Post by davidhr on Aug 5, 2014 8:08:47 GMT -5
Short-term and long-term stories vied for the lead this past week; either could be chosen, but we have to go with the long-term carry over from Lara’s re-emergence, starting with the New Wave Festival after a hiatus of some six months. In this regard, an interview in the Belgium ‘Paris Match’ appeared, giving us the first insight from her in all that time as to her current state and plans. Here is the translation:
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Whatever I do, I DO WITH CAUTION"
Paris Match. You had to cancel several concerts for health reasons and your ENT was very clear: "If you continue to sing every night, you risk irreversible damage". How are you?
Lara Fabian. Well, thank you. Or rather better and better. In progress. I have recovered a good part of my hearing capacity. This is exceptional, since the problem was quite serious. Whatever I do, I must be cautious.
PM: Was it not a warning in relation to your lifestyle?
LF: I learned to measure out my efforts. I am much refreshed in recent months. I also traveled a lot without having to work, I saw shows. In short, I did everything I wanted but I could not do because of lack of time. I learned to make myself happy. This is, without doubt, the most beautiful of individual philosophies.
PM: You are not afraid?
LF: Yes, that my health does not take the shot is my only fear, because for the rest, I've already overcome, obstacles! Today, I want only to keep the hope that those I love: health.
PM: Happy to return to the studio?
LF: I try to see these events with great humility, while telling myself that you can always have to stop because of an accident of life. Some know the terrible and unfair trials. For my part, I always kept the hope of cure. So yes, I am happy to start singing. It is magical to find music when one heals.
PM: What will your future album be composed of?
LF: We have several projects. We go a little everywhere. We have already visited Italy, in Istanbul, but also in England. This happens in a very methodical way, in several markets at the same time. There are two projects in parallel: an English album with a song in Italian, and a French opus with an Italian song. The ensemble is scheduled for next spring.
PM: You recorded "Make Me Yours Tonight" in duet with a Turkish singer who is a real star there.
LF: Yes, Mustafa Ceceli came to me with the idea of a duet. But also with the idea of a magnificent concert on August 13 in Istanbul, in an exceptional location, fully open, the Harbiye Open Air Theatre. I have already produced in Turkey but with this song, I'll enter the radio. We shot the video with an English director, during one day, in the studios of Vilvoorde. This is a very nice idea to fly to a different musical world and discover a new audience. To sing with Ceceli is just wonderful because this artist has a divine voice.
PM: The stage, do you think of it again already?
LF: Yes I do. I have the opportunity to return to the countries of the East, but also in Germany. In total, a good thirty dates are already confirmed. In the course of March, I will go to produce myself in the United States and Canada. So I start to redo the stage, but in a quite targeted manner.
PM: Life seems to make you smile again, thanks to the man who shares your life.
LF: I'm very lucky. I found a person who profoundly corresponds to me. This is probably the best thing that could happen to me, meet a true companion who understands me and supports me. Gabriel is a wonderful man doubled with a magnificent artist. If he is an illusionist by trade, he is also a gifted artist who plays all the instruments. He also sings. He is a polymorphous artist. And therefore a soul who can understand me.
PM: How do you define his allure? This is someone who is firm-handed or, conversely, who has demonstrated a great sensitivity?
LF: His allure is natural imprint. Love should never be a struggle. In a couple, it is necessary to be able to express and communicate just what is expected of each other. And what it is that one likes to live with each other. Beyond a firm hand, it is advisable to possess, to succeed in the difficult alchemy of happiness, a great faculty of communication and of expression. And Gabriel certainly has those qualities.
PM: You're the kind to not hesitate to put yourself in danger for the one you love?
LF: Yes, it is in my nature. I am passionate. We just celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It was great. We remembered the good times and confessed everything we would like to know still. Forward in positivity, that is the true definition of a couple
PM: Can you write that you are a fulfilled woman?
LF: Fulfillment is an ongoing process for which we work every day. This is the "positive attitude" and seeing the bright side of life that allows it to flourish some days. Gabriel is a great support for me. We live together the same existence and the fact of sharing things one for the other soothes us. We always try to be available to the other, so that our family is harmonious and that love reinforces itself. This is not a statement of fact or a certainty that falls from the sky. But today, yes, I'm really happy. I tend to whisper to remain humble in relation to life. Perhaps I have learned that too much enthusiasm kills enthusiasm ...
PM: And your profession can kill happiness? Currently, you are in Belgium. Tomorrow, you will be in Russia, then in the United States. Not easy to live together everyday ...
LF: It is true, it is not easy to share the life of an artist if one does not have the spirit of an artist. Understand that travel is part of this existence and to enhance its consistency is not easy. But with lots of love and understanding, we really get to build and to profit. If I were to make a wish for Gabriel and myself, I would say one thing: that we can grow old together and look at life with the same smile.
PM: Are you proud of your longevity in the business?
LF: I mostly know what I owe to the public. I was able to make this trip because they required it. It was they who offered me the wonderment. I remained a little girl who caught fire when one made her a gift. Like when Mustafa Ceceli, who is a huge star in his country, came to me with his magnificent project. Every place where one opens a door and when a new challenge appears is a gift of life. When you know it, everything is no more than a matter of self-fulfillment. Child, I dreamed of this destiny. I have worked for the living. But meetings were necessary. They arrived as an alignment of stars that is magical.
PM: You keep a diary?
LF: Yes, I have had one of them for fifteen years. One day I stopped writing, without knowing why. Maybe I lived more dificult moments. I have always struggled to pour out my heart when I'm not well. I prefer to erase everything and return with more serenity. I think moreover that I'm going to go back to it ...
PM: Those who know you well know that humor is definitively part of your way of being. Is it the number one rule to survive in the world of showbiz?
