Post by davidhr on Feb 16, 2010 13:02:25 GMT -5
For most of this past week, Lara enjoyed a well-deserved rest from performing, but that came to an end on Monday with the first of her concerts in Eastern Europe/Russia, this one being in St. Petersburg. It was an acoustic concert (voice piano, guitar), not the full TLFM show. Lara got a very warm reception and was showered with gifts and flowers (as usual in Russia). Several mp3s are available on the Russian website larafabian.borda.ru/, specifically (so far): ‘Je t’aime’, ‘Adagio’, and ‘Il besoin de parler’. As has been the case in France, she appeared to have a cold. Perhaps that is the reason for some of the omissions (it was supposed to be similar to the concerts in Moscow last summer); dropped were ‘Gottingen’, ‘Amoureuse’ and ‘Alfie’. She also left very quickly after the show; it was quite cold (there’s a nice picture of Lara dressed for the weather, at radikal.ru/F/s39.radikal.ru/i084/1002/11/528ae5b4b8d8.jpg.html.)
Additional pictures and video are available at larafabiannews.com and on youtube, and more may well be added.
The Russian fans appeared to appreciate her performance, with enthusiastic chronicles, similar in some ways to the ones she’s been receiving in France. Here (with the help of an on-line translation tool
) is one such review, from ‘Serge B’ on the Russian forum:
“Yesterday with my wife was in BKZ (the concert hall in St. Petersburg). To say that it was "Super" – says nothing. We were unable to recall when one received such pleasure from the concert. A charming woman with a divine voice, piano and guitar ... Masterly voice, a stunning accompaniment. Previously listened to recordings, watching videos, but live - it does not compare. She gave it all, when the floodlights went out for the first time and people started to get up - I thought that now everything is over, the curtains will drop. It turned out – that people rushed to the stage and made such an ovation that Lara came out again and sang two songs. She did a strange song herself - something Italian-Sicilian to the accompaniment of a guitar. I hope to find it (maybe - here in the records). If it were possible - would have gone again today. Everyone who tries to get into BKZ - good luck!”
Lara herself was apparently surprised at how well she was received – and ended the concert by saying goodbye to her ‘Russian Angels’, in Russian.
There were also several media appearances this past week. She appeared for an interview on the Belgian program “Face a Face”. Perhaps what received the most comment was the Alexander McQueen ‘scarf of skulls’ Lara was wearing. The video is available on all the standard Lara sites. And on Monday, Lara was interviewed on the Belgian radio station ‘Nostalgie’, where, for the next two weeks, they will play her favorite songs celebrating different aspects of her life. The interview was obviously pre-recorded, given Lara’s current whereabouts. Her “first musical memory” was ‘Take me home, country road’ by John Denver, for which there are videos of Lara singing it with her father. For Tuesday, the song “associated with her first love” (at age 14) is by M. Jonasz. The interview and the individual song choices can be found at ‘La Discotheque Ideale of Lara Fabian’, at:
www2.nostalgie.be/actualites/actu-nostalgie/3087-la-discotheque-ideale-de-lara-fabian
Lara also appeared in several press interviews. Commenting in DH (a Belgian publication) on her negative treatment by ‘Le Petit Journal’ (with their rendition of ‘The Wonderful World of Lara Fabian’), she correctly pointed out that they would only devote so much effort to somebody who was “well-known and loved by the public”, so she chose to view it as a compliment. And an article in ‘courrier picard’ was full of more intentional compliments.
In other news, information continued to percolate about future plans. The highlight, discussed in the thread for last week's news update, was clearly the announcement by Matt Herskowitz that Lara and he had decided to release the 1st version of TLFM, after a bit more remixing. Most fans applauded this decision – after all, it’s another album of Lara’s – although one hopes that the vocals are mixed louder than in the songs Lara played for the audience in October 2008. The impression fans have is that this will not be a general release but will be sold primarily from her website (if true, it would be even more restricted than EWIM, which is also being sold by FNAC and Carrefour). Lara has said numerous times that she thought it was a quality album, so it’s understandable that she’s making the effort to have it available (at her own expense). No date has been announced, but Matt implied it would be soon. Another alternative would be for it to appear as a bonus with the live DVD, scheduled for much later this year.
Speaking of which, an additional topic that engaged fans was the question of whether there would actually be a live CD to accompany the DVD. This was not entirely unrelated to the announcement concerning TLFM1, for a live CD would then mark three CDs devoted primarily to the same reprises. It would be quite easy for fans to create such a live CD from the DVD, so if there isn’t one, Lara would simply lose out on any sales of it. Fans have noted that far from ‘moving on’, Lara is therefore in the process of releasing more versions of these reprises, not necessarily a prescription for increased popularity among certain segments of the French public/press.
TLFM itself is still around on the French charts, now in 146th place (down from 144th last week). Unlike movies, where the total number of people viewing it and the total income it has earned are widely publicized, this relative ranking does not allow one to gauge how many copies have cumulatively been sold. Presumably it is between 100,000 and 150,000. Sales figures have also become complicated by on-line downloads, so the conventional ratings of popularity are losing some relevance.
An interview that Igor Krutoi did last November, and which was reported at the time, got some play on the official site forum. If you remember, he reported that the new album with Lara would be out in the October, with the accompanying movie to be filmed in April. This timing is coincident with what Lara has been saying recently – repeated in DH just this past week - although Igor himself has on occasion mentioned an earlier release date. And dan47 in the official site forum indicated that ‘Demaine n’existe pas’ was actually played on ‘cherie FM’ this past week (they’re obviously quite anxious for Lara to be ‘moving on’).
