This was stated by Madame Irene Mauriat, the widow of the famous French conductor and composer Paul Mauriat. This October and November, there were many disappointed people in Russia among those who came to the concerts of the widely publicized tour of the legendary Paul Mauriat's Grand Orchestra. Soon, a similar reaction awaits residents of the Baltic States.
"In fact," says Irene Mauriat, "it was Jean-Jacques Justafre's Grand Orchestra that performed in Russia and CIS. At some point in time, Jean-Jacques Justafre worked for Paul Mauriat's Orchestra. In their advertisements, the organizers of the tour pronounced the new conductor to be Paul Mauriat's apprentice and official successor, which does not correspond to reality. Paul Mauriat has collaborated with many musicians who worked for him. "The fact that Justafre was performing as a conductor in Paul Mauriat's Orchestra during the tour in Japan and South Korea in 2005, does not make him the successor," said Irene.
In China, the promoters went even further and called Jean-Jacques to be Paul Mauriat's son, which is certainly untrue. Most likely, the French Orchestra is being held hostage by the incompetence and greed of their foreign promoters, who decided to cash in on Paul Mauriat's name, which has long been respected as a top brand around the world. A number of Russian media outlets have advertised an Orchestra that no longer exists!
Jean-Jacques Justafre and his Grand Orchestra is touring the world. In December, 2010, there will be concerts in the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Then, there will be concerts in China at the turn of the year.
Musicians who used to work with Paul Mauriat were invited to the new Grand Orchestra exclusively for "Tribute to Paul Mauriat". In concerts, the Orchestra performs music from the repertoire of the former Orchestra, as well as the pieces selected by Jean-Jacques Justafre. Jean-Jacques Justafre is an artistic director of his own Orchestra. He makes all the musical arrangements himself, and the performance of his Orchestra in concerts is quite unlike that of the former Paul Mauriat's Orchestra.
Thus, Irene Mauriat would like to warn her husband's fans to make sure they do not feel cheated by attractive but misleading advertisements.
Read a Message given by Madame Mauriat, as well as an Interview given to Serge Elhaik.
Thanks to my friend Dmitry for supplying this information!
Fernando
