As the title suggests, Andre van Duin's album "La Bohème" is inspired by the French chansons of Charles Aznavour. André personally translated 12 songs by the greatest chansonnier of all time, staying as true as possible to the original message while also giving them a contemporary twist. The idea for the album arose in 2020, when André performed a special version of "La Bohème" for presenter Matthijs Van Nieuwkerk during the final week of the television program "De Wereld Draait Door." It's therefore no surprise that Matthijs wrote the book's foreword. The book also includes interviews with André himself, producer Eric van Tijn, chanson expert Rob Kemps, and Boudewijn de Groot, who scored his first album with a translation of Aznavour. This song, "Een Meisje Van 16," translated by Lennaert Nijgh, also appears on the album, this time as a duet between Boudewijn and André. The book was written by music journalist Robert Haagsma, who also included two compelling biographies of both André and Charles Aznavour, as well as the stories behind the original songs. Following his previous album, "Van Duin Zingt Sonneveld," "La Bohème" is his second album entirely dedicated to the repertoire of a single artist.