LF: This is the same rule for the world in which we live. The humor is very salutary. And we must laugh at ourselves first! This is what allows total demystification. I really think that laughter is a great healer.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Several pictures accompanied the article, including:
www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/08/scans-da-revista-paris-match-belgique.html
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianetEmmanuelMoireLEduo/photos/a.199122136821054.50267.160613337338601/731293696937226/?type=1&theater
www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/08/scans-da-revista-paris-match-belgique.html
A lot of meat in that interview: two new albums for next Spring, with an international English album and a new French album. One wonders if they will be the same songs… is that why the two French songs have English titles? If not, is the English one an album with Krutoi? Otherwise, when would she have had the time to work on it? Are the songs we heard at the New Wave festival from the French album, and if so, does that mean she is releasing a French album with music written by Krutoi? (She has said in the past he is ‘too romantic and Russian’ for a French audience - but maybe it won't be released in France). She indicated a U.S. and Canadian tour set for next March…something to definitely look forward to!
On the worrisome side – she is still concerned about whether her ears will be up to the schedule she has set for herself. The good news is that her hearing has greatly improved; the not-so-good news is that it is not completely healed. One guesses that she hopes it will be by October…
The French media jumped to pick up the story of Lara’s return, including ‘chartsinFrance’ (http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Lara-Fabian/news-93074.html) and Gala (http://www.gala.fr/l_actu/news_de_stars/lara_fabian_est_de_retour_322345]. Referring to the English language album Lara mentioned, ‘chartsinFrance’ note that, “It will be the first English album since Lara Fabian’s "Every Woman in Me" in 2009, an international version of her album of covers "Toutes les femmes en moi." It is necessary to go back to 2004 and the release of "A Wonderful Life" to find an original English album in her discography”.
Nicolas Boucaud on the MZ FB site noticed that John Metcalfe, who is “one of the UK’s most sought-after arrangers” is currently “co-writing and producing an album with Lara Fabian”. (http://www.operapoponice.com/intimissimi/en/creative-2/john-metcalfe/). Presumably this is the English album she referred to. Given that its release is set for next spring, and Lara says she will tour the US and Canada in March, it certainly seems possible she may actually promote the English language album in those countries. We know her studio albums are now available on iTunes in those countries, and one would expect these new ones to be as well. Promoting an English language album – seeing would be believing!
Various other articles about Lara’s return also appeared, here leading into the other big, short-term story (http://www.rtl.be/people/people/news/769125/lara-fabian-de-retour-apres-des-mois-de-convalescence in translation):
----------------------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian back after months of convalescence
Good news for fans of Lara Fabian. The singer arrives with a new single.
After Helene Segara, it's the turn of Lara Fabian to reassure her fans. Absent from the scene for several months for health problems in the inner ear canal following a violent shock, the singer is set to make a comeback.
She announced on Facebook the release August 5th of "Make Me Yours Tonight" a new single duet with Turkish singer Mustafa Ceceli.
"In the studio with Mustafa for our duet" Make me yours tonight "... To follow soon on video and on stage in Istanbul on August 13 ...," she announced before confirming a few minutes later the date of release and to reveal the album cover.
Given the number of reactions, this new more than delighted her fans!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
And here is the press release (thanks to the Lara Fabian Is Here FB site); it was issued in English:
--------------------------------------------------------
PRESS RELEASE - Los Angeles / Brussels / Istanbul, August 4th 2014
“The encounter of two artists, two voices and two musical worlds”. This is the quintessence of “Make Me Yours Tonight”, the new single performed by Lara Fabian and Mustafa Ceceli. The single, released on August 5th worldwide, signalizes the return of Lara Fabian to the stage, and the first steps of the Turkish star Mustafa Ceceli in the international scene.
With “Make Me Yours Tonight”, Lara is visiting musically a part of the world that reaches out from the cultural capital Istanbul to regions as far as the oriental, Turkish, Greek and Mediterranean sounds are touching peoples’ hearts and souls. And Mustafa is acting as her guide, not only with his voice, but also as the arranger of the song.
“Make Me Yours Tonight”, a strong occidental pop tune with an ethnic taste, was already conceived as a meeting point of the Occident and the Orient, as it was composed and written jointly by a British-American and a Cypriot artist in New York (Anthony James - Yiorgos Bellapaisiotis)
Composed by the writers with Lara Fabian’s unique voice in mind, it took the song a few years until two producers of Turkish and Italian descent in Los Angeles (Matt M. Ersin and Jean-François Veneziano / Odacity) discovered it and presented the song to Lara and Mustafa with the idea of a duet.
Soon, this resulted in a personal encounter between the two artists in Brussels, and the musical adventure started. On the way, Lara and Mustafa were joined not only by talented musicians, but also by Sezen Aksu, the “Grande Dame” of contemporary Turkish music, who contributed to this unique project by writing the Turkish lyrics. “Al Götür Beni” was born.
Lara Fabian and Mustafa Ceceli enjoyed this experience immensely, and are inviting their fans around the world to join them to this musical journey with “Make Me Yours Tonight / Al Götür Beni”
MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT / Al GÖTÜR BENI
Written / Composed by: Anthony James – Yiorgos Bellapaisiotis
Turkish lyrics by: Sezen Aksu
Arranged and mixed by: Mustafa Ceceli
Producer: Matt M. Ersin / Odacity
Label: Odacity Records / 9 Productions
Distribution: worldwide - Odacity / 9 Productions - Turkey - DMC
Release date: August 5th 2014
ISRC: “MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT”: BE BU7 14 00013
“Al GÖTÜR BENI” : BE BU7 14 00015
Recorded at: ICP Studios , Brussels - db Music , Istanbul
LARA FABIAN: The unique voice of Lara Fabian is well-known by millions of people. She has sold over 20 million records worldwide and is the best-selling Belgian female artist of all time. Her songs “Je t’aime”, “Adagio”, “I will love again” and others have become worldwide hits and remain among the most popular songs to be performed at song contest castings.
