It’s no laughing matter in the world of the musette. On Saturday, near Valenciennes, Christelle de Franceschi broke her own accordion world record by playing for eighty hours, 53 minutes and 28 seconds. A performance that she intends to have approved by Guinness world records in order to obtain the “The longest marathon playing accordion” certificate. Except that another star of this instrument also claims the record and it is undoubtedly a third who really holds it.
Since 2022, Christelle has reigned alone at the peak of her art, the accordion. If she is not the best known or the most virtuoso, she was nevertheless the one who could play this instrument the longest as her two Guinness certificates attest. With her latest performance, a non-stop concert between last Wednesday and Saturday, Christelle surely thought she was safe from competition. Military preparation, close supervision, scrupulously respected rules… All he has to do is “put together the file in order to obtain Guinness validation in a few months”, explains his team on Facebook.
The champion is not who you think
But the northern accordion boss, Michel Pruvot, risks breaking his dream. According to France 3, this seasoned musician, star of his own award-winning accordion show, is the world record holder. “I remain the holder of this world record for endurance on the accordion made in 1982 with 177 hours and 30 minutes, as evidenced by my diploma and the book published at the time,” he told our colleagues.
If Christelle shows off on Facebook his two official certificates, Michel draws a copy of his diploma as well as an extract from the Guinness book dating from 1985 proving his exploit at the time. So 20 Minutes did a little digging to find out who the real boss is. And we can already tell you that it is neither one nor the other. Indeed, a few years after Michel Pruvot’s feat, another Frenchman tackled the Everest of the accordion, Christian Dufant. In 1985, in Bourmont, in Haute-Marne, he played for more than 184 hours without stopping. His performance is also listed in the 1989 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. And let’s not forget Jean-Michel Guénichot who, in 2015, played the accordion for 265 hours non-stop in Pessac, in Gironde. His “world record” was validated by a bailiff but is not listed in Guinness.
So indeed, the Guinness Book of Records changed its name in 1999 to the Guinness World Records. But have the rules for registering records been changed? To find out for sure and give back to Christelle, Michel or Christian what belongs to them, 20 Minutes contacted the British company Guinness world records limited, which has not yet responded.