Post by davidhr on May 10, 2011 10:41:34 GMT -5
Again a quiet week for Lara publicly, and therefore dominated by past recollections and upcoming events. The one current activity involves the sales of her ‘best of’ album in Canada, ‘Je me souviens’. It has dropped five places to 60th overall in the country, while in Quebec it moved from 18th to 11th (with very little publicity).
As noted in another thread, Lara’s duet with Michael Bolton of ‘The Prayer’ is now scheduled to be released with his album on June 21st. As there are only 12 songs in total, Lara should get good publicity out of it.
The listing of films to be shown at the Cannes film festival is available on their site. ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ is not on any of them. It’s always possible that there is a category not given on their website but, otherwise, either the film was not submitted or it wasn’t accepted. Neither would be a good sign for its eventual release, which was supposed to be this spring (now more than half-way through). And we know the album has not been released anywhere new in 2011 either. At least in that case, one has to believe it will eventually get a more widespread airing, if for no other reason than Igor Krutoi seems to think it is some of his finest work. As it is for Lara…indicated by their words on the CD itself (translated from the French, which had been translated from the Russian by 'ISA 45' on the official site forum) [note – this may have been made available previously, although I’m not sure where…]
“This new work is a meeting of two souls, lovers of music…Two souls, united for ever by an extraordinary voyage, point of departure for the creation. You can hear in each song my passion, my dreams, my strength and my joy that I have kept from my childhood. I hope that you all feel the depth of emotion that we have experienced during the work on this album. I don’t hide from you that my heart beats with a rapid rhythm at the idea that you will now discover our work…And here is Mademoiselle Zhivago. With my sincere sentiments, Lara."
“I am immensely happy that fate has permitted the realization of my great dream as a composer at the side of Lara, as a singer, poet and actress. While working on Mademoiselle Zhivago, we plunged ourselves into a phantom world that we have invented. New cities, new countries, different fates, love, separation, meetings, grief and joy. By creating this world, we have lived ourselves a part of the lives of these characters. Be welcome at our side, even for a moment, into this vast world where music and poetry reign. Listen! Igor Krutoi.â€
Lara’s upcoming 2011 Fall tour in Russia has been getting quite a bit of commentary on the Russian fan website. Their primary issue seems to be whether it is worthwhile to spend money to hear Lara lip-synch some of the songs; and whether doing so is her choice or is the demand of the production company. Either way, her acquiescence to it has reduced the fans opinion of her. When Lara said in Farfallina 20 that her 2010 Fall tour of the ‘countries to the east’ was the hardest one she has had to endure, perhaps this aspect was one of the contributing factors.
There have now been subtitles added to the videos of Rick Allison's comments about some of his songs with Lara. These can be found on youtube, or more conveniently, larafabian.news.com. As you can read them in full, here are just some impressions:
We’ve never really had it clarified how much of each of their joint songs Lara and Rick wrote, although we suspected that Rick was often the primary on the music, and Lara with the lyrics. That impression is reinforced by Rick’s discussion.
With respect to "Je t'aime": his comment that he had already written some of the words which he himself expected to sing (to his more recent girlfriend, Marie) accounts, as he notes, for the male allusions to a king, a rock star, etc. Of course Lara could have changed them, but perhaps she thought they properly represented the royalty and fame she was looking for in the examples. Rick's further comment that he had not spoken to Lara the 9 months previous illustrates that their personal breakup did have repercussions after all, even if professional interests ultimately encouraged their continual association.
With respect to "Tu es mon autre", it would be interesting to know what words Rick had originally written. Lara's reworking of them, according to Rick, seems to have always been with Maurane in mind. Another indication how far apart Lara and Rick now were - 6 years earlier she was calling him her "other".
Concerning the “Nue†tour, the fact that they did it without any insurance, while other acts were cancelling because of fears of 9/11 type disturbances, shows how much Lara really needed this tour – both personally and professionally. It also shows in her lyrics for “Nue†where, as Rick notes, she leaves herself quite open, apparently using it as a true cathartic.
Rick says that they were originally going to call that album ‘Immortelle’ but refrained from doing so given that Lara was already accused of being ‘excessive’. The title certainly would have fed the appetites of critics who felt she suffered from delusions of grandeur, but actually the lyrics seems to be her reach for someone to pull her to a level where all problems would be left behind - and ultimately the realization that she would have to do it herself.
Rick states that the music for ‘Adagio’ was ‘rediscovered’ and ‘rehabilitated’ after World War II, and that we now have no real understanding how much of the score is the original work of Albinoni from the 18th century. However, Wikipedia (not a completely unimpeachable source) now states that, “It has since been concluded that this work is entirely Giazotto's. Giazotto never produced the manuscript fragment [from a church sonata composed by Albinoni}, and since his death in 1998 no record of its ever having been among the collection of the Saxon State Library has been found. Based on this evidence (or lack of it), the scholarly consensus is that the piece is Giazotto's composition, whatever may have inspired him.†Hence the proper attribution of this work should really be Fabian, Allison and Pickell – lyrics; Giazotto – music (on the album it lists Albinoni).
