Post by davidhr on Feb 2, 2010 13:25:12 GMT -5
A week of concerts, appearances and more confusion concerning Lara’s future activities…in other words, a normal week!
Lara’s concert tour continued this past week, with four shows. In Dijon, on the 26th, Lara was described as being in great vocal form with a wonderfully excited audience (though small – it was said to be 800 in a room that can hold 8000). Lara again sang the shortened program, which now appears to be the standard; it amounts to some 16 songs in a 1 hour 30-45 minute concert. Nevertheless, the great quality of the performance led to superlative reviews, from fans who were there as well as an on-line reviewer.
A few anecdotes: ‘farfallinaline’, the fan who bought the bag Lara put up for a charity auction, brought the bag to the concert. Lara met with some fans afterwards (including her), and Lara told her she had seen her beloved bag on the ground during the concert and recognized it. The fan also told Lara she had left some items in the bag, (e.g., lipstick) – which Lara told her to “keep but not use!” Fans also noted that Lara mixed up the words on “Je t’aime”, and then exchanged knowing looks with the band about it.
The concert the next day was in Strasbourgh. Again Lara was in great form vocally, although she looked somewhat tired. The audience was even smaller (700 people), and, outside of the first row of fans, fairly non-responsive. Nevertheless, fans who were present gave it a great review (at least those who like the TLFM album), and again it got a great review in the press. Many pictures are available at (go to the later pages):
quelarafabian.skyrock.com/63.html
On the 29th Lara was in Caen, and here both the ambience and the attendance (some 2000 people) were much better. Again Lara was described as being in great vocal form, and very happy. In fact, a fan who attended a small reception for her afterwards said Lara was so enthused about her reception there that she said next time she’s going to start her tour in Caen. She also was reported to be very happy that she was now ¾ of the way through her tour!
Finally, Lara also enjoyed herself on the 30th, in Rouen, with good ambiance and a contented crowd. A few videos from all of these concerts are available on youtube and dailymotion.
Lara continues to be in great voice for her concerts, and while understandably tired, she does seem to enjoy the venues with enthusiastic audiences. Even though at times she appears to be interested in moving on to other things (in a recent radio interview, she called TLFM a parenthesis in her career), she has no choice but to continue on with her concert tour. Cutting the program down has probably helped her stamina, but it does irritate the fans somewhat. ‘mickey2009’ saw Lara after the concert in Caen and she repeated to him that it was necessary to cut the songs to conserve her vocal capability, given the heavy schedule of concerts in France and other countries (eastern Europe) during February.
Undoubtedly contributing to Lara’s fatigue are all the promotional events she makes in support of her album (which has dropped 12 spots, to 123rd in France). This past week she was on several different radio shows in Belgium and France. Larafabiannews.com provides a summary of what was discussed on each of them; below are some comments on the main points. Also included (with three *** to differentiate them) are the comments that ‘mickey2009’ says Lara told him in his meeting with her).
**Lara is explicitly discounting the idea of attempting to infiltrate the US market. She mentioned that the remix of the EWIM single was not meant for the U.S. at all (despite her calling it ‘US’ remix) but instead for radio stations (presumably in France) and her fans – similar to what her apparent objectives were in releasing EWIM (the album). The origin of the album itself was somewhat whimsical, arising from speculation as to what singers she would have chosen if TLFM were an English language album. And we know that the promotion of the album has been equally whimsical.
So much for her English career, at least at this point. The funny thing is that the English remix has raised the visibility of her English work in the eyes of the media, and given her some extra ‘cachet’. The website “influence.over-blog.com” lumps together the remix with EWIM the album, and recommends EWIM very highly.
**Lara reaffirmed that the DVD of the current tour will be filmed March 8th in Belgium by Gerard. She leaves herself no room for error by choosing only one date; many other performers have several days of filming, to be able to select the best performances. Her ‘Lara Fabian Live’ DVD in 2002 was in fact filmed in both France and Belgium, but ‘Un Regard Neuf’ also had only one primary day of filming. Lara however expressed confidence in Gerard’s being able to do this (as he did for URN). However, this show is much more complicated, and sometimes there are computer glitches (they happened in the recent concerts as well). What happens if they occur that one night in Belgium?
