Post by davidhr on Apr 19, 2011 12:31:37 GMT -5
Lara’s marvelous adventure in the ‘countries to the east’ continued this past week in the form of a long interview shown on Ukrainian TV. It included visuals from various portions of her career and represents another step in introducing her to that audience. The interview was overdubbed in Ukrainian, but fortunately, “Blonde-Power” provided a translation (done by someone on the Russian site) of the essential points. The full comments are available at:
www.larafabian.com/forumLara/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11470&sid=5599218ef8d512be83c54ad975dd02e4
and the key points are summarized below:
**Lara likes black caviar with pancakes.
**Lara, (as we know) considers herself a ‘citizen of the world’ due to her various ‘homes’. Nevertheless, Italy is in her genes, and Montreal in her heart. France is too conservative for her, but she feels like an ‘adopted daughter’ of that country, and it has rewarded her with much success. She left for Canada at age 18 before she truly appreciated the importance of family. When she returned at 34, she realized what she had been missing.
** “And now Lara has one more chance to feel her roots through Igor Krutoi’s songs. Russia and Ukraine were not only new countries and audience but also a new opportunity to meet her own voice, it’s strength and expression, to give freedom to her voice without paying attention to what people were saying or judging.” Lara feels comfortable in the Ukraine because their emotions are similar to Italians.
**Lara’s goals are not to be famous or hobnob with the upper levels of society, but to be loved by the audience and her family.
**She doesn’t follow any particular religion but ‘communicates through prayer with God directly’, praying for others, not herself. She values the importance of meditation and visualizing one’s dreams.
**Her background has led her to believe in the power of women, but she likes men to be smart, strong, and have a sense of humor.
**She doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs, tries to get plenty of sleep, loves to be surrounded by nature (not the concrete jungle of Paris) and people with positive energy.
**She has made many mistakes in her professional career, she has wounded some people’s feelings, and has had to pay the consequences for her actions. Nevertheless, she wouldn’t change anything because even the mis-steps were part of her path, and represent who she really is.
The promotion in that country continues, as on April 23rd, the Ukrainian channel “Inter” will show Lara’s Russian concert, with Igor Krutoi. Presumably it is the same as what was shown on Russian TV back in December, and has since been occasionally available on the web or sold by Russian sites. Apparently it will be visible streamed at: inter.ua/uk/ as noted on the ‘Lara Fabian is Here’ facebook site. The time listed for it is ’12:40’, which presumably is local Ukrainian time.
Concerning Mllle. Zhivago, following the news conference at Cannes this past week, it doesn’t appear as if the “Mlle Zhivago” movie will be entered in the main category of films. However, fans have speculated that it could be in the ‘international village’ section where some 15-20 countries (including Russia and the Ukraine) can present their new films. This has yet to be verified. Alan Badoev says the film is finished, following a review by Lara, who asked for some changes that have now been incorporated. The album itself has dropped 5 places on the Russian charts, and is currently 12th.
A TV show in France discussing the 1990s in French music, in particular the rise of ‘singers of voice’, aired on Sunday. The advertisement for it pictured Lara, but it turns out she was on for only about 40 seconds. French fans used the occasion to assess Lara’s career since that time, and as usual, bemoaned the fact that her album sales are not commensurate with her ability, and they don’t see how that will change in the future (record sales in ‘countries to the east’ are generally quite low in number). Various explanations were offered, including one suggestion that it was basically not her fault, that people in France just got tired of ‘singers of voice’ in subsequent years. Yet what many of the other comments boil down to is the feeling that Lara is not temperamentally suited to maximize her commercial potential. As she noted in the Ukrainian interview, she has made what she considers “mistakes in her career”, which can often be traced back to her strong emotional stances and intrusions of her personal life. [Of course, that is part of the package - putting all her emotions into what she does is part of what makes her and her music so alluring.]
As in the last news update, this discussion dovetails perfectly with the section we’re up to in the biography of Lara. It is Chapter 9, entitled “Lara Attacks the World”, and this is from pp. 95-100:
**Lara was convinced to sign with Epic/Sony/Columbia by Tony Mottola, the president, who truly loved her sound. Lara and Rick had explored all of the major record companies but found that only he "truly understood who she was". [It turned out, he really didn’t!
]. This exploration started in 1997 – before Lara had even achieved stardom in France. She signed with them in October of that year, following a number of months of indecision and continual ‘courting’ on his part.
**She did not go with the obvious choice, ‘Universal-Polydor’, the distributor of her French albums because when she visited them, she felt they didn’t understand her musical intentions for the English album. It also left her greater latitude – she could release an English album, and then follow it up with a French album, without the traditional waiting period that one company would have demanded.
