CHARLES AZNAVOUR FLAVORS THE FAMILIAR WITH EMOTION

Charles Aznavour’s concert Thursday night at the Greek Theatre raised two possibilities: Either he is surrounded by parasitic friends, unfaithful lovers and bored wives, or the French simply aren’t happy unless they’re miserable.

Performing in a black shirt and pants that focused attention on his expressive face and hands, the veteran international performer sang a smoothly packaged program of the Angst -laden, but wittily edged songs that have been his stock in trade for the last 40 years.

Lacking the panache of his contemporary, Yves Montand, and the stark, wounded passion of Edith Piaf, Aznavour depended instead upon the perfectly turned phrase and precise gestures.

Backed by a five-piece, synthesizer-drenched ensemble and soprano vocalist, Aznavour gave a generous sampling of his old material as well as one strikingly good new song, “You Against Me.”

Unfortunately, he sang few songs in French. Among the best were “La boheme,” a tribute to a life style that used to be; “Mon amour, mon Judas,” with its attack upon hypocritical friends; “Mama,” a virtual case study in how important the proper rhyming of French vowels is to French songs, and “Isabel,” his classic and very humorous lights-out piece.

English versions of the poignant “Je n’ai pas vu le temps passer” (“I Didn’t See the Time Go By”) and the delightfully tongue-in-cheek “Bon anniversaire” (“Happy Anniversary”) lost a bit in translation.

Songs that have done well in the U.S. market--especially “Yesterday, When I Was Young”--were more successful.

But the truth is Aznavour has become so much of an international performer that his verbal language is secondary to his visual communication.