It also appears that the ‘medley dessin anime’ will be back in the program for the filming. Presumably they have kept the computer program required for the full show, including all the other recently cut songs as well.
**Lara says that the new album will be released in October, consistent with her comment on another recent show that it would be in the fall. We keep getting conflicting reports from Lara and Igor Krutoi, who recently was reported as saying the release would be in the April-May time frame. Perhaps his comments referred to an earlier schedule, that may have been delayed when Lara could not be present for the filming of the ‘accompanying movie’ last fall. In the last news update it was speculated that perhaps the difference related to release dates in Russia versus France, but Lara did not seem to imply that. In fact, she now says that this album (in contrast to EWIM) is not meant for the European (i.e., French) market (which would suggest it is meant for the American one). Whenever it does appear, it sounds as if it will be the Lara that many people like the most: she uses ‘Adagio’ and ‘Broken Vow’ as the precedents for what her singing and the songs on this album will be like (and Igor Krutoi said it would be recorded with a full symphonic orchestra)!
A fall release date would seem somewhat problematic if the live version of the DVD is going to be released for the Christmas holidays, as has been mentioned recently. But if the new album will not be a French release, then there won’t be a conflict.
**In two of the interviews, Lara suggested that there was another album (new songs in French) that she didn’t want to say more about…perhaps it’s the album that has been referred to as ‘Le Secret’ that may or may not be associated with the Israeli composer Lara has talked about.
***And in fact, ‘mickey2009’ reported that Lara said ‘Le Secret’ will be released toward Christmas time and she will present it in a series of concerts in Russia in November. She also said there will be a tour in 2011 around this album, to be done in smaller, more intimate rooms, rather than in the Zenith theatres.
Offhand, one would think she is really talking about the album now being referred to as “Mme. Zhivago”, since it’s timing is similar, and clearly she will be working with Igor Krutoi on those Russian concerts. However, if, as she just said, that album is not meant for the European/French audience, why have a tour there to promote it? And if it is to be made with a big orchestra, how can justice be done to it in small rooms?
*** ‘mickey2009’ reported that Lara said there is a studio version of ‘Besoin de parler’, and that Lara intends to ‘exploit’ it. It’s not clear how – perhaps as a bonus on the TLFM live album DVD.
***Lara will promote TLFM in Quebec in early April in Montreal (he didn't ask whether she would be doing that live in concert, or even really be there).
**As she has said in other forums recently, ‘Victor Victoria’ has been postponed to at least 2011 (and mickey2009 says Lara indicated it will actually be late 2011/early 2012, after her tour promoting her latest ‘French’ album). And, of course, maybe later, if Lara still wants another child…
If the confusion about what new albums are really going to be released this year has grown with Lara’s recent remarks, it gets even worse: among other news provided by the “influence.over-blog.com” (all of which cannot necessarily be believed), is that Lara is still in negotiation with Universal Records about releasing the first version of the album TLFM. We’ll see at the end of the year how many of these proposed albums really appeared.
The new Russian website for Lara has now opened its English version; it’s available at: www.lara-fabian.ru/home_en.html
Not everything seems to be working (e.g., the videos and photos don’t seem to show up), and at the moment its chief value (to me) is in helping figure out where things are located (by comparison) on the Russian version!
The CD against AIDS which was supposed to be released on the 30th seems to have been pushed back to February 22nd, at least that’s the release date found on FNAC.