In over 25 years of career, Lara Fabian has released eleven studio albums, has won many prizes for Best Female Vocalist, Best Selling Artist etc. She has participated at the Eurovision song contest with the song “Croire”, which earned her the 4th position. Lara has recorded several soundtracks, including “The Dream Within” for "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", and “For Always” for "AI: Artificial Intelligence" of Steven Spielberg.
Lara Fabian will be on tour in Europe and North America, from October 2014 on.
MUSTAFA CECELI: Mustafa Ceceli is one of the best-selling and most popular artists in Turkey. Having started his musical career in 2007 as a music arranger, he is responsible for more then 20 top ten hits in the Turkish charts as arranger or performer. He has won 35 music awards, including three times the equivalent of the “Grammys” in Turkey, (“Türkiye Müzik Ödülleri /Kral TV”) in the categories “Best Male Artist” and “Best Album” (2010 , 2013 and 2014). The songs of his four albums have been downloaded legally more then 3,5 million times (streaming: 60 Mio, music video streaming: 95 mio). With “Make Me Yours Tonight “, Mustafa Ceceli records for the first time a title in English.
--------------------------------------------------------
Lara used her FB site to promote the single again and again, a somewhat more aggressive approach for her concerning a non-French language release, in particular pointing to its availability on the iTunes France site:
ITunes France : itunes.apple.com/fr/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
At the time of this Update, it is 12th on iTunes France.
Here are some of the others:
UK : itunes.apple.com/gb/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
Germany: itunes.apple.com/de/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
Canada: itunes.apple.com/ca/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
U.S.: itunes.apple.com/us/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
Italy: itunes.apple.com/it/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
Turkey: itunes.apple.com/tr/album/al-gotur-beni-make-me-yours/id905013622
As indicated above, it became available today in a digital release (there is a physical release in Turkey). As you might have expected the English/Turkish versions have shown up on youtube, as individual songs. For the complete EP, listen at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xCid98gmYQ
[No guarantee it will still be there when you read this…]. If you want to see Lara rise up the charts in various countries, consider ordering it on iTunes.
The songs differ primarily in the instrumentation/beat and the degree of duet singing (in addition to there being a complete instrumental version). It seems to have gotten good reviews from fans, without them having to ‘get used to it’ (and, for once, praised for its ‘modernity’). This bodes well for radio play (in Turkey, if perhaps nowhere else).
Lara then put the words for the English language version on her FB site:
---------------------------------------------------
“Make Me Yours Tonight”
Anthony James / Yiorgos Bellapaisiotis
I NEVER GIVE UP
WHATEVER SEEMS SO HARD TO GET
I CROSS THE LINE WHEN SOMETHING SHINES
AND I KNOW THAT IF IT’S FAKE
I’LL GO BACK
WON’T MISS A CHANCE
YOUR DEEP BLUE EYES ARE THE SEA OF LOVE
I MADE UP MY MIND TO WALK THIS WIRE
FLAMES ASCENDING, BEAT AROUND ME
THE WAY YOU TOUCH SETS ME ON FIRE
TAKE ME TO ANOTHER PLACE
HOLD ME TIGHT, I WANNA HEAR YOUR HEART
MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT
IT’S LOVE
I FEEL ALL OVER ME
MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT
DARK RAGING SKIES
WHEN I THINK THAT YOU MIGHT JUST TURN BACK
I LOOK AROUND AND ALL I SEE
AN OASIS OF LOVE
HAS FOUND ME
YOUR DEEP BLUE EYES ARE THE SEA OF LOVE
I MADE UP MY MIND TO WALK THIS WIRE
FLAMES ASCENDING, BEAT AROUND ME
THE WAY YOU TOUCH SETS ME ON FIRE
TAKE ME TO ANOTHER PLACE
HOLD ME TIGHT, I WANNA HEAR YOUR HEART
MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT
IT’S LOVE
I FEEL ALL OVER ME
MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT
-------------------------------------------------------
She also indicated that the video for it, shot in a studio “far from Brussels” would appear soon on Youtube; here’s the picture she provided:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/751542391553927/?type=1&theater
And then, she provided a photo of Mustafa Ceceli:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/751990264842473/?type=1&theater
Another wonderful picture (this from the Paris Match article):
www.facebook.com/382393522416/photos/a.398533517416.164839.382393522416/10152602544412417/?type=1&theater
This is more publicity than Lara has given her own solo releases – possibly because she is convinced it will actually be played on the radio (in Turkey, at least). As to providing the lyrics, she has not done so for any of the songs with Igor Krutoi, either for the Mme. Zhivago album or the songs we’ve heard so far coming up for the next one(s) – even though she herself wrote them, in contrast to the writer for this song.
It’s interesting that Lara has jumped so hard into this activity – maybe due to built up frustration at not being able to perform all these months, maybe seeing a chance at ‘conquering’ a new audience…It reminds one somewhat of her effort with Gigi d'Alessio for “Un cuore malato”. That duet certainly got her a lot of publicity in Italy, but with no follow-up (in her ‘home’ country), an Italian career never developed. And she’s getting a lot of press with this effort; the Lara Fabian Is Here FB site published a picture showing different Turkish newspaper articles (originally from ‘Odacity’):
www.facebook.com/166959643357708/photos/a.168982793155393.43222.166959643357708/706153482771652/?type=1&theater
Will there be a follow-up for Lara in Turkey? Or just another pass-by at an interesting country?
