Post by davidhr on Aug 2, 2011 12:10:56 GMT -5
The news this week was understandably dominated by Lara’s appearance at the ‘New Wave’ festival in Latvia, Sunday evening. She performed 6 songs: ‘Llora’ and ‘The Russian Song’ from the Mlle. Zhivago album; duets with Igor Krutoi (“Les Feuilles Mortes”, i.e., ‘Autumn Leaves’), with Dmitry Hvorostovsky (“Always”) and Sumi Jo (‘Sons and Daughters’); and a ‘triplet’ with Hvorostovsky and Sumi Jo ( ‘Stelle Vaganti’). Lara looked beautiful as always and the audience was highly appreciative of the apparent vocal prowess they were treated to, by Lara and the others.
It received mixed reviews from the (more knowledgeable) fans. The ‘Mlle Zhivago’ songs were lip-synched, as usual, and even the duet on ‘Always’ did not appear to be sung live. Lara’s voice did not blend with either Hvorostovsky or Sumi Jo, whose power and fullness made her pop voice sound thin, although in the ‘triplet’ one can say she held her own; and Hvorostovsky’s voice in itself was not very pleasing. (It should be noted that these opinions are not universal – some fans liked these songs.) Apparently, Sumi Jo was not the original choice to perform in the trio, it was Anna Nutrebko, who couldn’t be there. It also seems as if the trio that did perform are going to work on a new project together with igor Krutoi; if so, they will hopefully learn to sing in a complementary style, if that’s even possible.
The lip-synching should not have been a surprise – it has occurred each time she has appeared on this show over the past few years. Apparently, outside of the young singers, most of the show was ‘pre-recorded’. Igor Krutoi indicated that this was the norm, not because of technology, necessarily, but due to the limitations of the performers and the need to put on the best possible TV show. He said he hoped that eventually it wouldn’t have to be the case. It is certainly not the case in France.
By far the best-received title was the tender rendition with Igor Krutoi, which belongs on the extensive list of her admirable duets. Given the lineup of singers, who would have thought this would have been the highlight? Videos of Lara’s performance are available on youtube, larafabiannews.com, and larafabianweb.com. Lara even left a small video message to fans, made just prior to the show, on her facebook page (also available on these other sites). And she gave an interview about the show (in English), that can be seen at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37V3RLTuyo&feature=player_embedded#at=24
Some nice photos of Lara and the others from the show’s rehearsal are available at:
usoevphoto.ru/yrmala-31/index3.html (also index2)
and a wonderful picture of Lara with Igor is available at:
i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae30/Cammily2/nw2011/02s09krutoi_fabian.jpg
For those interested in seeing all the acts from the ‘New Wave’ show, they can be found at:
www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=new+wave+2011+jurmala&search_sort=video_date_uploaded&suggested_categories=10%2C24
After 37 weeks on the Russian charts, the ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ album has finally dropped out of the top 15, currently residing in 24th place. And with no autumn tour to revive it, expect further declines, unless the movie happens to be released (one shouldn’t hold one’s breath). On the other side of the world, Michael Bolton’s ‘Gems’ album, including his duet with Lara of ‘The Prayer’, peaked at 128 on Billboard’s album chart several weeks ago, and is #715 on the amazon.com bestseller list.
Continuing on with the ‘biography of Lara’, pp. 177-182, Chapter 16 is concerned with Lara’s "good works". In a sense, this aspect probably gave the author the motivation to write the book.
**Lara has always been concerned with aiding good causes, and they seem to fall in four general categories: aiding women; aiding children; in support of the freedom to love (homosexuality); and against disease (especially those that affect the three other categories).
**The author thinks that where some other performers participate in such causes to improve their image, Lara uses her image for the sake of the causes (i.e., sincerely). That would appear to be true.
**With respect to women, the author characterizes Lara as a ‘feminist’, continually fighting against the ‘glass ceiling’; her support for ‘Paroles des femmes’ focusing it on women’s homelessness, is just one example. We know that right from the beginning of her career, Lara was frustrated by the limitations put on women in France by recording studios (‘they would write the songs for her’…), occasioning her move to Quebec. But we also know that Lara does not condemn men in general; and one guesses that she wouldn’t exactly agree with the feminist label, considering it more a matter of justice rather than gender.
