Télégramme à Yves Montand
The message is addressed to “Yves Montand, 26 rue de Berri, Paris” from the address “14 Fribourg en Breisgau 559,” and reads:
“ARRIVERAI EN VOITURE SAMEDI APRÈS-MIDI T'AIME = EDITH PIAF =”
In February 1944, fleeing the raids for compulsory labor service in Germany, Ivo Livi — who had taken the stage name Yves Montand in memory of his mother, who used to call him when he was playing in the street as a boy by shouting “Ivo, monta!” — arrived in Paris without papers, already celebrated as “the revelation of the year” at the Alcazar in Marseille. He secured a contract at the ABC, then at Bobino, and then, in early August, just before the Liberation, auditioned before Édith Piaf herself to become her opening act at the Moulin Rouge, the most prestigious cabaret in Paris: it was love at first sight.
“I was twenty-three. It was my first real love. Édith was someone who made you believe you were God, that you were irreplaceable. […] Song and music were constantly present. I discovered a world I had never known, a cultivated world: Cocteau, Michel Simon, Paul Meurisse…” On 5 October 1945, Montand appeared for the first time alone, top of the bill, at the Théâtre de l’Étoile in Paris. His success was immense — so great that he had to move to the Alhambra, three times larger. This success opened a rift with Édith, and a break became inevitable. Piaf decided to end the relationship on 30 October and sent him a letter announcing the end of their affair: “Yves […] this had to end between us one day, I had known for a long time that we were not made for each other […]. Forget me quickly and remain the great man that you are. […] I sign for the last time, Pupuce.”
Nevertheless, passion outweighed jealousy, and the two performers came together again for a fresh start at the end of the year, during the filming of Étoile sans lumière, which brought them together on screen for the first time. The film was released on 3 April, while Piaf was in Switzerland, in Fribourg, for a concert at the Livio. They decided to meet again upon her return, and on 18 April Piaf informed him of her imminent arrival. This would be their last reunion: rather than a reconciliation, it marked a final and definitive break, in May. Piaf then fell into the arms of Jean-Louis Jaubert, leader of the vocal group Les Compagnons de la Chanson, before meeting Marcel Cerdan in November 1947.