the
right
man
to
handle
the
situation.
Today,
30
people
work
in
Paul
de
Senneville
and
Olivier
Toussaint's
company
-
DELPHINE
RECORDS.
They
have
4
recording
studios
in
the
"hotel
particulier"
they
own
close
to
the
Champs
Elysées.
In
1983
with
the
title
"Eden
is
a
magic
world",
Olivier
Toussaint
got
No.1
in
the
charts
in
France,
Switzerland
and
Belgium.
"I've
worked
so
much
for
my
artists
that
I've
completely
forgotten
to
take
care
of
my
career.
Right
now
what
I
need
is
a
brilliant
manager!"
says
Olivier
Toussaint
with
a
smile.
"Actually,
singing
is
what
I
like
most."
Paul
de
Senneville
began
his
career
as
a
journalist
working
for
big
French
newspapers
such
as
"France
Soir"
and
"Paris-Presse",
then
he
became
a
TV
program
producer.
As
director
of
a
record
company,
Disc
AZ,
he
started
working
with
his
passion:
music.
Success
came
very
quickly
and
in
1976,
Paul
de
Senneville
set
up
his
own
record
company,
Delphine
Productions
(named
after
Paul's
first
daughter,
Delphine),
with
Olivier
Toussaint.
Delphine
in
one
of
the
leading
French
music
exporters
to
the
world
market.
It
is
also
the
only
company
specialising
in
instrumental
music.
Nowadays,
the
Delphine
group
represent
15
companies
dealing
with
various
activities:
an
advertising
film
and
clip
production
company,
an
agency
for
advertising
and
casting
actors
and
a
casting
agency
as
well
as
two
modeling
agencies
and
a
video
game
development
company:
Delphine
Software
International.
Paul
de
Senneville
is
a
very
famous
French
composer
and
has
worked
with
the
top
French
artists
such
as
Mireille
Mathieu,
Michel
Polnareff,
Dalida,
Claude
François...
He
composed
Richard
Clayderman's
first
success:
"Ballade
pour
Adeline"
(named
after
Paul's
second
daughter,
Adeline).
Since
then,
by
playing
Paul's
music,
Richard
Clayderman
has
become
the
French
artist
with
the
highest
record
sales
in
the
world.
100
millions
albums
have
been
sold
in
57
different
countries,
representing
290
Gold
records
and
90
Platinums.
Besides
music,
Paul's
hobbies
are
horse
racing
and
collecting
modern
paintings.
Jean
Baudlot
is
above
all
a
guitarist.
He
became
A&R
director
of
a
record
company
in
1974.
He
joined
Delphine
Productions
in
1979
as
A&R
director
and
collaborates
with
Paul
de
Senneville
on
several
compositions
for
Richard
Clayderman
and
Nicolas
de
Angelis.
In
1995
he
set
up
his
own
recording
studio
and
specialises
in
producing
jingles
for
TV
and
radio
commercials.
Gérald
Salesses
was
born
in
Toulouse,
in
the
South
of
France.
His
passion
for
piano
made
him
become,
at
a
very
young
age,
an
accompanist
for
various
French
singers
(Sylvie
Vartan
is
the
most
well-known).
Gérald
Salesses
quickly
turned
from
accompanist
to
arranger.
He
started
collaborating
with
Paul
de
Senneville
and
Olivier
Toussaint
in
1975.
Gérald
has
arranged
hundreds
of
recordings
for
Richard
Clayderman
and
Jean-Claude
Borelly
(Trumpeter).
Hervé
Roy
studied
in
the
National
Superior
Conservatory
of
Music
in
Paris
and
won
the
1st
prize
in
musical
theory,
harmony
and
counterpoint.
He
also
studied
piano
in
the
«Ecole
normale
de
musique
de
Paris»
(Grande
école
of
Music
of
Paris).
He
became
an
arranger
and
worked
for
a
large
number
of
French
artists
such
as:
Aznavour,
Sardou,
Hallyday,
Polnareff,
Vartan
and
Mathieu......
He
started
collaborating
with
Paul
de
Senneville
and
Olivier
Toussaint
in
1970
and
30
years
later
he
is
one
of
the
most
requested
arrangers
for
Delphine,
with
many
Richard
Clayderman,
Nicolas
de
Angelis,
Jean-Philippe
Audin
and
Jean-Claude
Borelly
tracks
to
his
credit.
1st
prize
winner
in
piano
at
the
Music
Conservatory
of
Paris,
he
became
an
expert
in
PRO-TOOL
computing
system.
He
has
arranged
numerous
of
Richard
Clayderman
recordings
as
well
as
producing
a
number
of
the
"Ocarina"
albums.
Bruno
Ribera
is
probably
among
the
3
best
French
saxophone
players,
and
is
also
an
arranger.
Paul
de
Senneville
and
Olivier
Toussaint
requires
his
talent
for
various
recordings.
Patrick
was
nicknamed
«Magic
Sigwalt»,
He
is
the
sound
engineer
of
the
Paul
de
Senneville
and
Olivier
Toussaint
team.
He
is
the
one
in
charge
of
all
the
Richard
Clayderman,
"Ocarina"
and
"Delphine
Artists"
sound
recordings
in
the
Delphine
studios.
©
2001
Delphine
Productions
Website
by
Gary
McCartney |
