Post by davidhr on Jun 14, 2011 12:34:41 GMT -5
Another quiet week for Lara, publicly, however more information has become available concerning her future plans. In particular, the dates of her upcoming concert tour in Russia/Ukraine have been listed. Extending from September 25th through December 12, there are 29 scheduled performances, 23 of them in Russia. During that stretch, consistent with Lara's recent proclamation, she has several two week periods off to be with her family. To the best of my knowledge, this is the longest tour Lara has made outside of French speaking countries.
(In what must certainly rank as a first, Lara has listed these dates in the concert section on the English portion of her website - but not on the French one! She did not go to the effort to translate her latest message into English there, however, instead simply giving the French version. None of this seems to be logically thought out...).
Russian fans seem surprised at some of the concert venues, given the out-of-the-way and relatively small nature of the cities involved. Presumably there is a method here (although as suggested in the paragraph above, not necessarily). As we know from Lara's comments, the concerts will be acoustic in nature. Russian fans noted that the performances in the Kremlin on November 5th and 6th are again in the hall that seats 6000-7000, which is not particularly well-suited for acoustic presentations. Perhaps these will have more of an orchestral component.
The acoustic accompaniment does raise the question of how much of the 'Mlle Zhivago' album will be presented, as many of its songs seem to call out for fuller instrumentation. Also it will be much harder to lip-synch some of the songs in that format, as she has done so far. (Actually, it may be easier for her to sing the songs without the bigger instrumentation). 'Thythyl' on the official site forum reviewed which songs were done lip-synched; here are his comments (in translation), with the televised Moscow concert in mind:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
**there are many examples of lip-synching at this concert, perhaps only slightly less than in previous concerts that were not filmed (in Ukraine, for example ).
Songs like "Je t'aime", "Broken Vow", "I Guess I Loved You" and "Adagio" are live and have always been (normal, they are most familiar to the public and there are not the same arrangements as on studio versions, so difficult to cheat).
Then there are songs like "Russian Fairy Tale", "Mlle. Hyde", "Ever-Ever Land" and "Vocalize" which are live in the concert filmed in Moscow, but were not at the very first concerts of the tour.
And unfortunately: "Toccami", "Llora", "Desperate Housewives", "Lou", "Mr. President", "Mama" and the "Russian song" are lip-synched and always have been ... I can certify to you because I have very good memories of the studio versions which are exactly the same, not even minimal variations. This is simply impossible to replicate naturally given the flights that these songs have.
Only exceptions: "Demaine n'existe pas" and "Tomorrow is a Lie" have always been live during the concerts, it's a good thing
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The list of the lip-synched songs is curious. Understandably, "Llora" is quite difficult to sing (when the album first appeared, fans wondered whether she'd be able to perform it live), but some of the others are much easier, not noticeably different from the ones she really is singing. And her handling of "Adagio" suggests she should be able to deal with all of them. As suggested in earlier updates, the most egregious is "Mr. President", which has involved the use of children on stage in the deception.
In other news, in an interview with Pierre-Yves Duchesne, we learn a bit more about Lara's interactions with him and her part in the play '1939' coming up in two weeks. They first met when she and Gerard were introduced to him during the intermission of one of his concerts, by a musical comedy producer (Serge Tapierman). She had a small problem with her voice - he said it was really nothing, she is just such a perfectionist! But they noted that there were many points of overlap in their singing approaches, and Lara and he are now never far apart. She asked to be in the show, and plays a Jewish mother who hides her daughter away with a non-Jewish family. He describes her role as 'very strong'. And according to the 'Pure-Lara' facebook site, Lara in the show will sing the song 'Gisele'. Over 70 years later, a girl, also bearing the name Gisele, finds the trunk in which her mother was hidden during the war, and the mother, Lilly, tells her the story.
BTW, the Pure-Lara website offers some interesting downloads of early Lara material. For example, videos from 1994 and 1995 can be found at:
www.pure-lara.fr/index.php/medias/176-emissions-tv-1994
www.pure-lara.fr/index.php/medias/177-emissions-tv-1995
The latest issue of the AMTM magazine had a small article concerning Lara's appearance at the Daniel Collin photo exhibit last November. In it they say Lara is always there to support them, and that included appearing at this exhibit, which raised some 6,000 euros. The article with a few photos can be seen (thanks to angeyelliel) at:
img11.hostingpics.net/pics/770193P1070688.jpg
Now for the latest installment of the 'biography of Lara', pp. 138-144. This section is primarily concerned with the CD "Nue" and the accompanying tour.
**After her 'world tour', Lara was concerned that she had lost her French audience. Hence the strong desire to put out a new French album. [Maybe the same thing will happen after the Russian tour this fall...]