And, continuing with the recollections, the next section from the biography of Lara, pp. 111-116, finishes the discussion of the 'American' experience:
**Following the South American trip, in November 2000 Lara released in the US and Germany an extended ‘single’, with ‘Love by Grace’ as the lead song, but also including I Will Love Again, To Love Again and Caruso from the PBS special. That same month she received the Felix in Quebec in the category “Artist being the most celebrated outside of Quebec in a language other than French.â€
**However, by January 2001, Sony made the decision that Lara would not make it big in the US, and gradually reduced their efforts. She sold only 200,000 copies of her album there, whereas they had in mind Celine Dion-type sales; in effect they concluded there was room for only one ‘Canadian’ ‘singer of voice’ in the market. Nevertheless, she continued the US promotion, however haphazardly, appearing on the Miss USA contest in March 2001, in a program watched by some 20 million viewers.
**That same month she made her famous trip to Brazil, spending 14 days in a country that was already primed for her, as “Love by Grace†was broadcast on one of the most popular dramatic sitcoms in the country (watched by 12 million followers in Brazil and Portugal). Due to this success she recorded “Meu grande amorâ€, the Portuguese version of ‘Si tu m’aimes/To Love Again’.
**Also in March, 2001: She appeared on her first TV show in Italy, singing the Italian version of Adagio; and she recorded “From Lara with Love†for the U.S. PBS network. This was not the end of the US promotion, as she showed up in New York for a production of “Miracle onf 34th St. where she performed with various US stars, including Michael Jackson, who said to her offstage ‘It feels like angels around you when you’re singing’.
**Ultimately the album will sell 2.5 million copies around the world, and go gold or platinum in many countries in Europe and Brazil.
Clearly, therefore, it was a great success, just not so much in the U.S. except for the performance of ‘I Will Love Again’ as a single. In subsequent interviews (not discussed in the book), Lara admitted she was turned off by the commercialism in America, and by the constant conflicts between Sony and Columbia over how to market her. In viewing herself as ‘European’, she appeared satisfied to appeal to that audience, so much so that as she has also admitted, she did not really throw herself into the American promotion (she said she left it too soon). As we know, she gave no full concerts in the US (even the PBS show was recorded in Montreal). She didn’t realize at the time that the ‘failure’ in America would brand the whole enterprise a failure, as interviewers continually referred to it. One can say that Lara did not want to ‘lower herself’ for the U.S. experience, but that would subsequently force her back into being primarily a ‘French’ singer, a label she is now once again, however fitfully, trying to break out of.
The Cannes film festival will take place over the next two weeks, and perhaps we’ll find out more about the release of the ‘Mademoiselle Zhivago’ film. If it were really to be exhibited there, one would presume Lara would show up. It doesn’t look as if things are going that way, but one can always hope!
David
As noted in another thread, Lara’s duet with Michael Bolton of ‘The Prayer’ is now scheduled to be released with his album on June 21st. As there are only 12 songs in total, Lara should get good publicity out of it.
The listing of films to be shown at the Cannes film festival is available on their site. ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ is not on any of them. It’s always possible that there is a category not given on their website but, otherwise, either the film was not submitted or it wasn’t accepted. Neither would be a good sign for its eventual release, which was supposed to be this spring (now more than half-way through). And we know the album has not been released anywhere new in 2011 either. At least in that case, one has to believe it will eventually get a more widespread airing, if for no other reason than Igor Krutoi seems to think it is some of his finest work. As it is for Lara…indicated by their words on the CD itself (translated from the French, which had been translated from the Russian by 'ISA 45' on the official site forum) [note – this may have been made available previously, although I’m not sure where…]
“This new work is a meeting of two souls, lovers of music…Two souls, united for ever by an extraordinary voyage, point of departure for the creation. You can hear in each song my passion, my dreams, my strength and my joy that I have kept from my childhood. I hope that you all feel the depth of emotion that we have experienced during the work on this album. I don’t hide from you that my heart beats with a rapid rhythm at the idea that you will now discover our work…And here is Mademoiselle Zhivago. With my sincere sentiments, Lara."
“I am immensely happy that fate has permitted the realization of my great dream as a composer at the side of Lara, as a singer, poet and actress. While working on Mademoiselle Zhivago, we plunged ourselves into a phantom world that we have invented. New cities, new countries, different fates, love, separation, meetings, grief and joy. By creating this world, we have lived ourselves a part of the lives of these characters. Be welcome at our side, even for a moment, into this vast world where music and poetry reign. Listen! Igor Krutoi.â€
Lara’s upcoming 2011 Fall tour in Russia has been getting quite a bit of commentary on the Russian fan website. Their primary issue seems to be whether it is worthwhile to spend money to hear Lara lip-synch some of the songs; and whether doing so is her choice or is the demand of the production company. Either way, her acquiescence to it has reduced the fans opinion of her. When Lara said in Farfallina 20 that her 2010 Fall tour of the ‘countries to the east’ was the hardest one she has had to endure, perhaps this aspect was one of the contributing factors.