Lara has two more concerts this coming week, then she’s off for 10 days before her series of performances in eastern Europe and Russia. She will also appear on the program ‘Sans Chichis’, to be broadcast by the Belgian TV station RTBF on the 8th; one can send in questions for her to answer at:
www.rtbf.be/sanschichis/interactivite/question-au-specialiste
Perhaps someone will ask whether ‘Le Secret’ and ‘Mme Zhivago’ are the same album…
David
Lara’s concert tour continued this past week, with four shows. In Dijon, on the 26th, Lara was described as being in great vocal form with a wonderfully excited audience (though small – it was said to be 800 in a room that can hold 8000). Lara again sang the shortened program, which now appears to be the standard; it amounts to some 16 songs in a 1 hour 30-45 minute concert. Nevertheless, the great quality of the performance led to superlative reviews, from fans who were there as well as an on-line reviewer.
A few anecdotes: ‘farfallinaline’, the fan who bought the bag Lara put up for a charity auction, brought the bag to the concert. Lara met with some fans afterwards (including her), and Lara told her she had seen her beloved bag on the ground during the concert and recognized it. The fan also told Lara she had left some items in the bag, (e.g., lipstick) – which Lara told her to “keep but not use!” Fans also noted that Lara mixed up the words on “Je t’aime”, and then exchanged knowing looks with the band about it.
The concert the next day was in Strasbourgh. Again Lara was in great form vocally, although she looked somewhat tired. The audience was even smaller (700 people), and, outside of the first row of fans, fairly non-responsive. Nevertheless, fans who were present gave it a great review (at least those who like the TLFM album), and again it got a great review in the press. Many pictures are available at (go to the later pages):
quelarafabian.skyrock.com/63.html
On the 29th Lara was in Caen, and here both the ambience and the attendance (some 2000 people) were much better. Again Lara was described as being in great vocal form, and very happy. In fact, a fan who attended a small reception for her afterwards said Lara was so enthused about her reception there that she said next time she’s going to start her tour in Caen. She also was reported to be very happy that she was now ¾ of the way through her tour!
Finally, Lara also enjoyed herself on the 30th, in Rouen, with good ambiance and a contented crowd. A few videos from all of these concerts are available on youtube and dailymotion.
Lara continues to be in great voice for her concerts, and while understandably tired, she does seem to enjoy the venues with enthusiastic audiences. Even though at times she appears to be interested in moving on to other things (in a recent radio interview, she called TLFM a parenthesis in her career), she has no choice but to continue on with her concert tour. Cutting the program down has probably helped her stamina, but it does irritate the fans somewhat. ‘mickey2009’ saw Lara after the concert in Caen and she repeated to him that it was necessary to cut the songs to conserve her vocal capability, given the heavy schedule of concerts in France and other countries (eastern Europe) during February.
Undoubtedly contributing to Lara’s fatigue are all the promotional events she makes in support of her album (which has dropped 12 spots, to 123rd in France). This past week she was on several different radio shows in Belgium and France. Larafabiannews.com provides a summary of what was discussed on each of them; below are some comments on the main points. Also included (with three *** to differentiate them) are the comments that ‘mickey2009’ says Lara told him in his meeting with her).
**Lara is explicitly discounting the idea of attempting to infiltrate the US market. She mentioned that the remix of the EWIM single was not meant for the U.S. at all (despite her calling it ‘US’ remix) but instead for radio stations (presumably in France) and her fans – similar to what her apparent objectives were in releasing EWIM (the album). The origin of the album itself was somewhat whimsical, arising from speculation as to what singers she would have chosen if TLFM were an English language album. And we know that the promotion of the album has been equally whimsical.
So much for her English career, at least at this point. The funny thing is that the English remix has raised the visibility of her English work in the eyes of the media, and given her some extra ‘cachet’. The website “influence.over-blog.com” lumps together the remix with EWIM the album, and recommends EWIM very highly.
**Lara reaffirmed that the DVD of the current tour will be filmed March 8th in Belgium by Gerard. She leaves herself no room for error by choosing only one date; many other performers have several days of filming, to be able to select the best performances. Her ‘Lara Fabian Live’ DVD in 2002 was in fact filmed in both France and Belgium, but ‘Un Regard Neuf’ also had only one primary day of filming. Lara however expressed confidence in Gerard’s being able to do this (as he did for URN). However, this show is much more complicated, and sometimes there are computer glitches (they happened in the recent concerts as well). What happens if they occur that one night in Belgium?
