Post by davidhr on Oct 4, 2011 11:50:30 GMT -5
As first stated by Ely in the thread for last week’s update, Lara informed her fans this past week that she is in full swing working on her new French album, “Le Secret”. Such a production had been expected for more than a year (in last week’s news updates, we discussed the rumors that had been prevalent at the time her biography was written, in 2010). To emphasize the point, Lara even included video of her being actively involved with it. She stated that the album will be in French, although the video she chose to show indicated the preparation of what appeared to be a duet in English as well. [One such duet was anticipated in the ‘biography’, however whether it or any of the other songs that were referred to (see last week’s update) will actually be included is uncertain. The guesses on the web are that the voice on the duet is that of George Perris or Nuno Resende, as Ely mentioned]. Presumably additional videos, with snatches of the songs as they progress, will be presented on her FB site.
Giora Linenberg was working with Lara, giving credence to that long-standing rumor, started by Lara herself during her trip to Israel a few years ago. At the time she indicated that he had written a whole set of songs for her that could serve as the basis for a new album. Time will tell how much of that survives. Giora uploaded pictures of their work together; they can be found at:
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2350544359531.2131837.1127782811
Perhaps Lara released this information now as an antidote to some fans’ disappointment over not hearing anything new at her recent concert in Belgium. And, indeed, this would be Lara’s first new French album in 6 years. She clearly hopes it will help her regain the fans and momentum she lost with her album of reprises, following her sabbatical for maternity leave. It will be interesting to see how she does it – will it have the powerful singing that characterized Mlle. Zhivago (and to some extent TLFM), or will she try to tone it down for the French critics? Presumably it will be a Universal album, which means the decision will not be hers alone. Regardless, it will be great to have a new album of original songs (music and lyrics) from her.
What is means for her previous album, ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ remains to be seen. From this vantage point, it could go either way. Lara is notorious for (and proud of) ‘not looking back’ – when she’s finished with a project, she immediately turns to something else. If this new French album means she’s now ‘moved on’, it would be an unfortunate waste of a wonderful recording. It would also mark the third straight time her ‘international’ albums (i.e., not in French) will have failed to get the distribution/recognition they deserve. Along with “A Wonderful Life” and “Every Woman in Me”, Mlle. Zhivago will not have been released in any country where people speak the language on the album (AWL being released only in the French speaking countries in western Europe, EWIM not being formally released anywhere, and Mlle. Zhivago only in the Ukraine and Russia). Not a very successful marketing strategy, and one that deprives her of the acclamation that she would surely receive if the relevant countries were allowed to hear her work.
On the other hand, there is some reason to believe she will keep ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ alive. For one, she has great respect for Igor Krutoi, and he has often indicated that he wanted the album to be distributed world-wide; he may well have envisioned it as a way to increase his name recognition in the English speaking markets. In addition, there is the Mlle. Zhivago movie – it was funded by Universal Music France, and Lara has great incentive to keep them happy. Did they really spend $3 million to produce a movie that would be shown only on TV in Russia (if that)? Just two weeks ago, Alan Badoev said it would be released on DVD in France – could that be done if the CD were not also available in that country?
Assuming Lara is heavily involved with the French album for the next 3-6 months, time would still be available next spring to continue the Mlle. Zhivago promotion, perhaps even rescheduling the Russian concert series. Such an east/west schizophrenic approach was tried last fall, when she had both the Mlle. Zhivago release in Russia and the ‘Best of” release in France to juggle at the same time. However, she got very tired in the process, and later said she had been too optimistic about her ability to do that; she may not want to try it again.
The guess here is that Lara has pretty much given up on Mlle. Zhivago, but will continue to give it just enough life so it can be available when needed. She has a concert scheduled in March in Bucharest, and if it follows the recent shows in the ‘countries to the east’, it should be a ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ event. We’ll see if it is followed by a re-scheduling of the Russian/Ukraine concert tour. However, the new French album would seem to reduce the chance of a world-wide MZ promotion, or even a release in France/Belgium (consistent with the exclusion of any of its songs from her set list in Belgium 10 days ago). Unfortunately, Lara does not appear to have the appetite to tackle the Western European or American markets (even the English market in Canada). The ‘countries to the east’ would now seem to be the limits of the international market for her, and for them it will still be useful. There was the hope that Lara would not settle for this, but her actions over the past decade and in the past year do not give much reason to expect anything different.
And the French focus is not without its dangers – Lara’s market in France has been shrinking, and there is no guarantee she can resurrect it outside of her devoted fan base. How long will Universal Records continue to support her if that doesn’t happen? The announcement of the new album has been picked up on various French web sites, and was well received by them (as well as by her loyal fans), a good sign.