**With respect to children, again from the beginning of her career she was involved in causes associated with children’s health, e.g., she became the godmother of the Quebecois association “En Coeur” for children with heart problems (cardiopathy is the most widespread children’s disease in Quebec). There are numerous instances of her supporting children’s causes, the latest example being Lara’s upcoming September appearance for the ‘Foundation Papillon’ aimed at helping build an orphanage for the children of Charleroi in Belgium.
**Concerning injustice, the shining symbol of Lara’s contribution is her song ‘La Difference’ suggesting that there is really ‘no difference’ in people due to their preferences for loving others. Lara has overtly applauded other performers who have ‘come out’ with their lyrics and songs, including Catherine Lara and Charles Aznavour, honoring them by including their songs in her concerts. Lara was sensitized to this issue on learning that her two best friends are homosexuals, a female friend (Nathalie) who was afraid to tell Lara for fear of losing her, and a male friend who was disowned by his parents when they found out his sexual orientation. Lara has often voiced her opinion that love has many forms, and each should be respected.
**And no illness has been taken more seriously by Lara than AIDS, starting in 1997 with her participation in the disc ‘Au nom de l’amour’, and continuing with other albums/songs including “Tous unis contre le sida’ (1998), ‘Sa raison d’etre’ (1998), “Noel Ensemble’ (2000) all the way to ‘If’ in 2009. But she has supported numerous causes for health in general (e.g., being godmother of AMTM).
The bottom line here is that Lara is passionate about everything she does, which is a strong part of her appeal. When she feels a cause is not sincere, she drops it – as she did with ‘Les Enfoires’ (after appearing multiple times). We also know that she is also somewhat inconsistent, hence some of these obligations go wanting from time to time. But one does get the feeling that she is not in this for her ‘image’. At a time that she had been away from Canada for many months, she returned and immediately went to a homosexual bar in Montreal. When questioned about this, she responded that these were some of her strongest fans and she wanted to associate with them. Again, a strong part of her appeal…
It is now August, and like many Europeans, Lara has nothing official on her schedule. Perhaps she’ll return to Sicily as she used to; or maybe she will continue her work in the ‘countries to the east’. For us, the big challenge may well be to find something to report in these news updates…
David
It received mixed reviews from the (more knowledgeable) fans. The ‘Mlle Zhivago’ songs were lip-synched, as usual, and even the duet on ‘Always’ did not appear to be sung live. Lara’s voice did not blend with either Hvorostovsky or Sumi Jo, whose power and fullness made her pop voice sound thin, although in the ‘triplet’ one can say she held her own; and Hvorostovsky’s voice in itself was not very pleasing. (It should be noted that these opinions are not universal – some fans liked these songs.) Apparently, Sumi Jo was not the original choice to perform in the trio, it was Anna Nutrebko, who couldn’t be there. It also seems as if the trio that did perform are going to work on a new project together with igor Krutoi; if so, they will hopefully learn to sing in a complementary style, if that’s even possible.
The lip-synching should not have been a surprise – it has occurred each time she has appeared on this show over the past few years. Apparently, outside of the young singers, most of the show was ‘pre-recorded’. Igor Krutoi indicated that this was the norm, not because of technology, necessarily, but due to the limitations of the performers and the need to put on the best possible TV show. He said he hoped that eventually it wouldn’t have to be the case. It is certainly not the case in France.