**She and Rick secluded themselves in his Montreal recording studio, and "without any stress", just worked continually on the album. Their goal: "her powerful voice, some simple and efficacious melodies, some very tight arrangements", so as to please the fans. [It worked. In polls "Nue" is often her most-preferred album. It didn't hurt that it is also her most emotional album, coming after the intense romantic and professional stresses].
**To some extent, Lara and Rick disagree on the genesis and meaning of "Tu es mon autre". As we heard recently, Rick said it was written by him for someone else, including some of the lyrics. Lara is quoted in the book as saying she and Rick "had written it a year and a half previously. It is a hymn to this relationship so particular that we have had for thirty years, to this force which ties us". They do agree that Lara had Maurane in mind to sing it with from the very beginning, saying "you might as well say to a man as to a woman that he or she is your 'other'."
**As to the 'piano nocturne' which closes the album: it was her idea to mix the 13 melodies of the album together in 16 minutes. Here are her comments (in translation) concerning Matt Herskowitz, who played it. "The kid sat there, he is 27 years old, he is a virtuoso. I wrote an arrangement to mix the songs, not strongly in the order of the album, and then he read it one time, he sat before the Steinway, with this great piece of wood, he said: "I'm going to do it all at once", and I told myself that finally he must be kidding, it isn't true! And then Matthew sat down, he played 15 minutes 48 seconds without stopping, it is what you heard there, it is that". That's why one hears the chair creak, the fingers on the keyboard. "One hears him sniff once if you pay attention".
**On the pocket of the album, Lara posed with an 'Attacus Atlas Butterfly of Malaysia', one of the biggest butterflies in the world. To Lara it possessed the symbol of the ephemeral and also immortal beauty. Also her grandmother called her 'Farfallina' which means small butterfly in Italian. So it also stood for her roots.
**As for the tour, we get a good idea from the DVD of it, although it also included a version of "Je t'appartiens" "straight out of a New York tavern", an homage to Johnny Hallyday with "Que je t'aime", and a version of "Comme ils disent".
**One thing that didn't work out (unrelated to "Nue"): Lara wanted to do a show which was '100% Brel'. The idea was initiated by her being asked to participate, for July 2002, in an edition of the Francofolies of Montreal dedicated to him. Her own show was to be done as a duet with Rick, and there was to be a tour throughout France and Belgium in 2003. However, it never happened (and again the book does not explore why...).
At the end of next week, the CD version of Lara's duet with Michael Bolton on 'The Prayer' should be released. It will be interesting to hear how it differs from the live one.
David
(In what must certainly rank as a first, Lara has listed these dates in the concert section on the English portion of her website - but not on the French one! She did not go to the effort to translate her latest message into English there, however, instead simply giving the French version. None of this seems to be logically thought out...).
Russian fans seem surprised at some of the concert venues, given the out-of-the-way and relatively small nature of the cities involved. Presumably there is a method here (although as suggested in the paragraph above, not necessarily). As we know from Lara's comments, the concerts will be acoustic in nature. Russian fans noted that the performances in the Kremlin on November 5th and 6th are again in the hall that seats 6000-7000, which is not particularly well-suited for acoustic presentations. Perhaps these will have more of an orchestral component.
The acoustic accompaniment does raise the question of how much of the 'Mlle Zhivago' album will be presented, as many of its songs seem to call out for fuller instrumentation. Also it will be much harder to lip-synch some of the songs in that format, as she has done so far. (Actually, it may be easier for her to sing the songs without the bigger instrumentation). 'Thythyl' on the official site forum reviewed which songs were done lip-synched; here are his comments (in translation), with the televised Moscow concert in mind:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
**there are many examples of lip-synching at this concert, perhaps only slightly less than in previous concerts that were not filmed (in Ukraine, for example ).
Songs like "Je t'aime", "Broken Vow", "I Guess I Loved You" and "Adagio" are live and have always been (normal, they are most familiar to the public and there are not the same arrangements as on studio versions, so difficult to cheat).
Then there are songs like "Russian Fairy Tale", "Mlle. Hyde", "Ever-Ever Land" and "Vocalize" which are live in the concert filmed in Moscow, but were not at the very first concerts of the tour.
And unfortunately: "Toccami", "Llora", "Desperate Housewives", "Lou", "Mr. President", "Mama" and the "Russian song" are lip-synched and always have been ... I can certify to you because I have very good memories of the studio versions which are exactly the same, not even minimal variations. This is simply impossible to replicate naturally given the flights that these songs have.