Note that one benefit fans receive of Lara’s quickly passing to a new project is that they get new music more quickly. This was one of her original justifications for having separate French and English recording companies…and given that the MZ CD is not a Universal Records production, she has in effect resurrected that mode.
As for the Mlle. Zhivago film promo that may appear on a Russian web site in ‘early October’, it’s not there yet…Russian fans think it will be in the form of a 3 minute clip, and perhaps of the “making of” variety. We’ll see if it really shows up.
In the ‘biography’ of Lara, we are up to the section on Lara’s fans (pp. 227-232).
**There is no question that Lara has very enthusiastic, devoted fans – they are known to show up in TV audiences and dominate! (With respect to the strong emotions she generates, she has been compared to Dalida, who coincidentally was also part Italian.)
** The book recounts experiences Lara has mentioned, getting feedback from fans who found her work meaningful to their lives, and noting the joy Lara got from that.
**Similarly, Lara has proclaimed her great love for them, often saying they have kept her alive (and by that she means not only in the music business…).
**That connection is very evident at concerts – for any who have seen Lara live, there is an electricity that is hard to describe.
**There are negative aspects as well: Lara has had ‘stalkers’, or just overzealous fans [at the recent concert in Belgium, her car was rushed by some of them, resulting in an unpleasant situation].
**More subtly, Lara has said her fans’ great devotion raises the pressure on her to make every performance perfect – and as a perfectionist naturally, this has resulted in sleepless nights, with her reviewing her ‘mistakes’.
**When asked what fans liked most about Lara, one thing mentioned was that her lyrics were very meaningful/poetic, something that doesn’t get as much attention as it should, and is generally ignored by the media (it doesn’t fit the image they have of her).
Where the book comes up short is in taking a ‘Panglossian’ approach to Lara and her team’s practical interactions with her fans. The author seems to feel everything is just perfect – the reality, as we know, is far from that. Lara’s team has often left fans in the lurch, the latest such incident getting plenty of play on her FB site is the fan club situation. 40 Euros were collected from each fan club member, and then the Farfallina quarterly publication was summarily cancelled. As this was the only thing fans actually got for their money, they are justifiably miffed. As usual, nobody responds to their complaints, questions in general are not answered (or if so, rudely), appearances unannounced or cancelled without notification, etc. Lara may love her fans, but her actual treatment of them has had many instances of insensitivity. While the fans love for Lara is obviously their own choice, they really deserve better in response.
We now know how Lara is spending the time that was supposed to have been used for the MZ concert tour. One wonders how much of a role Universal Records has played in this…did they demand Lara return to the studio rather than pursuing this other project? Whatever the truth of it, we will all benefit when the next album appears, which almost certainly will be in 2012!
David
Giora Linenberg was working with Lara, giving credence to that long-standing rumor, started by Lara herself during her trip to Israel a few years ago. At the time she indicated that he had written a whole set of songs for her that could serve as the basis for a new album. Time will tell how much of that survives. Giora uploaded pictures of their work together; they can be found at:
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2350544359531.2131837.1127782811
Perhaps Lara released this information now as an antidote to some fans’ disappointment over not hearing anything new at her recent concert in Belgium. And, indeed, this would be Lara’s first new French album in 6 years. She clearly hopes it will help her regain the fans and momentum she lost with her album of reprises, following her sabbatical for maternity leave. It will be interesting to see how she does it – will it have the powerful singing that characterized Mlle. Zhivago (and to some extent TLFM), or will she try to tone it down for the French critics? Presumably it will be a Universal album, which means the decision will not be hers alone. Regardless, it will be great to have a new album of original songs (music and lyrics) from her.
What is means for her previous album, ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ remains to be seen. From this vantage point, it could go either way. Lara is notorious for (and proud of) ‘not looking back’ – when she’s finished with a project, she immediately turns to something else. If this new French album means she’s now ‘moved on’, it would be an unfortunate waste of a wonderful recording. It would also mark the third straight time her ‘international’ albums (i.e., not in French) will have failed to get the distribution/recognition they deserve. Along with “A Wonderful Life” and “Every Woman in Me”, Mlle. Zhivago will not have been released in any country where people speak the language on the album (AWL being released only in the French speaking countries in western Europe, EWIM not being formally released anywhere, and Mlle. Zhivago only in the Ukraine and Russia). Not a very successful marketing strategy, and one that deprives her of the acclamation that she would surely receive if the relevant countries were allowed to hear her work.
