Post by davidhr on May 4, 2010 9:16:54 GMT -5
The program celebrating the life of Gregory LeMarchal has now been made available on the web, both Lara’s portion (on youtube and larafabiannews.com) and the complete show (on NABBOX). The comments from various singers concerned his talent, the purity of his voice, his ability to interpret songs, his openness as a person and his courage in battling cystic fibrosis, or as Lara put it, ‘singing without any lungs’. One subtext of the show was to try to convince the audience that he was being celebrated primarily for his talent, not for his ‘disease’, a distinction he felt strongly about. In a sense, the argument is premature; as he was only 24 when he died, we will never know what he could have become had he reached his full potential as a creative performer. But from all indications his character was certainly worth eulogizing, regardless of anything else.
For what was primarily a show of support for Gregory, Lara’s appearance provoked some negative responses on the official site forum. Her comments were complex, invoking symbolism as well as superlatives. Both of these aspects came in for criticism from fans who would like her to be more natural and understandable, and less extreme. Some fans see her behavior as a way of showing off; my impression is that Lara is always looking to find some greater meaning to provide when asked a simple question, and while this often appears out of place, her answers are interesting. She is also easily carried away by her enthusiasms –remember her comment during a Moscow concert that Jean Felix Lalanne was one of the greatest musicians the world has seen. After all these years she is not really going to change, but it would be nice if she could somehow gain more perspective.
As an aside, a friend of mine has cystic fibrosis. She is now in her early 40s (quite old for someone with this ailment) and is a well-known lawyer and activist involved in helping people get treatment and support from insurance companies. In talking with her about Gregory’s passing, she noted that it is often like that with this disease – a person can be well for some time, and then quickly expire. An article in connection with the program said he had entered the hospital hoping for a lung transplant, but that one was not available in time.
In a somewhat lighter vein, Nathalie on the official site confirmed that Lara will be presiding over the International Competition of Musical Comedy (singing, theatre and dance) to take place in June (the final is June 7th). You may remember that prizes for winners include a master class with Lara.
Clem on the official site forum provided the playlist for the children’s album of Thierry Gali, in which Lara recites the tale (in French) of ‘Snow White’. In one interview, Lara, commenting on the story, said she, too, would have eaten the poison apple, recognizing her own gullibility. The album originally scheduled to be released at the end of last year is now due out sometime this year.
In case you missed it, ‘Anonimuzz’ placed on youtube a video concerning Lara’s vocal range on her studio albums. It goes apparently from D3-C6, or just short of three octaves. Some of the responses noted that it has been even greater in her live concerts. The video also makes clear that over the course of the last 10+ years it has not decreased – Lara’s vocal exercises and the care she takes seem to have been successful. The video can be found at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGTlgu2qtec&aia=true
Other recent youtube videos of interest concern Lara as a young piano player, and Lara in the studio (3 parts) working on her first English album.
While Lara may be stimulating people in some parts of the world, as epitomized by the new Russian website, the French websites are falling by the wayside. “Lara et moi”, dormant for quite some time, has now given up its domain; “Carpe Diem” appears to be on life support, with few new messages; “larafabianweb.com has little activity. The greater openness displayed by the official site has undoubtedly contributed to this, but so probably are shifting interests and life situations of the people involved. Let’s hope that the newer websites have the staying power of these three long-term friends. As a different solution, LFIAG has practically abandoned its French website in favor of a facebook equivalent.
Lara still has no public appearances scheduled; the next item said to be coming up is the filming of the clips for Mme. Zhivago, rumored to be starting May 20th in the Ukraine.
David
For what was primarily a show of support for Gregory, Lara’s appearance provoked some negative responses on the official site forum. Her comments were complex, invoking symbolism as well as superlatives. Both of these aspects came in for criticism from fans who would like her to be more natural and understandable, and less extreme. Some fans see her behavior as a way of showing off; my impression is that Lara is always looking to find some greater meaning to provide when asked a simple question, and while this often appears out of place, her answers are interesting. She is also easily carried away by her enthusiasms –remember her comment during a Moscow concert that Jean Felix Lalanne was one of the greatest musicians the world has seen. After all these years she is not really going to change, but it would be nice if she could somehow gain more perspective.
As an aside, a friend of mine has cystic fibrosis. She is now in her early 40s (quite old for someone with this ailment) and is a well-known lawyer and activist involved in helping people get treatment and support from insurance companies. In talking with her about Gregory’s passing, she noted that it is often like that with this disease – a person can be well for some time, and then quickly expire. An article in connection with the program said he had entered the hospital hoping for a lung transplant, but that one was not available in time.
In a somewhat lighter vein, Nathalie on the official site confirmed that Lara will be presiding over the International Competition of Musical Comedy (singing, theatre and dance) to take place in June (the final is June 7th). You may remember that prizes for winners include a master class with Lara.
Clem on the official site forum provided the playlist for the children’s album of Thierry Gali, in which Lara recites the tale (in French) of ‘Snow White’. In one interview, Lara, commenting on the story, said she, too, would have eaten the poison apple, recognizing her own gullibility. The album originally scheduled to be released at the end of last year is now due out sometime this year.
In case you missed it, ‘Anonimuzz’ placed on youtube a video concerning Lara’s vocal range on her studio albums. It goes apparently from D3-C6, or just short of three octaves. Some of the responses noted that it has been even greater in her live concerts. The video also makes clear that over the course of the last 10+ years it has not decreased – Lara’s vocal exercises and the care she takes seem to have been successful. The video can be found at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGTlgu2qtec&aia=true
Other recent youtube videos of interest concern Lara as a young piano player, and Lara in the studio (3 parts) working on her first English album.
While Lara may be stimulating people in some parts of the world, as epitomized by the new Russian website, the French websites are falling by the wayside. “Lara et moi”, dormant for quite some time, has now given up its domain; “Carpe Diem” appears to be on life support, with few new messages; “larafabianweb.com has little activity. The greater openness displayed by the official site has undoubtedly contributed to this, but so probably are shifting interests and life situations of the people involved. Let’s hope that the newer websites have the staying power of these three long-term friends. As a different solution, LFIAG has practically abandoned its French website in favor of a facebook equivalent.
Lara still has no public appearances scheduled; the next item said to be coming up is the filming of the clips for Mme. Zhivago, rumored to be starting May 20th in the Ukraine.
David