Only exceptions: "Demaine n'existe pas" and "Tomorrow is a Lie" have always been live during the concerts, it's a good thing
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The list of the lip-synched songs is curious. Understandably, "Llora" is quite difficult to sing (when the album first appeared, fans wondered whether she'd be able to perform it live), but some of the others are much easier, not noticeably different from the ones she really is singing. And her handling of "Adagio" suggests she should be able to deal with all of them. As suggested in earlier updates, the most egregious is "Mr. President", which has involved the use of children on stage in the deception.
In other news, in an interview with Pierre-Yves Duchesne, we learn a bit more about Lara's interactions with him and her part in the play '1939' coming up in two weeks. They first met when she and Gerard were introduced to him during the intermission of one of his concerts, by a musical comedy producer (Serge Tapierman). She had a small problem with her voice - he said it was really nothing, she is just such a perfectionist! But they noted that there were many points of overlap in their singing approaches, and Lara and he are now never far apart. She asked to be in the show, and plays a Jewish mother who hides her daughter away with a non-Jewish family. He describes her role as 'very strong'. And according to the 'Pure-Lara' facebook site, Lara in the show will sing the song 'Gisele'. Over 70 years later, a girl, also bearing the name Gisele, finds the trunk in which her mother was hidden during the war, and the mother, Lilly, tells her the story.
BTW, the Pure-Lara website offers some interesting downloads of early Lara material. For example, videos from 1994 and 1995 can be found at:
www.pure-lara.fr/index.php/medias/176-emissions-tv-1994
www.pure-lara.fr/index.php/medias/177-emissions-tv-1995
The latest issue of the AMTM magazine had a small article concerning Lara's appearance at the Daniel Collin photo exhibit last November. In it they say Lara is always there to support them, and that included appearing at this exhibit, which raised some 6,000 euros. The article with a few photos can be seen (thanks to angeyelliel) at:
img11.hostingpics.net/pics/770193P1070688.jpg
Now for the latest installment of the 'biography of Lara', pp. 138-144. This section is primarily concerned with the CD "Nue" and the accompanying tour.
**After her 'world tour', Lara was concerned that she had lost her French audience. Hence the strong desire to put out a new French album. [Maybe the same thing will happen after the Russian tour this fall...]
**She and Rick secluded themselves in his Montreal recording studio, and "without any stress", just worked continually on the album. Their goal: "her powerful voice, some simple and efficacious melodies, some very tight arrangements", so as to please the fans. [It worked. In polls "Nue" is often her most-preferred album. It didn't hurt that it is also her most emotional album, coming after the intense romantic and professional stresses].
**To some extent, Lara and Rick disagree on the genesis and meaning of "Tu es mon autre". As we heard recently, Rick said it was written by him for someone else, including some of the lyrics. Lara is quoted in the book as saying she and Rick "had written it a year and a half previously. It is a hymn to this relationship so particular that we have had for thirty years, to this force which ties us". They do agree that Lara had Maurane in mind to sing it with from the very beginning, saying "you might as well say to a man as to a woman that he or she is your 'other'."
**As to the 'piano nocturne' which closes the album: it was her idea to mix the 13 melodies of the album together in 16 minutes. Here are her comments (in translation) concerning Matt Herskowitz, who played it. "The kid sat there, he is 27 years old, he is a virtuoso. I wrote an arrangement to mix the songs, not strongly in the order of the album, and then he read it one time, he sat before the Steinway, with this great piece of wood, he said: "I'm going to do it all at once", and I told myself that finally he must be kidding, it isn't true! And then Matthew sat down, he played 15 minutes 48 seconds without stopping, it is what you heard there, it is that". That's why one hears the chair creak, the fingers on the keyboard. "One hears him sniff once if you pay attention".
**On the pocket of the album, Lara posed with an 'Attacus Atlas Butterfly of Malaysia', one of the biggest butterflies in the world. To Lara it possessed the symbol of the ephemeral and also immortal beauty. Also her grandmother called her 'Farfallina' which means small butterfly in Italian. So it also stood for her roots.
**As for the tour, we get a good idea from the DVD of it, although it also included a version of "Je t'appartiens" "straight out of a New York tavern", an homage to Johnny Hallyday with "Que je t'aime", and a version of "Comme ils disent".
**One thing that didn't work out (unrelated to "Nue"): Lara wanted to do a show which was '100% Brel'. The idea was initiated by her being asked to participate, for July 2002, in an edition of the Francofolies of Montreal dedicated to him. Her own show was to be done as a duet with Rick, and there was to be a tour throughout France and Belgium in 2003. However, it never happened (and again the book does not explore why...).
At the end of next week, the CD version of Lara's duet with Michael Bolton on 'The Prayer' should be released. It will be interesting to hear how it differs from the live one.
David