The album “Message” with sales to support the fight against AIDS is now scheduled for release February 22nd. It can be ordered from FNAC for 15 euros. The album “Urgence Haiti” which was released February 1st, sells for 16 euros.
Lara has five more concerts scheduled for the next week, in Russia, Armenia and Ukraine, beginning tonight with another in St. Petersburg. After that she returns to France to end the month with two more shows. She certainly needs to keep her passport updated, and her languages straight!
David
Additional pictures and video are available at larafabiannews.com and on youtube, and more may well be added.
The Russian fans appeared to appreciate her performance, with enthusiastic chronicles, similar in some ways to the ones she’s been receiving in France. Here (with the help of an on-line translation tool
) is one such review, from ‘Serge B’ on the Russian forum:“Yesterday with my wife was in BKZ (the concert hall in St. Petersburg). To say that it was "Super" – says nothing. We were unable to recall when one received such pleasure from the concert. A charming woman with a divine voice, piano and guitar ... Masterly voice, a stunning accompaniment. Previously listened to recordings, watching videos, but live - it does not compare. She gave it all, when the floodlights went out for the first time and people started to get up - I thought that now everything is over, the curtains will drop. It turned out – that people rushed to the stage and made such an ovation that Lara came out again and sang two songs. She did a strange song herself - something Italian-Sicilian to the accompaniment of a guitar. I hope to find it (maybe - here in the records). If it were possible - would have gone again today. Everyone who tries to get into BKZ - good luck!”
Lara herself was apparently surprised at how well she was received – and ended the concert by saying goodbye to her ‘Russian Angels’, in Russian.
There were also several media appearances this past week. She appeared for an interview on the Belgian program “Face a Face”. Perhaps what received the most comment was the Alexander McQueen ‘scarf of skulls’ Lara was wearing. The video is available on all the standard Lara sites. And on Monday, Lara was interviewed on the Belgian radio station ‘Nostalgie’, where, for the next two weeks, they will play her favorite songs celebrating different aspects of her life. The interview was obviously pre-recorded, given Lara’s current whereabouts. Her “first musical memory” was ‘Take me home, country road’ by John Denver, for which there are videos of Lara singing it with her father. For Tuesday, the song “associated with her first love” (at age 14) is by M. Jonasz. The interview and the individual song choices can be found at ‘La Discotheque Ideale of Lara Fabian’, at:
www2.nostalgie.be/actualites/actu-nostalgie/3087-la-discotheque-ideale-de-lara-fabian
Lara also appeared in several press interviews. Commenting in DH (a Belgian publication) on her negative treatment by ‘Le Petit Journal’ (with their rendition of ‘The Wonderful World of Lara Fabian’), she correctly pointed out that they would only devote so much effort to somebody who was “well-known and loved by the public”, so she chose to view it as a compliment. And an article in ‘courrier picard’ was full of more intentional compliments.
In other news, information continued to percolate about future plans. The highlight, discussed in the thread for last week's news update, was clearly the announcement by Matt Herskowitz that Lara and he had decided to release the 1st version of TLFM, after a bit more remixing. Most fans applauded this decision – after all, it’s another album of Lara’s – although one hopes that the vocals are mixed louder than in the songs Lara played for the audience in October 2008. The impression fans have is that this will not be a general release but will be sold primarily from her website (if true, it would be even more restricted than EWIM, which is also being sold by FNAC and Carrefour). Lara has said numerous times that she thought it was a quality album, so it’s understandable that she’s making the effort to have it available (at her own expense). No date has been announced, but Matt implied it would be soon. Another alternative would be for it to appear as a bonus with the live DVD, scheduled for much later this year.
Speaking of which, an additional topic that engaged fans was the question of whether there would actually be a live CD to accompany the DVD. This was not entirely unrelated to the announcement concerning TLFM1, for a live CD would then mark three CDs devoted primarily to the same reprises. It would be quite easy for fans to create such a live CD from the DVD, so if there isn’t one, Lara would simply lose out on any sales of it. Fans have noted that far from ‘moving on’, Lara is therefore in the process of releasing more versions of these reprises, not necessarily a prescription for increased popularity among certain segments of the French public/press.
TLFM itself is still around on the French charts, now in 146th place (down from 144th last week). Unlike movies, where the total number of people viewing it and the total income it has earned are widely publicized, this relative ranking does not allow one to gauge how many copies have cumulatively been sold. Presumably it is between 100,000 and 150,000. Sales figures have also become complicated by on-line downloads, so the conventional ratings of popularity are losing some relevance.
An interview that Igor Krutoi did last November, and which was reported at the time, got some play on the official site forum. If you remember, he reported that the new album with Lara would be out in the October, with the accompanying movie to be filmed in April. This timing is coincident with what Lara has been saying recently – repeated in DH just this past week - although Igor himself has on occasion mentioned an earlier release date. And dan47 in the official site forum indicated that ‘Demaine n’existe pas’ was actually played on ‘cherie FM’ this past week (they’re obviously quite anxious for Lara to be ‘moving on’).
The album “Message” with sales to support the fight against AIDS is now scheduled for release February 22nd. It can be ordered from FNAC for 15 euros. The album “Urgence Haiti” which was released February 1st, sells for 16 euros.
Lara has five more concerts scheduled for the next week, in Russia, Armenia and Ukraine, beginning tonight with another in St. Petersburg. After that she returns to France to end the month with two more shows. She certainly needs to keep her passport updated, and her languages straight!
David