‘ChartsinFrance’ picked up this story as well (http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Lara-Fabian/news-93028.html), noting that as of yet there is no indication the single will be released in France. They also wrote, “In a European (but not France) tour this fall, Lara Fabian has unveiled two new songs written by Igor Krutoy last week at the New Wave Festival in Jurmala ,Latvia. It could be the first two extracts for a new album for the Russian public, as was "Mademoiselle Zhivago" in 2010 {except Lara was more specific in the Paris Match article}. Again, no confirmation has been made by the principal party, but it suggests that if Lara Fabian has given much to the French public in 2013 with the album "Le Secret," 2014 will be reserved for Europeans and especially the countries of the East, where she meets a great success”.
In other news, as long as we’re talking about duets, the Lara Fabian Mexico site has posted pictures of Lara with Mario Frangoulis performing during the Closing Night Concert of the 57th Cannes Film Festival in May of 2004 in Cannes, France. This of course was in association with the film ‘DeLovely’ which was shown there. The wonderful photos can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianfromMexico/photos/a.705914259462637.1073741861.556364357750962/705914586129271/?type=1&theater
Here is an attempt at an English translation of the lyrics of Lara’s two latest songs with Krutoi (we’re assuming she wrote the lyrics; we know he wrote the music). Errors undoubtedly arise in both the French lyrics (with help from Sonia Nogués on the MZ website) and my English translation. If anyone has any suggested improvements, don’t hesitate to make them known. [We’ll see If Lara ever gets around to publishing the lyrics, but again it was never done for the Mme. Zhivago songs].
------------------------------------------
RUNNING
(Fabian and Krutoi)
And I struggle against this false self
Who said to me, who said to me quite low
Take good care on your part of the hour
But who will tell me when the time will turn, the truth
The real reason "which of us two will have it"?
And for who these tears?
Who do we not believe, is it this life which battles or our fears
Our fears encrusted like old ills
That resonate in major downfalls
Which shape the wall of errors
And here we are again struggling with this false self, opening wide for it our little arms
Refusing what is the light of the heart ...
[Refrain]
Never silence its sincere voice
Embrace from the inside the noise of the shadows
Which gives birth to our fears
Animate the joy that dies
Under reason this poison without pain
It was then at dawn, the tear of the strongest
Innovating, activating my body disease,
"The bad friend" who sleeps
Soon without remorse without detours I die
Not having understood the effort, to propose the truce
Who can save me?
What will take me there, what frail vessel
Will leave, will leave the city of my useless
Sacrifice, mobile building
In quest of too heavy regrets
I prefer still the taste of remorse
And to pass, to pass completely
Empty overboard
Toward the world that I have
[Refrain]
Never silence its sincere voice
Embrace from the inside the noise of the shadows
Which gives birth to our fears
Reanimate the joy that dies
Under reason this poison without pain
This poison without pain (x3)
Without pain, without pain
----------------------------------------------
FURIOUS
(Fabian and Krutoi)
And in this silence, I cry, I should, I dance
I know, I know
That there will be nothing that I am bound to thee forever
And no matter what my sadness, the tearing
That bleeds in secret
At the end of you I breathe like returning to oneself, to the dock
[Refrain]
You are my impossible, unspeakable, inaccessible love
My ardent desire, my soul, my soul
You are my unfathomable improbable twin of return
And time does not care about our detour
And in this trance, I see the emptiness that comes forward, I lean over
I imagine your tender arms, I leave this ‘déjà vu’, I cut
It is then that my hopes die from unspeakable pain
I take my place threatened by the inescapable dream
[Refrain]
You are my impossible, unspeakable, inaccessible love
My ardent desire, my soul, my soul
You are my unfathomable improbable twin of return
And time does not care about our detour
You are my indescribable, my incompressible,
My incalculable love
Always my soul, my soul (2x)
I imagine your tender arms and I leave this ‘déjà vu’,
I cut, I cut
Musical Interlude
I have so much taken the time from another time
At the edge of my memory
For a price, reborn in this mirror
I know that nothing is true here
Man is deaf of trajectories
Beyond, I will find my story
Beyond – my story
----------------------------------------------------
One wonders if the fans in the ‘countries to the east’ pay much attention to Lara’s lyrics, which give a very different impression from her stage appearance.
Now for the next three (or, again, three and a half) ‘best of’ videos.
Silence: www.youtube.com/watch?v=00UCaH3Rh_I
: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GutAmLdnNQ
Silence/Silence: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzrWoEZ52MM
: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQfAiwASmuA
: app.box.com/s/2h6zeds1u8te0n004v0a
Soleil Soleil: app.box.com/s/7qd83scenwi3q9eyhuma
: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvG6qW0Yge0
Speranza: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW-Pqi4WVBk
‘Silence’ is one of the more profound songs from “Nue”, another example of the denseness of Lara’s lyrics (as in the new songs above), along with her philosophy. The (first) two versions chosen here are, first, from the TV show ‘Le Grand Blond’, and it shows how well she can sing this song, while the second version is an example of her performance ability, from the live DVD of ‘Nue’.
An English language version of ‘Silence’ appeared on ‘A Wonderful Life’. I know of no instance in which she sang it completely, but it was combined with the French version a number of times. Three such were chosen in the ‘Silence/Silence’ category. The first is for the quality of the video, from the ‘Un Regard Neuf’ DVD; it features French first, then English, then back to French. The second version is from Moscow, and it has the reverse – it starts in English. And the third is perhaps her most spirited performance, from Valras, and it shows how she often included audience interaction in an extended ending.
‘Soleil soleil’ is a song she sang as a child, and it is her paean to Nana Mouskouri. Of course the first choice is when she was surprised by Nana – clearly one of the highlight videos of Lara’s career. The second choice includes the holograms, from the TLFM font leur show’ DVD.
‘Speranza’ is likewise Lara’s paean to her parents and their meeting, the choice here being from the ‘Un Regard Neuf’ DVD. There was also a very nice professional video of it released as part of the ‘Neuf’ package, which can be seen at (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CmreoCG3WY).
