Post by davidhr on Dec 24, 2012 17:21:37 GMT -5
(One day early for the Christmas holiday…)
Lara is featured in an article in the current Ciné-Télé-Revue; scans of the article are available on several sites, in particular the two pages are at:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=439531606100509&set=a.402343953152608.90759.166959643357708&type=1&theater
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=439531632767173&set=a.402343953152608.90759.166959643357708&type=1&theater
As might be seen by the headline of the first scan, Lara told an interviewer that she now considers Russia ‘sort of’ her ‘second country’ (the phrase was actually proposed by the interviewer). This statement produced some interesting reactions from her fans, noting that she has both Belgian and Canadian citizenship, she has her largest following in France, and has often said she feels she is mostly Italian, after her mother’s side. But regardless of her numerical ranking of it, Russia has clearly become an important component of her career and her emotional life, following the highly successful tour these past few months. No longer is it her ‘Russian Fairytale’ that is just a ‘parenthesis’ in her career. She says that from now on she will spend at least 5-6 months a year there, and that she is already writing with Igor Krutoi the follow-up to Mlle. Zhivago (likely for 2014-2015). Concerning ‘Le Secret’, at least at the time of this interview she said that while the album was ‘finished’, she was still refining the songs. [The interview was actually the result of the contest that had been held, with the winners, pictured in the scans, getting to go on Lara’s trip to Russia and meet with her backstage in Moscow.]
Lara’s split career is of great benefit to her fans, because, as they noted, it means twice as many albums. This has always been Lara’s point of view, one that she mentioned years ago in connection with signing with Sony for her English albums. Given that her Russian discs are released by Krutoi’s company, and her French releases now by her own company, she has better ‘control’ of this dual process (and obviously more financial risk) than she did with Sony and Universal. The downside for her long-time fans in Belgium and France is that it will take Lara away from them at least half the year every year (if her estimate is meaningful), and on long tours every several years. The extended absences will make it more challenging for her to build a continuing relationship with her Francophile audience; there was notable grumbling from some French fans at the headline of the article. One also wonders what role her split attention played in the demise of her relationship with Gerard (and of course there are once again rumors about Lara and Igor, however inaccurate they may prove to be…). At least this year, with her release of a modified MZ album in these countries, she is bringing the fruits of her Russian labor back to them; she stated again in the article that she was surprised at how well it was received in Belgium, and she said that was the reason that they ultimately made it a general release in the big record stores there.
Otherwise, this was a quiet, per-Christmas week. In that spirit, the LF Czech page put a very appropriate photo of Lara for the Christmas season; it can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=343566485750332&set=a.190200364420279.42108.183951155045200&type=1&theater
And Lara put the following salutation on her FB site: “Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all of you!!!!!”
That wish is seconded here – Happy Holidays!
David
Lara is featured in an article in the current Ciné-Télé-Revue; scans of the article are available on several sites, in particular the two pages are at:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=439531606100509&set=a.402343953152608.90759.166959643357708&type=1&theater
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=439531632767173&set=a.402343953152608.90759.166959643357708&type=1&theater
As might be seen by the headline of the first scan, Lara told an interviewer that she now considers Russia ‘sort of’ her ‘second country’ (the phrase was actually proposed by the interviewer). This statement produced some interesting reactions from her fans, noting that she has both Belgian and Canadian citizenship, she has her largest following in France, and has often said she feels she is mostly Italian, after her mother’s side. But regardless of her numerical ranking of it, Russia has clearly become an important component of her career and her emotional life, following the highly successful tour these past few months. No longer is it her ‘Russian Fairytale’ that is just a ‘parenthesis’ in her career. She says that from now on she will spend at least 5-6 months a year there, and that she is already writing with Igor Krutoi the follow-up to Mlle. Zhivago (likely for 2014-2015). Concerning ‘Le Secret’, at least at the time of this interview she said that while the album was ‘finished’, she was still refining the songs. [The interview was actually the result of the contest that had been held, with the winners, pictured in the scans, getting to go on Lara’s trip to Russia and meet with her backstage in Moscow.]
Lara’s split career is of great benefit to her fans, because, as they noted, it means twice as many albums. This has always been Lara’s point of view, one that she mentioned years ago in connection with signing with Sony for her English albums. Given that her Russian discs are released by Krutoi’s company, and her French releases now by her own company, she has better ‘control’ of this dual process (and obviously more financial risk) than she did with Sony and Universal. The downside for her long-time fans in Belgium and France is that it will take Lara away from them at least half the year every year (if her estimate is meaningful), and on long tours every several years. The extended absences will make it more challenging for her to build a continuing relationship with her Francophile audience; there was notable grumbling from some French fans at the headline of the article. One also wonders what role her split attention played in the demise of her relationship with Gerard (and of course there are once again rumors about Lara and Igor, however inaccurate they may prove to be…). At least this year, with her release of a modified MZ album in these countries, she is bringing the fruits of her Russian labor back to them; she stated again in the article that she was surprised at how well it was received in Belgium, and she said that was the reason that they ultimately made it a general release in the big record stores there.
Otherwise, this was a quiet, per-Christmas week. In that spirit, the LF Czech page put a very appropriate photo of Lara for the Christmas season; it can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=343566485750332&set=a.190200364420279.42108.183951155045200&type=1&theater
And Lara put the following salutation on her FB site: “Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all of you!!!!!”
That wish is seconded here – Happy Holidays!
David
