Leotaurus1975's video: La Esterella - Ich weiss es wird einmal ein Wunder gescheh n 1943 Rare with a French bonus

Please activate the HD function(1080p/720p) before watching the video or watch it with a larger type player (in 480p) This video features he Belgian (Flemish) singer La Esterella performing “Ich weiss, es wird einmal ein Wunder gescheh’n” – the famous Zarah Leander song from the 1942 wartime melodrama “Die grosse Liebe” – starring Leander, Viktor Staal, Paul Hörbiger and Grethe Weiser. This is an early recording by Esterella and as such is rare. Note that in the second part La Esterella sings lyrics which are different from Leander's version. The record is unfortunately in extremely bad condition and cracked. La Esterella started her career in the dark days of the Second World War, she became a household name in the 1950s. La Esterella born Esther Lambrechts in 1919, was discovered during a singing contest at the "Oud België" music hall in Antwerp in 1942.. She won second prize and her remarkable deep voice brought her to the attention of Charly Schleimovitz, her future husband and manager.... A few weeks later she won the finale of the singing contest with the beautiful French song "Dans mon coeur" (recorded by Danielle Darrieux and Lucienne Delyle). The similarity in voice to the very popular Swedish singer Zarah Leander was not lost on audiences and she was often introduced as the " Flemish Zarah Leander". She made her first recordings at Decca and Olympia. Her first recording was a Flemish language version of "Du darfst mir nie mehr rote Rosen schenken" a Zarah Leander song. She recorded in Flemish (Dutch) and French as well as some German songs . "...und wieder geht ein schöner Tag zu Ende", "Es geht alles vorüber" and (in the 1950’s) "Ich liebe die Sonne, den Mond und die Sterne" which was heard at the start and end in the 2001 documentary of her life. After the War she performed throughout Europe usually singing romantic or light classical songs. She was in Paris at the ABC with Chevalier and Piaf in 1946... According to Esterella Piaf said "Elle ne sera jamais une étoile de la chanson française" (She will never be a star of French chanson). To which Esterella replied "Je m'en fous. Alors je deviendrai une étoile internationale" (I couldn't care less. I will be an international star then). In 1948 she was the first Flemish artist ever to perform on BBC television. In 1953 she signed with the Philips record company which pushed her towards Dutch language songs. Her biggest hit was "O Lieve Vrouwe Toren" - in which she serenaded Antwerp's famous cathedral. It is for this song that she is still remembered today. In 1960 she retired from the spotlights to care for her sick huisband who died soon after. She then worked as a secretary for an English maritime company. After the death of her second husband she returned to the stage in the early 1980s and found the audience had not forgotten her. She recorded a few more songs and performed regularly on the stage and tv. She looked back on her career with fond memories and had a good sense of humour. She became known to much younger audiences due to a commercial she made for the Belgian telecom company Belgacom in which she sang "Pump up the jam". She was also frequently parodied (in a gentle manner) by Chris Van Den Durpel, a well known Flemish tv comedian... Her 90th birthday was a media event and Esterella returned to the spotlights one final time... She had been living in nursing home since 2008 and passed away in a hospital in Antwerp in 2011. La Esterella was not the only Belgian singer to record “Ich weiss, es wird einmal ein Wunder gescheh’n”. Lise Coliny recorded “Je sais qu’un jour” - a French language version for Decca with the Emile Deltour ochestra. An excerpt of this recording is presented at the end of the video. It is unfortunately in too bad a condition to be presented completely. In France the famous singer Lucienne Delyle recorded “Je sais qu’un jour” for Columbia. The video features a picture of La Esterella as well as cigarette cards pictures of Zarah Leander, sheet music and publicity regarding “Die grosse Liebe” – which was one of the most succesful German movies ever and a popular movie in occupied Belgium as well. Those familiar with the movie will notice that the magazine article features a picture of Hanna (Leander) and Paul’s (Viktor Staal) interrupted wedding. In this picture Leander wears a different hairstyle and dress than in the scene which was eventually featured in the movie. About the record Olympia C.2081 / mx. 16417 Brussels, 1942/43 Record in very bad condition. This record was recorded with an Nagaoka MP10 cartridge with 3,5 78rpm stylus.