Lara is clearly back, at least for a while. Her concert schedule doesn’t really pick up for the next several months, so there may be some more ‘down time’ publicly, although she has a few appearances before that. But we may well see more interviews and perhaps some additional promotion for the new single, including the advertised video of it.
David
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Whatever I do, I DO WITH CAUTION"
Paris Match. You had to cancel several concerts for health reasons and your ENT was very clear: "If you continue to sing every night, you risk irreversible damage". How are you?
Lara Fabian. Well, thank you. Or rather better and better. In progress. I have recovered a good part of my hearing capacity. This is exceptional, since the problem was quite serious. Whatever I do, I must be cautious.
PM: Was it not a warning in relation to your lifestyle?
LF: I learned to measure out my efforts. I am much refreshed in recent months. I also traveled a lot without having to work, I saw shows. In short, I did everything I wanted but I could not do because of lack of time. I learned to make myself happy. This is, without doubt, the most beautiful of individual philosophies.
PM: You are not afraid?
LF: Yes, that my health does not take the shot is my only fear, because for the rest, I've already overcome, obstacles! Today, I want only to keep the hope that those I love: health.
PM: Happy to return to the studio?
LF: I try to see these events with great humility, while telling myself that you can always have to stop because of an accident of life. Some know the terrible and unfair trials. For my part, I always kept the hope of cure. So yes, I am happy to start singing. It is magical to find music when one heals.
PM: What will your future album be composed of?
LF: We have several projects. We go a little everywhere. We have already visited Italy, in Istanbul, but also in England. This happens in a very methodical way, in several markets at the same time. There are two projects in parallel: an English album with a song in Italian, and a French opus with an Italian song. The ensemble is scheduled for next spring.
PM: You recorded "Make Me Yours Tonight" in duet with a Turkish singer who is a real star there.
LF: Yes, Mustafa Ceceli came to me with the idea of a duet. But also with the idea of a magnificent concert on August 13 in Istanbul, in an exceptional location, fully open, the Harbiye Open Air Theatre. I have already produced in Turkey but with this song, I'll enter the radio. We shot the video with an English director, during one day, in the studios of Vilvoorde. This is a very nice idea to fly to a different musical world and discover a new audience. To sing with Ceceli is just wonderful because this artist has a divine voice.
PM: The stage, do you think of it again already?
LF: Yes I do. I have the opportunity to return to the countries of the East, but also in Germany. In total, a good thirty dates are already confirmed. In the course of March, I will go to produce myself in the United States and Canada. So I start to redo the stage, but in a quite targeted manner.
PM: Life seems to make you smile again, thanks to the man who shares your life.
LF: I'm very lucky. I found a person who profoundly corresponds to me. This is probably the best thing that could happen to me, meet a true companion who understands me and supports me. Gabriel is a wonderful man doubled with a magnificent artist. If he is an illusionist by trade, he is also a gifted artist who plays all the instruments. He also sings. He is a polymorphous artist. And therefore a soul who can understand me.
PM: How do you define his allure? This is someone who is firm-handed or, conversely, who has demonstrated a great sensitivity?
LF: His allure is natural imprint. Love should never be a struggle. In a couple, it is necessary to be able to express and communicate just what is expected of each other. And what it is that one likes to live with each other. Beyond a firm hand, it is advisable to possess, to succeed in the difficult alchemy of happiness, a great faculty of communication and of expression. And Gabriel certainly has those qualities.
PM: You're the kind to not hesitate to put yourself in danger for the one you love?
LF: Yes, it is in my nature. I am passionate. We just celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It was great. We remembered the good times and confessed everything we would like to know still. Forward in positivity, that is the true definition of a couple
PM: Can you write that you are a fulfilled woman?
LF: Fulfillment is an ongoing process for which we work every day. This is the "positive attitude" and seeing the bright side of life that allows it to flourish some days. Gabriel is a great support for me. We live together the same existence and the fact of sharing things one for the other soothes us. We always try to be available to the other, so that our family is harmonious and that love reinforces itself. This is not a statement of fact or a certainty that falls from the sky. But today, yes, I'm really happy. I tend to whisper to remain humble in relation to life. Perhaps I have learned that too much enthusiasm kills enthusiasm ...
PM: And your profession can kill happiness? Currently, you are in Belgium. Tomorrow, you will be in Russia, then in the United States. Not easy to live together everyday ...
LF: It is true, it is not easy to share the life of an artist if one does not have the spirit of an artist. Understand that travel is part of this existence and to enhance its consistency is not easy. But with lots of love and understanding, we really get to build and to profit. If I were to make a wish for Gabriel and myself, I would say one thing: that we can grow old together and look at life with the same smile.
PM: Are you proud of your longevity in the business?
LF: I mostly know what I owe to the public. I was able to make this trip because they required it. It was they who offered me the wonderment. I remained a little girl who caught fire when one made her a gift. Like when Mustafa Ceceli, who is a huge star in his country, came to me with his magnificent project. Every place where one opens a door and when a new challenge appears is a gift of life. When you know it, everything is no more than a matter of self-fulfillment. Child, I dreamed of this destiny. I have worked for the living. But meetings were necessary. They arrived as an alignment of stars that is magical.
PM: You keep a diary?
LF: Yes, I have had one of them for fifteen years. One day I stopped writing, without knowing why. Maybe I lived more dificult moments. I have always struggled to pour out my heart when I'm not well. I prefer to erase everything and return with more serenity. I think moreover that I'm going to go back to it ...
PM: Those who know you well know that humor is definitively part of your way of being. Is it the number one rule to survive in the world of showbiz?