**Her interactions with Mottola were contentious. He tried to convert her into an American artist, saying that there is nothing on the radio in America that is remotely similar to what Lara normally did. She, on the other hand, thought that was a positive, was proud of what she considered her ‘European roots’, and didn’t want to change. Both of them gradually shifted their positions, Mottola coming to appreciate Lara’s emotional presentations, and Lara realizing that her musical horizons needed to be broadened. Ultimately, as we know, the English album included more of a pop sound, with American-type ballads.
**Lara simply would not sing the songs that he wanted, which boiled down to “taking a girl with a big voice and giving her some titles of grand signatures”. In particular, as is well-known, she refused to sing any of the 10 songs that Dianne Warren had written for her, even though personally they got along very well. Lara said, “The alchemy was never produced between her music and my manner of singing. She isn’t open to any collaboration.” In effect, Lara felt the music was “too American” for her own sensibilities, not to mention her European audience.
**Lara’s lyrics were somewhat mystifying to Mottola and the record company in general. Most American love songs, Lara felt, are direct, in the form of a dialogue, whereas hers were much more ‘poetic’. She said they only started to understand when they heard her sing them, with the emphasis she put in.
**Lara continually rejected the cover photos taken of her, and finally got her own photographer to take the picture that adorned the first English album. When she has said that her own mother didn’t recognize her on seeing what Columbia wanted, she wasn’t kidding – it actually happened. [However, the cover that was eventually used was not, IMHO, very advantageous for her.]
**Three of the songs were done with Pat Leonard (Yeliel, Giving Up on You, and A Part of Me) and they were a pleasure to create. Lara and Pat became the best of friends.
**Her work with Walter Afansieff, on ‘Broken Vow’ among others, was a different story. They were living together (for six months), and it was a tempestuous relationship, with him continually losing his temper. [As the book puts it, “The Sicilian meets the rigor and passion of this artist of Russian origin, and that makes sparks”.] She does feel he is the greatest musician she has ever witnessed, and was her ‘port of entry’ for American music. “Broken Vow”, her ‘preferred song’, even caused her father to shed tears. They wrote a number of other songs together that have never been recorded.
**Lara hit the nail on the head when she said that, unlike Celine Dion, she wasn’t some 18 year old with dreams of fairy tales and success in her eyes, when she approached the American market. Lara was a 27 year old, had already had success in Canada and was achieving it in France; she had her own ideas of who she was and what she wanted her audience to hear. [That was what Mottola did not understand, and is the reason why the armed forces prefer recruits under the age of 20….].
Today, ‘Je me souviens’, the Canadian version of Lara’s ‘best of’, is being released. A few articles have appeared in the press concerning it, basically just letting people know about its availability. We will see if there are any other promotional activities that Lara is part of in that country.
David
www.larafabian.com/forumLara/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11470&sid=5599218ef8d512be83c54ad975dd02e4
and the key points are summarized below:
**Lara likes black caviar with pancakes.
**Lara, (as we know) considers herself a ‘citizen of the world’ due to her various ‘homes’. Nevertheless, Italy is in her genes, and Montreal in her heart. France is too conservative for her, but she feels like an ‘adopted daughter’ of that country, and it has rewarded her with much success. She left for Canada at age 18 before she truly appreciated the importance of family. When she returned at 34, she realized what she had been missing.
** “And now Lara has one more chance to feel her roots through Igor Krutoi’s songs. Russia and Ukraine were not only new countries and audience but also a new opportunity to meet her own voice, it’s strength and expression, to give freedom to her voice without paying attention to what people were saying or judging.” Lara feels comfortable in the Ukraine because their emotions are similar to Italians.
**Lara’s goals are not to be famous or hobnob with the upper levels of society, but to be loved by the audience and her family.
**She doesn’t follow any particular religion but ‘communicates through prayer with God directly’, praying for others, not herself. She values the importance of meditation and visualizing one’s dreams.
**Her background has led her to believe in the power of women, but she likes men to be smart, strong, and have a sense of humor.
**She doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs, tries to get plenty of sleep, loves to be surrounded by nature (not the concrete jungle of Paris) and people with positive energy.
**She has made many mistakes in her professional career, she has wounded some people’s feelings, and has had to pay the consequences for her actions. Nevertheless, she wouldn’t change anything because even the mis-steps were part of her path, and represent who she really is.
The promotion in that country continues, as on April 23rd, the Ukrainian channel “Inter” will show Lara’s Russian concert, with Igor Krutoi. Presumably it is the same as what was shown on Russian TV back in December, and has since been occasionally available on the web or sold by Russian sites. Apparently it will be visible streamed at: inter.ua/uk/ as noted on the ‘Lara Fabian is Here’ facebook site. The time listed for it is ’12:40’, which presumably is local Ukrainian time.
