Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart

  12.01.2017 Magazine

As we bid farewell to 2016, I won’t lie. I’m happy to see the year come to an end. Apparently I’m not the only one who feels this way. While some are still mourning the legends of Anglophone culture who passed on – Alan Rickman, David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Gary Shandling, Mohammed Ali, Harper Lee – I’m here pining for the silky tenor of Wham! fame.

I didn’t give George, born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, my heart last Christmas, as goes the first line to his blockbuster holiday hit. I gave it to him in 1984 at the age of seven, when those melodic strains hit the airwaves. It was a first crush, on the first gorgeous Greek man I’d ever seen. Of course it certainly wasn’t the last Hellenic honey I’d fall for… after four years in the Saanenland I’m slightly embarrassed to say that number has increased exponentially.

Speaking of hearts, we’ve got a fantastic Profile interview this issue with Dr Beat Walpoth, the famed cardiac surgeon and Gstaad regular who spoke with us about his work on accidental hypothermia.

Tugging at our heart(strings) in late January, the Sommets Musicaux will feature Renaud Capuçon and Gil Shaham, as world’s best violinists make the region their home for a fortnight of festivities.

But as we prepare to ring in the New Year, I won’t let the death of my beloved George bring me down. This Christmas, I gave you my heart, just as I have for more than three decades. And when your heart gave out on 25 December, this tune of wistful heartbreak and regret was surely playing on some radio, somewhere in the world. It was your last Christmas, but my love for you will last a lifetime.

Happy New Year,

Alexis Munier

Editor in Chief


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