Post by davidhr on Apr 12, 2011 12:27:59 GMT -5
Basically the only news of the past week revolves around the televised version of Lara’s concert in Armenia, made available on various sites on the web (the videos which aren't tainted reddish generally have the best audio). Actually, the last few songs from the concert were not shown, but considering the recordings from the audience, the only one we do not have access to is ‘J’ai besoin de parler’. Lara was in very fine form, voice strong, poised and full of comments to the (relatively non-responsive) audience. It got good reviews on the web, from fans who are clearly starved for ‘Lara-sightings’.
In lieu of new material (from France, at least), there has been a renewed effort by fans to relive some of Lara’s past TV shows. Good versions of ‘Vivement Dimanche’ from 1999 are now on youtube at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrn6Y9G6-sE
and
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMxXI3B0S-4
(there is an additional part of ‘Vivement Dimanche’ which has not yet been made available…).
Frequenstar (from 1998) can be found at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNHAFv2DAOI
Individual videos from "Faites la fête" and “Tout Lara Fabian” are also available (one can do a search on youtube).
Coincidentally, dovetailing again with what we are up to in the ‘biography of Lara’, ‘Vivement Dimanche’ was one of the shows that critics pointed to as evidence of Lara’s arrogance. However, there is no doubt that her voice was very strong in this period.
The French fan’s dissatisfaction with Lara’s lack of attention (to them) is growing. They have noted that Farfallina #20 is very much overdue, and in its place there is talk of a ‘virtual’ Farfallina but nothing has happened (nor is this overly desired, if it means no more hard copy). Fans have wondered exactly what they are getting for their 45 euros membership dues. There is no doubt that Lara’s focus is firmly elsewhere; with the prospect that the Mlle. Zhivago album/film will be her priority starting in the fall, and that it may not get any French release at all, by the end of the calendar year there may well be a wholesale abandonment of fan club subscriptions. Very little effort is being put into the website by Lara’s people (even less than usual, if that’s possible). The pure-Lara website has a poll they are conducting concerning all this; if you’re interested, it can be found at:
www.pure-lara.fr/index.php/actualites/165
(The questions are in French, but it’s possible one could answer in English or some other language.) The results will be transmitted to ‘Lara’s people’.
This coming week (next Tuesday, actually), Lara’s Canadian ‘best of’ CD, “Je me souviens”, is due to be released. She may, at least, provide a message to the Canadian media/public concerning it. What hasn’t been widely publicized is that Lara is also releasing another retrospective album at the same time – it is called “I Will Love Again”, and contains some 8 songs from her first English album. It is available as an import in Canada, e.g.,
www.amazon.ca/Will-Love-Aga-Lara-Fabian/dp/B00069NWG4/ref=sr_1_17?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1302624807&sr=1-17
‘Imported’ from where is the question. It is not available in the US (at least not on amazon.com), and it’s hard to believe it would be a French release (although it is available as an mp3 download there). BTW, neither in Canada nor France is Mlle. Zhivago available, only in the US (on amazon.com). If Lara is to be taken literally, it is about to get a much wider distribution.
Now for the next extract from the biography of Lara, pp. 85-93 (again a bit longer than usual so as to complete the whole section). This chapter (chapter 8) is concerned with Patrick Fiori. In the previous chapter it was noted that Lara said her depression during parts of 1999-2000 was not simply the result of the professional and personal criticisms from the media, it encompassed the ‘full spectrum of her life’. This undoubtedly included her relationship with Fiori.
**They originally met in 1997, introduced by Rick Allison, but were simply friends up until September 1998, the day of the ‘Stade de France’ with Johnny Hallyday, when Patrick declared his affection for her.
**The similarities in their lives made it seem as if fate had put them together as ‘sister souls’. They were the same age, both came from islands off the coast of southern Europe (Sicily and Corsica), both started singing as infants on their kitchen tables ( ), both worked in local clubs in their teens, both participated in the Eurovision contest (in different years) and both finished fourth. When a compilation disc was issued of the ‘hits of Eurovision’, it showed two photos – his and hers, and this was before they had even met! Both had their first albums financed by their fathers, including songs written for them by the same people, they each wrote songs with similar sounding names, and both participated in “Notre Dame de Paris” (Lara in the Disney cartoon version, Patrick in the musical comedy).