LF: This is the same rule for the world in which we live. The humor is very salutary. And we must laugh at ourselves first! This is what allows total demystification. I really think that laughter is a great healer.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Several pictures accompanied the article, including:
www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/08/scans-da-revista-paris-match-belgique.html
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianetEmmanuelMoireLEduo/photos/a.199122136821054.50267.160613337338601/731293696937226/?type=1&theater
www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/08/scans-da-revista-paris-match-belgique.html
A lot of meat in that interview: two new albums for next Spring, with an international English album and a new French album. One wonders if they will be the same songs… is that why the two French songs have English titles? If not, is the English one an album with Krutoi? Otherwise, when would she have had the time to work on it? Are the songs we heard at the New Wave festival from the French album, and if so, does that mean she is releasing a French album with music written by Krutoi? (She has said in the past he is ‘too romantic and Russian’ for a French audience - but maybe it won't be released in France). She indicated a U.S. and Canadian tour set for next March…something to definitely look forward to!
On the worrisome side – she is still concerned about whether her ears will be up to the schedule she has set for herself. The good news is that her hearing has greatly improved; the not-so-good news is that it is not completely healed. One guesses that she hopes it will be by October…
The French media jumped to pick up the story of Lara’s return, including ‘chartsinFrance’ (http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Lara-Fabian/news-93074.html) and Gala (http://www.gala.fr/l_actu/news_de_stars/lara_fabian_est_de_retour_322345]. Referring to the English language album Lara mentioned, ‘chartsinFrance’ note that, “It will be the first English album since Lara Fabian’s "Every Woman in Me" in 2009, an international version of her album of covers "Toutes les femmes en moi." It is necessary to go back to 2004 and the release of "A Wonderful Life" to find an original English album in her discography”.
Nicolas Boucaud on the MZ FB site noticed that John Metcalfe, who is “one of the UK’s most sought-after arrangers” is currently “co-writing and producing an album with Lara Fabian”. (http://www.operapoponice.com/intimissimi/en/creative-2/john-metcalfe/). Presumably this is the English album she referred to. Given that its release is set for next spring, and Lara says she will tour the US and Canada in March, it certainly seems possible she may actually promote the English language album in those countries. We know her studio albums are now available on iTunes in those countries, and one would expect these new ones to be as well. Promoting an English language album – seeing would be believing!
Various other articles about Lara’s return also appeared, here leading into the other big, short-term story (http://www.rtl.be/people/people/news/769125/lara-fabian-de-retour-apres-des-mois-de-convalescence in translation):
----------------------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian back after months of convalescence
Good news for fans of Lara Fabian. The singer arrives with a new single.
After Helene Segara, it's the turn of Lara Fabian to reassure her fans. Absent from the scene for several months for health problems in the inner ear canal following a violent shock, the singer is set to make a comeback.
She announced on Facebook the release August 5th of "Make Me Yours Tonight" a new single duet with Turkish singer Mustafa Ceceli.
"In the studio with Mustafa for our duet" Make me yours tonight "... To follow soon on video and on stage in Istanbul on August 13 ...," she announced before confirming a few minutes later the date of release and to reveal the album cover.
Given the number of reactions, this new more than delighted her fans!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
And here is the press release (thanks to the Lara Fabian Is Here FB site); it was issued in English:
--------------------------------------------------------
PRESS RELEASE - Los Angeles / Brussels / Istanbul, August 4th 2014
“The encounter of two artists, two voices and two musical worlds”. This is the quintessence of “Make Me Yours Tonight”, the new single performed by Lara Fabian and Mustafa Ceceli. The single, released on August 5th worldwide, signalizes the return of Lara Fabian to the stage, and the first steps of the Turkish star Mustafa Ceceli in the international scene.
With “Make Me Yours Tonight”, Lara is visiting musically a part of the world that reaches out from the cultural capital Istanbul to regions as far as the oriental, Turkish, Greek and Mediterranean sounds are touching peoples’ hearts and souls. And Mustafa is acting as her guide, not only with his voice, but also as the arranger of the song.
“Make Me Yours Tonight”, a strong occidental pop tune with an ethnic taste, was already conceived as a meeting point of the Occident and the Orient, as it was composed and written jointly by a British-American and a Cypriot artist in New York (Anthony James - Yiorgos Bellapaisiotis)
Composed by the writers with Lara Fabian’s unique voice in mind, it took the song a few years until two producers of Turkish and Italian descent in Los Angeles (Matt M. Ersin and Jean-François Veneziano / Odacity) discovered it and presented the song to Lara and Mustafa with the idea of a duet.
Soon, this resulted in a personal encounter between the two artists in Brussels, and the musical adventure started. On the way, Lara and Mustafa were joined not only by talented musicians, but also by Sezen Aksu, the “Grande Dame” of contemporary Turkish music, who contributed to this unique project by writing the Turkish lyrics. “Al Götür Beni” was born.
Lara Fabian and Mustafa Ceceli enjoyed this experience immensely, and are inviting their fans around the world to join them to this musical journey with “Make Me Yours Tonight / Al Götür Beni”
MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT / Al GÖTÜR BENI
Written / Composed by: Anthony James – Yiorgos Bellapaisiotis
Turkish lyrics by: Sezen Aksu
Arranged and mixed by: Mustafa Ceceli
Producer: Matt M. Ersin / Odacity
Label: Odacity Records / 9 Productions
Distribution: worldwide - Odacity / 9 Productions - Turkey - DMC
Release date: August 5th 2014
ISRC: “MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT”: BE BU7 14 00013
“Al GÖTÜR BENI” : BE BU7 14 00015
Recorded at: ICP Studios , Brussels - db Music , Istanbul
LARA FABIAN: The unique voice of Lara Fabian is well-known by millions of people. She has sold over 20 million records worldwide and is the best-selling Belgian female artist of all time. Her songs “Je t’aime”, “Adagio”, “I will love again” and others have become worldwide hits and remain among the most popular songs to be performed at song contest castings.