Concerning Mllle. Zhivago, following the news conference at Cannes this past week, it doesn’t appear as if the “Mlle Zhivago” movie will be entered in the main category of films. However, fans have speculated that it could be in the ‘international village’ section where some 15-20 countries (including Russia and the Ukraine) can present their new films. This has yet to be verified. Alan Badoev says the film is finished, following a review by Lara, who asked for some changes that have now been incorporated. The album itself has dropped 5 places on the Russian charts, and is currently 12th.
A TV show in France discussing the 1990s in French music, in particular the rise of ‘singers of voice’, aired on Sunday. The advertisement for it pictured Lara, but it turns out she was on for only about 40 seconds. French fans used the occasion to assess Lara’s career since that time, and as usual, bemoaned the fact that her album sales are not commensurate with her ability, and they don’t see how that will change in the future (record sales in ‘countries to the east’ are generally quite low in number). Various explanations were offered, including one suggestion that it was basically not her fault, that people in France just got tired of ‘singers of voice’ in subsequent years. Yet what many of the other comments boil down to is the feeling that Lara is not temperamentally suited to maximize her commercial potential. As she noted in the Ukrainian interview, she has made what she considers “mistakes in her career”, which can often be traced back to her strong emotional stances and intrusions of her personal life. [Of course, that is part of the package - putting all her emotions into what she does is part of what makes her and her music so alluring.]
As in the last news update, this discussion dovetails perfectly with the section we’re up to in the biography of Lara. It is Chapter 9, entitled “Lara Attacks the World”, and this is from pp. 95-100:
**Lara was convinced to sign with Epic/Sony/Columbia by Tony Mottola, the president, who truly loved her sound. Lara and Rick had explored all of the major record companies but found that only he "truly understood who she was". [It turned out, he really didn’t!
]. This exploration started in 1997 – before Lara had even achieved stardom in France. She signed with them in October of that year, following a number of months of indecision and continual ‘courting’ on his part. **She did not go with the obvious choice, ‘Universal-Polydor’, the distributor of her French albums because when she visited them, she felt they didn’t understand her musical intentions for the English album. It also left her greater latitude – she could release an English album, and then follow it up with a French album, without the traditional waiting period that one company would have demanded.
**Her interactions with Mottola were contentious. He tried to convert her into an American artist, saying that there is nothing on the radio in America that is remotely similar to what Lara normally did. She, on the other hand, thought that was a positive, was proud of what she considered her ‘European roots’, and didn’t want to change. Both of them gradually shifted their positions, Mottola coming to appreciate Lara’s emotional presentations, and Lara realizing that her musical horizons needed to be broadened. Ultimately, as we know, the English album included more of a pop sound, with American-type ballads.
**Lara simply would not sing the songs that he wanted, which boiled down to “taking a girl with a big voice and giving her some titles of grand signatures”. In particular, as is well-known, she refused to sing any of the 10 songs that Dianne Warren had written for her, even though personally they got along very well. Lara said, “The alchemy was never produced between her music and my manner of singing. She isn’t open to any collaboration.” In effect, Lara felt the music was “too American” for her own sensibilities, not to mention her European audience.
**Lara’s lyrics were somewhat mystifying to Mottola and the record company in general. Most American love songs, Lara felt, are direct, in the form of a dialogue, whereas hers were much more ‘poetic’. She said they only started to understand when they heard her sing them, with the emphasis she put in.
**Lara continually rejected the cover photos taken of her, and finally got her own photographer to take the picture that adorned the first English album. When she has said that her own mother didn’t recognize her on seeing what Columbia wanted, she wasn’t kidding – it actually happened. [However, the cover that was eventually used was not, IMHO, very advantageous for her.]
**Three of the songs were done with Pat Leonard (Yeliel, Giving Up on You, and A Part of Me) and they were a pleasure to create. Lara and Pat became the best of friends.
**Her work with Walter Afansieff, on ‘Broken Vow’ among others, was a different story. They were living together (for six months), and it was a tempestuous relationship, with him continually losing his temper. [As the book puts it, “The Sicilian meets the rigor and passion of this artist of Russian origin, and that makes sparks”.] She does feel he is the greatest musician she has ever witnessed, and was her ‘port of entry’ for American music. “Broken Vow”, her ‘preferred song’, even caused her father to shed tears. They wrote a number of other songs together that have never been recorded.
**Lara hit the nail on the head when she said that, unlike Celine Dion, she wasn’t some 18 year old with dreams of fairy tales and success in her eyes, when she approached the American market. Lara was a 27 year old, had already had success in Canada and was achieving it in France; she had her own ideas of who she was and what she wanted her audience to hear. [That was what Mottola did not understand, and is the reason why the armed forces prefer recruits under the age of 20….].
Today, ‘Je me souviens’, the Canadian version of Lara’s ‘best of’, is being released. A few articles have appeared in the press concerning it, basically just letting people know about its availability. We will see if there are any other promotional activities that Lara is part of in that country.
David