By far the best-received title was the tender rendition with Igor Krutoi, which belongs on the extensive list of her admirable duets. Given the lineup of singers, who would have thought this would have been the highlight? Videos of Lara’s performance are available on youtube, larafabiannews.com, and larafabianweb.com. Lara even left a small video message to fans, made just prior to the show, on her facebook page (also available on these other sites). And she gave an interview about the show (in English), that can be seen at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37V3RLTuyo&feature=player_embedded#at=24
Some nice photos of Lara and the others from the show’s rehearsal are available at:
usoevphoto.ru/yrmala-31/index3.html (also index2)
and a wonderful picture of Lara with Igor is available at:
i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae30/Cammily2/nw2011/02s09krutoi_fabian.jpg
For those interested in seeing all the acts from the ‘New Wave’ show, they can be found at:
www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=new+wave+2011+jurmala&search_sort=video_date_uploaded&suggested_categories=10%2C24
After 37 weeks on the Russian charts, the ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ album has finally dropped out of the top 15, currently residing in 24th place. And with no autumn tour to revive it, expect further declines, unless the movie happens to be released (one shouldn’t hold one’s breath). On the other side of the world, Michael Bolton’s ‘Gems’ album, including his duet with Lara of ‘The Prayer’, peaked at 128 on Billboard’s album chart several weeks ago, and is #715 on the amazon.com bestseller list.
Continuing on with the ‘biography of Lara’, pp. 177-182, Chapter 16 is concerned with Lara’s "good works". In a sense, this aspect probably gave the author the motivation to write the book.
**Lara has always been concerned with aiding good causes, and they seem to fall in four general categories: aiding women; aiding children; in support of the freedom to love (homosexuality); and against disease (especially those that affect the three other categories).
**The author thinks that where some other performers participate in such causes to improve their image, Lara uses her image for the sake of the causes (i.e., sincerely). That would appear to be true.
**With respect to women, the author characterizes Lara as a ‘feminist’, continually fighting against the ‘glass ceiling’; her support for ‘Paroles des femmes’ focusing it on women’s homelessness, is just one example. We know that right from the beginning of her career, Lara was frustrated by the limitations put on women in France by recording studios (‘they would write the songs for her’…), occasioning her move to Quebec. But we also know that Lara does not condemn men in general; and one guesses that she wouldn’t exactly agree with the feminist label, considering it more a matter of justice rather than gender.
**With respect to children, again from the beginning of her career she was involved in causes associated with children’s health, e.g., she became the godmother of the Quebecois association “En Coeur” for children with heart problems (cardiopathy is the most widespread children’s disease in Quebec). There are numerous instances of her supporting children’s causes, the latest example being Lara’s upcoming September appearance for the ‘Foundation Papillon’ aimed at helping build an orphanage for the children of Charleroi in Belgium.
**Concerning injustice, the shining symbol of Lara’s contribution is her song ‘La Difference’ suggesting that there is really ‘no difference’ in people due to their preferences for loving others. Lara has overtly applauded other performers who have ‘come out’ with their lyrics and songs, including Catherine Lara and Charles Aznavour, honoring them by including their songs in her concerts. Lara was sensitized to this issue on learning that her two best friends are homosexuals, a female friend (Nathalie) who was afraid to tell Lara for fear of losing her, and a male friend who was disowned by his parents when they found out his sexual orientation. Lara has often voiced her opinion that love has many forms, and each should be respected.
**And no illness has been taken more seriously by Lara than AIDS, starting in 1997 with her participation in the disc ‘Au nom de l’amour’, and continuing with other albums/songs including “Tous unis contre le sida’ (1998), ‘Sa raison d’etre’ (1998), “Noel Ensemble’ (2000) all the way to ‘If’ in 2009. But she has supported numerous causes for health in general (e.g., being godmother of AMTM).
The bottom line here is that Lara is passionate about everything she does, which is a strong part of her appeal. When she feels a cause is not sincere, she drops it – as she did with ‘Les Enfoires’ (after appearing multiple times). We also know that she is also somewhat inconsistent, hence some of these obligations go wanting from time to time. But one does get the feeling that she is not in this for her ‘image’. At a time that she had been away from Canada for many months, she returned and immediately went to a homosexual bar in Montreal. When questioned about this, she responded that these were some of her strongest fans and she wanted to associate with them. Again, a strong part of her appeal…
It is now August, and like many Europeans, Lara has nothing official on her schedule. Perhaps she’ll return to Sicily as she used to; or maybe she will continue her work in the ‘countries to the east’. For us, the big challenge may well be to find something to report in these news updates…
David