**What’s more they were extremely alike emotionally – proud, tempestuous, with strong love of family/clan, and interested in having children. (As it turned out, both ended up having children much later in life than either one wanted.)
**And of course their voices were quite similar, given the gender differences. When each saw the other sing for the first time, their remark was “he/she is a female/male version of me”.
**For the first half of 1999, they were the idealized romantic couple in an incendiary relationship, which they had tried to keep hidden to ‘give it time to grow’. But eventually it got out, and the paparazzi had a field day. Patrick was convinced that Lara was the women of his dreams, publicly saying that she was the one meant for him, calling her ‘his princess’. Lara was somewhat more circumspect, afraid to ‘jinx it’ publicly, but even she eventually went on record saying he was her soul mate and they would have children together.
**However, their professions intervened. Lara went to the US to work on her first English album, while Patrick was in Montreal and Paris. The reality was that even though the press crowned them the ‘first couple’ of French music, they were rarely seen together, because of their diverse schedules.
**Neither handled the separation well, but Lara especially was affected, not wanting to be alone. They would go 3 or 4 weeks apart, and then Lara would ‘jump on a plane’ to go find him. And she grew increasingly concerned about Patrick’s quite obvious appeal to women, being particularly incensed over a duet he did with Julie Zenatti. Their telephone calls eventually degenerated into ‘loud voices carrying over the words of love’.
**In January 2000, just before the release of her English album, Lara announced that their relationship was over. Lara had other relationships surrounding this one – Rick Allison for six years, then Walter Afanasieff, whom she had been seeing before Patrick, and then Sebastien Lorca immediately thereafter – but from a passionate point of view, this was the highpoint. [In an interview in Canada last year, Lara for the first time spoke about it, and said that it was important not to confuse passion with love…].
**For his part, Patrick Fiori doesn’t today acknowledge anything special about it, including the media frenzy. Following Lara he had an ~ 9 year relationship with Julie Zenatti, and has since married Ariane, with whom he now has a child. Nevertheless, on his second album, released after their breakup, several songs are included indicative of his pain (and perhaps to protect himself, he now says he is ‘impervious to love’).
One gets the impression that this was a case of two people too much alike for ‘the center to hold’. At least in Lara’s case, it doesn’t appear as if any other relationship has since been as all-consuming; maybe she doesn’t want it that way anymore.
Lara has nothing on her schedule publicly, and if she is not still in the ‘countries to the east’, perhaps she can catch up with her family life (although don’t be surprised if next week’s update finds that she went somewhere else, far afield ).
David
In lieu of new material (from France, at least), there has been a renewed effort by fans to relive some of Lara’s past TV shows. Good versions of ‘Vivement Dimanche’ from 1999 are now on youtube at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrn6Y9G6-sE
and
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMxXI3B0S-4
(there is an additional part of ‘Vivement Dimanche’ which has not yet been made available…).
Frequenstar (from 1998) can be found at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNHAFv2DAOI
Individual videos from "Faites la fête" and “Tout Lara Fabian” are also available (one can do a search on youtube).
Coincidentally, dovetailing again with what we are up to in the ‘biography of Lara’, ‘Vivement Dimanche’ was one of the shows that critics pointed to as evidence of Lara’s arrogance. However, there is no doubt that her voice was very strong in this period.
The French fan’s dissatisfaction with Lara’s lack of attention (to them) is growing. They have noted that Farfallina #20 is very much overdue, and in its place there is talk of a ‘virtual’ Farfallina but nothing has happened (nor is this overly desired, if it means no more hard copy). Fans have wondered exactly what they are getting for their 45 euros membership dues. There is no doubt that Lara’s focus is firmly elsewhere; with the prospect that the Mlle. Zhivago album/film will be her priority starting in the fall, and that it may not get any French release at all, by the end of the calendar year there may well be a wholesale abandonment of fan club subscriptions. Very little effort is being put into the website by Lara’s people (even less than usual, if that’s possible). The pure-Lara website has a poll they are conducting concerning all this; if you’re interested, it can be found at:
www.pure-lara.fr/index.php/actualites/165
(The questions are in French, but it’s possible one could answer in English or some other language.) The results will be transmitted to ‘Lara’s people’.