There have now been subtitles added to the videos of Rick Allison's comments about some of his songs with Lara. These can be found on youtube, or more conveniently, larafabian.news.com. As you can read them in full, here are just some impressions:
We’ve never really had it clarified how much of each of their joint songs Lara and Rick wrote, although we suspected that Rick was often the primary on the music, and Lara with the lyrics. That impression is reinforced by Rick’s discussion.
With respect to "Je t'aime": his comment that he had already written some of the words which he himself expected to sing (to his more recent girlfriend, Marie) accounts, as he notes, for the male allusions to a king, a rock star, etc. Of course Lara could have changed them, but perhaps she thought they properly represented the royalty and fame she was looking for in the examples. Rick's further comment that he had not spoken to Lara the 9 months previous illustrates that their personal breakup did have repercussions after all, even if professional interests ultimately encouraged their continual association.
With respect to "Tu es mon autre", it would be interesting to know what words Rick had originally written. Lara's reworking of them, according to Rick, seems to have always been with Maurane in mind. Another indication how far apart Lara and Rick now were - 6 years earlier she was calling him her "other".
Concerning the “Nue†tour, the fact that they did it without any insurance, while other acts were cancelling because of fears of 9/11 type disturbances, shows how much Lara really needed this tour – both personally and professionally. It also shows in her lyrics for “Nue†where, as Rick notes, she leaves herself quite open, apparently using it as a true cathartic.
Rick says that they were originally going to call that album ‘Immortelle’ but refrained from doing so given that Lara was already accused of being ‘excessive’. The title certainly would have fed the appetites of critics who felt she suffered from delusions of grandeur, but actually the lyrics seems to be her reach for someone to pull her to a level where all problems would be left behind - and ultimately the realization that she would have to do it herself.
Rick states that the music for ‘Adagio’ was ‘rediscovered’ and ‘rehabilitated’ after World War II, and that we now have no real understanding how much of the score is the original work of Albinoni from the 18th century. However, Wikipedia (not a completely unimpeachable source) now states that, “It has since been concluded that this work is entirely Giazotto's. Giazotto never produced the manuscript fragment [from a church sonata composed by Albinoni}, and since his death in 1998 no record of its ever having been among the collection of the Saxon State Library has been found. Based on this evidence (or lack of it), the scholarly consensus is that the piece is Giazotto's composition, whatever may have inspired him.†Hence the proper attribution of this work should really be Fabian, Allison and Pickell – lyrics; Giazotto – music (on the album it lists Albinoni).
And, continuing with the recollections, the next section from the biography of Lara, pp. 111-116, finishes the discussion of the 'American' experience:
**Following the South American trip, in November 2000 Lara released in the US and Germany an extended ‘single’, with ‘Love by Grace’ as the lead song, but also including I Will Love Again, To Love Again and Caruso from the PBS special. That same month she received the Felix in Quebec in the category “Artist being the most celebrated outside of Quebec in a language other than French.â€
**However, by January 2001, Sony made the decision that Lara would not make it big in the US, and gradually reduced their efforts. She sold only 200,000 copies of her album there, whereas they had in mind Celine Dion-type sales; in effect they concluded there was room for only one ‘Canadian’ ‘singer of voice’ in the market. Nevertheless, she continued the US promotion, however haphazardly, appearing on the Miss USA contest in March 2001, in a program watched by some 20 million viewers.
**That same month she made her famous trip to Brazil, spending 14 days in a country that was already primed for her, as “Love by Grace†was broadcast on one of the most popular dramatic sitcoms in the country (watched by 12 million followers in Brazil and Portugal). Due to this success she recorded “Meu grande amorâ€, the Portuguese version of ‘Si tu m’aimes/To Love Again’.
**Also in March, 2001: She appeared on her first TV show in Italy, singing the Italian version of Adagio; and she recorded “From Lara with Love†for the U.S. PBS network. This was not the end of the US promotion, as she showed up in New York for a production of “Miracle onf 34th St. where she performed with various US stars, including Michael Jackson, who said to her offstage ‘It feels like angels around you when you’re singing’.
**Ultimately the album will sell 2.5 million copies around the world, and go gold or platinum in many countries in Europe and Brazil.
Clearly, therefore, it was a great success, just not so much in the U.S. except for the performance of ‘I Will Love Again’ as a single. In subsequent interviews (not discussed in the book), Lara admitted she was turned off by the commercialism in America, and by the constant conflicts between Sony and Columbia over how to market her. In viewing herself as ‘European’, she appeared satisfied to appeal to that audience, so much so that as she has also admitted, she did not really throw herself into the American promotion (she said she left it too soon). As we know, she gave no full concerts in the US (even the PBS show was recorded in Montreal). She didn’t realize at the time that the ‘failure’ in America would brand the whole enterprise a failure, as interviewers continually referred to it. One can say that Lara did not want to ‘lower herself’ for the U.S. experience, but that would subsequently force her back into being primarily a ‘French’ singer, a label she is now once again, however fitfully, trying to break out of.
The Cannes film festival will take place over the next two weeks, and perhaps we’ll find out more about the release of the ‘Mademoiselle Zhivago’ film. If it were really to be exhibited there, one would presume Lara would show up. It doesn’t look as if things are going that way, but one can always hope!
David