It also appears that the ‘medley dessin anime’ will be back in the program for the filming. Presumably they have kept the computer program required for the full show, including all the other recently cut songs as well.
**Lara says that the new album will be released in October, consistent with her comment on another recent show that it would be in the fall. We keep getting conflicting reports from Lara and Igor Krutoi, who recently was reported as saying the release would be in the April-May time frame. Perhaps his comments referred to an earlier schedule, that may have been delayed when Lara could not be present for the filming of the ‘accompanying movie’ last fall. In the last news update it was speculated that perhaps the difference related to release dates in Russia versus France, but Lara did not seem to imply that. In fact, she now says that this album (in contrast to EWIM) is not meant for the European (i.e., French) market (which would suggest it is meant for the American one). Whenever it does appear, it sounds as if it will be the Lara that many people like the most: she uses ‘Adagio’ and ‘Broken Vow’ as the precedents for what her singing and the songs on this album will be like (and Igor Krutoi said it would be recorded with a full symphonic orchestra)!
A fall release date would seem somewhat problematic if the live version of the DVD is going to be released for the Christmas holidays, as has been mentioned recently. But if the new album will not be a French release, then there won’t be a conflict.
**In two of the interviews, Lara suggested that there was another album (new songs in French) that she didn’t want to say more about…perhaps it’s the album that has been referred to as ‘Le Secret’ that may or may not be associated with the Israeli composer Lara has talked about.
***And in fact, ‘mickey2009’ reported that Lara said ‘Le Secret’ will be released toward Christmas time and she will present it in a series of concerts in Russia in November. She also said there will be a tour in 2011 around this album, to be done in smaller, more intimate rooms, rather than in the Zenith theatres.
Offhand, one would think she is really talking about the album now being referred to as “Mme. Zhivago”, since it’s timing is similar, and clearly she will be working with Igor Krutoi on those Russian concerts. However, if, as she just said, that album is not meant for the European/French audience, why have a tour there to promote it? And if it is to be made with a big orchestra, how can justice be done to it in small rooms?
*** ‘mickey2009’ reported that Lara said there is a studio version of ‘Besoin de parler’, and that Lara intends to ‘exploit’ it. It’s not clear how – perhaps as a bonus on the TLFM live album DVD.
***Lara will promote TLFM in Quebec in early April in Montreal (he didn't ask whether she would be doing that live in concert, or even really be there).
**As she has said in other forums recently, ‘Victor Victoria’ has been postponed to at least 2011 (and mickey2009 says Lara indicated it will actually be late 2011/early 2012, after her tour promoting her latest ‘French’ album). And, of course, maybe later, if Lara still wants another child…
If the confusion about what new albums are really going to be released this year has grown with Lara’s recent remarks, it gets even worse: among other news provided by the “influence.over-blog.com” (all of which cannot necessarily be believed), is that Lara is still in negotiation with Universal Records about releasing the first version of the album TLFM. We’ll see at the end of the year how many of these proposed albums really appeared.
The new Russian website for Lara has now opened its English version; it’s available at: www.lara-fabian.ru/home_en.html
Not everything seems to be working (e.g., the videos and photos don’t seem to show up), and at the moment its chief value (to me) is in helping figure out where things are located (by comparison) on the Russian version!
The CD against AIDS which was supposed to be released on the 30th seems to have been pushed back to February 22nd, at least that’s the release date found on FNAC.
Lara has two more concerts this coming week, then she’s off for 10 days before her series of performances in eastern Europe and Russia. She will also appear on the program ‘Sans Chichis’, to be broadcast by the Belgian TV station RTBF on the 8th; one can send in questions for her to answer at:
www.rtbf.be/sanschichis/interactivite/question-au-specialiste
Perhaps someone will ask whether ‘Le Secret’ and ‘Mme Zhivago’ are the same album…
David