On the other hand, there is some reason to believe she will keep ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ alive. For one, she has great respect for Igor Krutoi, and he has often indicated that he wanted the album to be distributed world-wide; he may well have envisioned it as a way to increase his name recognition in the English speaking markets. In addition, there is the Mlle. Zhivago movie – it was funded by Universal Music France, and Lara has great incentive to keep them happy. Did they really spend $3 million to produce a movie that would be shown only on TV in Russia (if that)? Just two weeks ago, Alan Badoev said it would be released on DVD in France – could that be done if the CD were not also available in that country?
Assuming Lara is heavily involved with the French album for the next 3-6 months, time would still be available next spring to continue the Mlle. Zhivago promotion, perhaps even rescheduling the Russian concert series. Such an east/west schizophrenic approach was tried last fall, when she had both the Mlle. Zhivago release in Russia and the ‘Best of” release in France to juggle at the same time. However, she got very tired in the process, and later said she had been too optimistic about her ability to do that; she may not want to try it again.
The guess here is that Lara has pretty much given up on Mlle. Zhivago, but will continue to give it just enough life so it can be available when needed. She has a concert scheduled in March in Bucharest, and if it follows the recent shows in the ‘countries to the east’, it should be a ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ event. We’ll see if it is followed by a re-scheduling of the Russian/Ukraine concert tour. However, the new French album would seem to reduce the chance of a world-wide MZ promotion, or even a release in France/Belgium (consistent with the exclusion of any of its songs from her set list in Belgium 10 days ago). Unfortunately, Lara does not appear to have the appetite to tackle the Western European or American markets (even the English market in Canada). The ‘countries to the east’ would now seem to be the limits of the international market for her, and for them it will still be useful. There was the hope that Lara would not settle for this, but her actions over the past decade and in the past year do not give much reason to expect anything different.
And the French focus is not without its dangers – Lara’s market in France has been shrinking, and there is no guarantee she can resurrect it outside of her devoted fan base. How long will Universal Records continue to support her if that doesn’t happen? The announcement of the new album has been picked up on various French web sites, and was well received by them (as well as by her loyal fans), a good sign.
Note that one benefit fans receive of Lara’s quickly passing to a new project is that they get new music more quickly. This was one of her original justifications for having separate French and English recording companies…and given that the MZ CD is not a Universal Records production, she has in effect resurrected that mode.
As for the Mlle. Zhivago film promo that may appear on a Russian web site in ‘early October’, it’s not there yet…Russian fans think it will be in the form of a 3 minute clip, and perhaps of the “making of” variety. We’ll see if it really shows up.
In the ‘biography’ of Lara, we are up to the section on Lara’s fans (pp. 227-232).
**There is no question that Lara has very enthusiastic, devoted fans – they are known to show up in TV audiences and dominate! (With respect to the strong emotions she generates, she has been compared to Dalida, who coincidentally was also part Italian.)
** The book recounts experiences Lara has mentioned, getting feedback from fans who found her work meaningful to their lives, and noting the joy Lara got from that.
**Similarly, Lara has proclaimed her great love for them, often saying they have kept her alive (and by that she means not only in the music business…).
**That connection is very evident at concerts – for any who have seen Lara live, there is an electricity that is hard to describe.
**There are negative aspects as well: Lara has had ‘stalkers’, or just overzealous fans [at the recent concert in Belgium, her car was rushed by some of them, resulting in an unpleasant situation].
**More subtly, Lara has said her fans’ great devotion raises the pressure on her to make every performance perfect – and as a perfectionist naturally, this has resulted in sleepless nights, with her reviewing her ‘mistakes’.
**When asked what fans liked most about Lara, one thing mentioned was that her lyrics were very meaningful/poetic, something that doesn’t get as much attention as it should, and is generally ignored by the media (it doesn’t fit the image they have of her).
Where the book comes up short is in taking a ‘Panglossian’ approach to Lara and her team’s practical interactions with her fans. The author seems to feel everything is just perfect – the reality, as we know, is far from that. Lara’s team has often left fans in the lurch, the latest such incident getting plenty of play on her FB site is the fan club situation. 40 Euros were collected from each fan club member, and then the Farfallina quarterly publication was summarily cancelled. As this was the only thing fans actually got for their money, they are justifiably miffed. As usual, nobody responds to their complaints, questions in general are not answered (or if so, rudely), appearances unannounced or cancelled without notification, etc. Lara may love her fans, but her actual treatment of them has had many instances of insensitivity. While the fans love for Lara is obviously their own choice, they really deserve better in response.
We now know how Lara is spending the time that was supposed to have been used for the MZ concert tour. One wonders how much of a role Universal Records has played in this…did they demand Lara return to the studio rather than pursuing this other project? Whatever the truth of it, we will all benefit when the next album appears, which almost certainly will be in 2012!
David