In over 25 years of career, Lara Fabian has released eleven studio albums, has won many prizes for Best Female Vocalist, Best Selling Artist etc. She has participated at the Eurovision song contest with the song “Croire”, which earned her the 4th position. Lara has recorded several soundtracks, including “The Dream Within” for "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", and “For Always” for "AI: Artificial Intelligence" of Steven Spielberg.
Lara Fabian will be on tour in Europe and North America, from October 2014 on.
MUSTAFA CECELI: Mustafa Ceceli is one of the best-selling and most popular artists in Turkey. Having started his musical career in 2007 as a music arranger, he is responsible for more then 20 top ten hits in the Turkish charts as arranger or performer. He has won 35 music awards, including three times the equivalent of the “Grammys” in Turkey, (“Türkiye Müzik Ödülleri /Kral TV”) in the categories “Best Male Artist” and “Best Album” (2010 , 2013 and 2014). The songs of his four albums have been downloaded legally more then 3,5 million times (streaming: 60 Mio, music video streaming: 95 mio). With “Make Me Yours Tonight “, Mustafa Ceceli records for the first time a title in English.
--------------------------------------------------------
Lara used her FB site to promote the single again and again, a somewhat more aggressive approach for her concerning a non-French language release, in particular pointing to its availability on the iTunes France site:
ITunes France : itunes.apple.com/fr/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
At the time of this Update, it is 12th on iTunes France.
Here are some of the others:
UK : itunes.apple.com/gb/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
Germany: itunes.apple.com/de/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
Canada: itunes.apple.com/ca/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
U.S.: itunes.apple.com/us/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
Italy: itunes.apple.com/it/album/make-me-yours-tonight-ep/id904379520
Turkey: itunes.apple.com/tr/album/al-gotur-beni-make-me-yours/id905013622
As indicated above, it became available today in a digital release (there is a physical release in Turkey). As you might have expected the English/Turkish versions have shown up on youtube, as individual songs. For the complete EP, listen at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xCid98gmYQ
[No guarantee it will still be there when you read this…]. If you want to see Lara rise up the charts in various countries, consider ordering it on iTunes.
The songs differ primarily in the instrumentation/beat and the degree of duet singing (in addition to there being a complete instrumental version). It seems to have gotten good reviews from fans, without them having to ‘get used to it’ (and, for once, praised for its ‘modernity’). This bodes well for radio play (in Turkey, if perhaps nowhere else).
Lara then put the words for the English language version on her FB site:
---------------------------------------------------
“Make Me Yours Tonight”
Anthony James / Yiorgos Bellapaisiotis
I NEVER GIVE UP
WHATEVER SEEMS SO HARD TO GET
I CROSS THE LINE WHEN SOMETHING SHINES
AND I KNOW THAT IF IT’S FAKE
I’LL GO BACK
WON’T MISS A CHANCE
YOUR DEEP BLUE EYES ARE THE SEA OF LOVE
I MADE UP MY MIND TO WALK THIS WIRE
FLAMES ASCENDING, BEAT AROUND ME
THE WAY YOU TOUCH SETS ME ON FIRE
TAKE ME TO ANOTHER PLACE
HOLD ME TIGHT, I WANNA HEAR YOUR HEART
MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT
IT’S LOVE
I FEEL ALL OVER ME
MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT
DARK RAGING SKIES
WHEN I THINK THAT YOU MIGHT JUST TURN BACK
I LOOK AROUND AND ALL I SEE
AN OASIS OF LOVE
HAS FOUND ME
YOUR DEEP BLUE EYES ARE THE SEA OF LOVE
I MADE UP MY MIND TO WALK THIS WIRE
FLAMES ASCENDING, BEAT AROUND ME
THE WAY YOU TOUCH SETS ME ON FIRE
TAKE ME TO ANOTHER PLACE
HOLD ME TIGHT, I WANNA HEAR YOUR HEART
MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT
IT’S LOVE
I FEEL ALL OVER ME
MAKE ME YOURS TONIGHT
-------------------------------------------------------
She also indicated that the video for it, shot in a studio “far from Brussels” would appear soon on Youtube; here’s the picture she provided:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/751542391553927/?type=1&theater
And then, she provided a photo of Mustafa Ceceli:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/751990264842473/?type=1&theater
Another wonderful picture (this from the Paris Match article):
www.facebook.com/382393522416/photos/a.398533517416.164839.382393522416/10152602544412417/?type=1&theater
This is more publicity than Lara has given her own solo releases – possibly because she is convinced it will actually be played on the radio (in Turkey, at least). As to providing the lyrics, she has not done so for any of the songs with Igor Krutoi, either for the Mme. Zhivago album or the songs we’ve heard so far coming up for the next one(s) – even though she herself wrote them, in contrast to the writer for this song.
It’s interesting that Lara has jumped so hard into this activity – maybe due to built up frustration at not being able to perform all these months, maybe seeing a chance at ‘conquering’ a new audience…It reminds one somewhat of her effort with Gigi d'Alessio for “Un cuore malato”. That duet certainly got her a lot of publicity in Italy, but with no follow-up (in her ‘home’ country), an Italian career never developed. And she’s getting a lot of press with this effort; the Lara Fabian Is Here FB site published a picture showing different Turkish newspaper articles (originally from ‘Odacity’):
www.facebook.com/166959643357708/photos/a.168982793155393.43222.166959643357708/706153482771652/?type=1&theater
Will there be a follow-up for Lara in Turkey? Or just another pass-by at an interesting country?
‘ChartsinFrance’ picked up this story as well (http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Lara-Fabian/news-93028.html), noting that as of yet there is no indication the single will be released in France. They also wrote, “In a European (but not France) tour this fall, Lara Fabian has unveiled two new songs written by Igor Krutoy last week at the New Wave Festival in Jurmala ,Latvia. It could be the first two extracts for a new album for the Russian public, as was "Mademoiselle Zhivago" in 2010 {except Lara was more specific in the Paris Match article}. Again, no confirmation has been made by the principal party, but it suggests that if Lara Fabian has given much to the French public in 2013 with the album "Le Secret," 2014 will be reserved for Europeans and especially the countries of the East, where she meets a great success”.