This coming week (next Tuesday, actually), Lara’s Canadian ‘best of’ CD, “Je me souviens”, is due to be released. She may, at least, provide a message to the Canadian media/public concerning it. What hasn’t been widely publicized is that Lara is also releasing another retrospective album at the same time – it is called “I Will Love Again”, and contains some 8 songs from her first English album. It is available as an import in Canada, e.g.,
www.amazon.ca/Will-Love-Aga-Lara-Fabian/dp/B00069NWG4/ref=sr_1_17?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1302624807&sr=1-17
‘Imported’ from where is the question. It is not available in the US (at least not on amazon.com), and it’s hard to believe it would be a French release (although it is available as an mp3 download there). BTW, neither in Canada nor France is Mlle. Zhivago available, only in the US (on amazon.com). If Lara is to be taken literally, it is about to get a much wider distribution.
Now for the next extract from the biography of Lara, pp. 85-93 (again a bit longer than usual so as to complete the whole section). This chapter (chapter 8) is concerned with Patrick Fiori. In the previous chapter it was noted that Lara said her depression during parts of 1999-2000 was not simply the result of the professional and personal criticisms from the media, it encompassed the ‘full spectrum of her life’. This undoubtedly included her relationship with Fiori.
**They originally met in 1997, introduced by Rick Allison, but were simply friends up until September 1998, the day of the ‘Stade de France’ with Johnny Hallyday, when Patrick declared his affection for her.
**The similarities in their lives made it seem as if fate had put them together as ‘sister souls’. They were the same age, both came from islands off the coast of southern Europe (Sicily and Corsica), both started singing as infants on their kitchen tables ( ), both worked in local clubs in their teens, both participated in the Eurovision contest (in different years) and both finished fourth. When a compilation disc was issued of the ‘hits of Eurovision’, it showed two photos – his and hers, and this was before they had even met! Both had their first albums financed by their fathers, including songs written for them by the same people, they each wrote songs with similar sounding names, and both participated in “Notre Dame de Paris” (Lara in the Disney cartoon version, Patrick in the musical comedy).
**What’s more they were extremely alike emotionally – proud, tempestuous, with strong love of family/clan, and interested in having children. (As it turned out, both ended up having children much later in life than either one wanted.)
**And of course their voices were quite similar, given the gender differences. When each saw the other sing for the first time, their remark was “he/she is a female/male version of me”.
**For the first half of 1999, they were the idealized romantic couple in an incendiary relationship, which they had tried to keep hidden to ‘give it time to grow’. But eventually it got out, and the paparazzi had a field day. Patrick was convinced that Lara was the women of his dreams, publicly saying that she was the one meant for him, calling her ‘his princess’. Lara was somewhat more circumspect, afraid to ‘jinx it’ publicly, but even she eventually went on record saying he was her soul mate and they would have children together.
**However, their professions intervened. Lara went to the US to work on her first English album, while Patrick was in Montreal and Paris. The reality was that even though the press crowned them the ‘first couple’ of French music, they were rarely seen together, because of their diverse schedules.
**Neither handled the separation well, but Lara especially was affected, not wanting to be alone. They would go 3 or 4 weeks apart, and then Lara would ‘jump on a plane’ to go find him. And she grew increasingly concerned about Patrick’s quite obvious appeal to women, being particularly incensed over a duet he did with Julie Zenatti. Their telephone calls eventually degenerated into ‘loud voices carrying over the words of love’.
**In January 2000, just before the release of her English album, Lara announced that their relationship was over. Lara had other relationships surrounding this one – Rick Allison for six years, then Walter Afanasieff, whom she had been seeing before Patrick, and then Sebastien Lorca immediately thereafter – but from a passionate point of view, this was the highpoint. [In an interview in Canada last year, Lara for the first time spoke about it, and said that it was important not to confuse passion with love…].
**For his part, Patrick Fiori doesn’t today acknowledge anything special about it, including the media frenzy. Following Lara he had an ~ 9 year relationship with Julie Zenatti, and has since married Ariane, with whom he now has a child. Nevertheless, on his second album, released after their breakup, several songs are included indicative of his pain (and perhaps to protect himself, he now says he is ‘impervious to love’).
One gets the impression that this was a case of two people too much alike for ‘the center to hold’. At least in Lara’s case, it doesn’t appear as if any other relationship has since been as all-consuming; maybe she doesn’t want it that way anymore.
Lara has nothing on her schedule publicly, and if she is not still in the ‘countries to the east’, perhaps she can catch up with her family life (although don’t be surprised if next week’s update finds that she went somewhere else, far afield ).
David