French singer Madeleine Lipszyc was from Jewish decent, and had to go in hiding during the German occupation, while her father was murdered in Auschwitz. The emotional scars of those events left her frail and in bad health the rest of her life. In the 70s she was discovered by the French songwriter Eddy Marnay, famous for writing for Edith Piaf, Frida Boccara and Celine Dion.
Calling herself Magdalith, she kept close to her interests: liturgical music between Christian and Jewish heritage. It is that crossing that struck me when I heard her the first time, on Immortelle Gregorien. When I wrote that more than a year ago, I didn’t know yet I was able to buy this.