In other news, as long as we’re talking about duets, the Lara Fabian Mexico site has posted pictures of Lara with Mario Frangoulis performing during the Closing Night Concert of the 57th Cannes Film Festival in May of 2004 in Cannes, France. This of course was in association with the film ‘DeLovely’ which was shown there. The wonderful photos can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianfromMexico/photos/a.705914259462637.1073741861.556364357750962/705914586129271/?type=1&theater
Here is an attempt at an English translation of the lyrics of Lara’s two latest songs with Krutoi (we’re assuming she wrote the lyrics; we know he wrote the music). Errors undoubtedly arise in both the French lyrics (with help from Sonia Nogués on the MZ website) and my English translation. If anyone has any suggested improvements, don’t hesitate to make them known. [We’ll see If Lara ever gets around to publishing the lyrics, but again it was never done for the Mme. Zhivago songs].
------------------------------------------
RUNNING
(Fabian and Krutoi)
And I struggle against this false self
Who said to me, who said to me quite low
Take good care on your part of the hour
But who will tell me when the time will turn, the truth
The real reason "which of us two will have it"?
And for who these tears?
Who do we not believe, is it this life which battles or our fears
Our fears encrusted like old ills
That resonate in major downfalls
Which shape the wall of errors
And here we are again struggling with this false self, opening wide for it our little arms
Refusing what is the light of the heart ...
[Refrain]
Never silence its sincere voice
Embrace from the inside the noise of the shadows
Which gives birth to our fears
Animate the joy that dies
Under reason this poison without pain
It was then at dawn, the tear of the strongest
Innovating, activating my body disease,
"The bad friend" who sleeps
Soon without remorse without detours I die
Not having understood the effort, to propose the truce
Who can save me?
What will take me there, what frail vessel
Will leave, will leave the city of my useless
Sacrifice, mobile building
In quest of too heavy regrets
I prefer still the taste of remorse
And to pass, to pass completely
Empty overboard
Toward the world that I have
[Refrain]
Never silence its sincere voice
Embrace from the inside the noise of the shadows
Which gives birth to our fears
Reanimate the joy that dies
Under reason this poison without pain
This poison without pain (x3)
Without pain, without pain
----------------------------------------------
FURIOUS
(Fabian and Krutoi)
And in this silence, I cry, I should, I dance
I know, I know
That there will be nothing that I am bound to thee forever
And no matter what my sadness, the tearing
That bleeds in secret
At the end of you I breathe like returning to oneself, to the dock
[Refrain]
You are my impossible, unspeakable, inaccessible love
My ardent desire, my soul, my soul
You are my unfathomable improbable twin of return
And time does not care about our detour
And in this trance, I see the emptiness that comes forward, I lean over
I imagine your tender arms, I leave this ‘déjà vu’, I cut
It is then that my hopes die from unspeakable pain
I take my place threatened by the inescapable dream
[Refrain]
You are my impossible, unspeakable, inaccessible love
My ardent desire, my soul, my soul
You are my unfathomable improbable twin of return
And time does not care about our detour
You are my indescribable, my incompressible,
My incalculable love
Always my soul, my soul (2x)
I imagine your tender arms and I leave this ‘déjà vu’,
I cut, I cut
Musical Interlude
I have so much taken the time from another time
At the edge of my memory
For a price, reborn in this mirror
I know that nothing is true here
Man is deaf of trajectories
Beyond, I will find my story
Beyond – my story
----------------------------------------------------
One wonders if the fans in the ‘countries to the east’ pay much attention to Lara’s lyrics, which give a very different impression from her stage appearance.
Now for the next three (or, again, three and a half) ‘best of’ videos.
Silence: www.youtube.com/watch?v=00UCaH3Rh_I
: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GutAmLdnNQ
Silence/Silence: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzrWoEZ52MM
: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQfAiwASmuA
: app.box.com/s/2h6zeds1u8te0n004v0a
Soleil Soleil: app.box.com/s/7qd83scenwi3q9eyhuma
: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvG6qW0Yge0
Speranza: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW-Pqi4WVBk
‘Silence’ is one of the more profound songs from “Nue”, another example of the denseness of Lara’s lyrics (as in the new songs above), along with her philosophy. The (first) two versions chosen here are, first, from the TV show ‘Le Grand Blond’, and it shows how well she can sing this song, while the second version is an example of her performance ability, from the live DVD of ‘Nue’.
An English language version of ‘Silence’ appeared on ‘A Wonderful Life’. I know of no instance in which she sang it completely, but it was combined with the French version a number of times. Three such were chosen in the ‘Silence/Silence’ category. The first is for the quality of the video, from the ‘Un Regard Neuf’ DVD; it features French first, then English, then back to French. The second version is from Moscow, and it has the reverse – it starts in English. And the third is perhaps her most spirited performance, from Valras, and it shows how she often included audience interaction in an extended ending.
‘Soleil soleil’ is a song she sang as a child, and it is her paean to Nana Mouskouri. Of course the first choice is when she was surprised by Nana – clearly one of the highlight videos of Lara’s career. The second choice includes the holograms, from the TLFM font leur show’ DVD.
‘Speranza’ is likewise Lara’s paean to her parents and their meeting, the choice here being from the ‘Un Regard Neuf’ DVD. There was also a very nice professional video of it released as part of the ‘Neuf’ package, which can be seen at (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CmreoCG3WY).
Lara is clearly back, at least for a while. Her concert schedule doesn’t really pick up for the next several months, so there may be some more ‘down time’ publicly, although she has a few appearances before that. But we may well see more interviews and perhaps some additional promotion for the new single, including the advertised video of it.
David
