Catherine Lara

Catherine Lara (; born Catherine Bodet; 29 May 1945) is a French violinist, composer, singer, and author. Over a career spanning more than five decades, she has established herself as an icon in French pop/rock music as well as the neo-classical genre. She has released 26 studio albums, contributed music to numerous television and film productions, and helped stage and produce many theatrical works. Lara is openly lesbian.

Career Beginnings Catherine Bodet was born in Poissy, near Paris, the daughter of a doctor and pianist father, and a violinist mother. Catherine started playing the violin at age 5 and entered the Conservatoire de Versailles at age 11, obtaining first prize in 1958. She went on to get the 2nd prize for violin at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1965 and the first prize for chamber music in 1966.

The 1983 album La Rockeuse de diamant proved a major success, with the eponymous single and the daring song "Autonome", in which Lara openly reveals her sexual preferences with the words "...for a long time I thought what others thought...I lived as if I was someone else...for a long time I knew parallel loves...until the day when, autonomous, autonomous, free to love a woman or a man...". This made Lara one of the first French celebrities to come out as openly gay. During an interview with Michel Denisot on the show Mon Zénith à moi, when asked what she looks for first in a man, she stated "His wife". Although she did not publicize it at the time, Lara dated actress Muriel Robin from 1990 to 1995.

In 1991, she worked with Plamondon on a rock opera where she embodied female writer George Sand, titled Sand et les Romantiques. As part of the show, she released a duet with her friend Véronique Sanson, entitled "Entre elle et moi". Other artists involved in the production include Riccardo Cocciante, Daniel Lavoie, and Maurane. The opera was staged by Alfredo Arias at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

1993 proved to be a busy year for Lara. She took part in several charity concerts for Les Restos du coeur alongside French rock stars Johnny Hallyday, Eddy Mitchell, and Jean-Jacques Goldman, as well as supporting Sidaction and Sol En Si. Later that year, she released the album Maldonne. She also acted as artistic advisor for the Roger Louret production La Java des mémoires.

In 2005, Lara composed the musical show Graal, inspired by Arthurian lore, which was certified Gold. She also released an album of original songs titled Passe-moi l'ciel the same year.

2006 saw two collaborations, one with French singer Isabelle Aubret on the song "Le dernier aveu" and three tracks on Mario Pelchat's album Le monde où je vais.

In 2009, Lara released her next instrumental album, titled Au-delà des murs, whose music was inspired by the sound of the Balkans. The CD was accompanied by a DVD, the performances on which were co-directed by Éric Mouquet of Deep Forest.

Paying homage to her own repertoire, in 2012 Lara released the album Au cœur de l'âme Yiddish. A re-recording of some of her best-known songs such as "Nuit Magique" with a distinctly Yiddish flavour, she is accompanied on the album by the klezmer ensemble Sirba Octet. The song "Le dos au mur" is a duet with Mathilde Seigner.

In 2014–2015, Lara wrote the score to the French crime drama series Capitaine Marleau, directed by her friend Josée Dayan.

Lara's next, and to date latest, original album was released in 2018 and titled Bô, le voyage musical. This was accompanied by a theatrical production held at the Théâtre du 13e Art in Paris.

Discography Studio albums Ad libitum (fr) (1972) Les années poussière (1972) Marche dans le temps (1972) La craie dans l'encrier (1974) Nil (1975) Jeux de société (1976) Vaguement (1977) Coup d'feel (fr) (1979) Geronimo (1980) Johan (fr) (1981) T'es pas drôle (1982) La Rockeuse de diamants (fr) (1983) Flamenrock/Espionne (1984) Nuit magique (fr) (1986) Encore une fois (1987) Rocktambule (1988) Sand et les romantiques (1991) Maldonne (1993) Mélomanie (1996) Aral (fr) (Instrumental) (2000) Graal (fr) (2005) Passe-moi l'ciel (2005) Au-delà des murs (Instrumental) (2009) Une voix pour ferré (2011) Au cœur de l'âme Yiddish (with Sirba Octet and Mathilde Seigner) (2012) Bô, le voyage musical (Instrumental) (2018)

Live albums Catherine Lara en concert à l'Olympia (1984) Lara Live 88 (1988)

Best of 16 grands succès (1984) 1 Heure avec Catherine Lara (1984) Plein Feux (1985) The Best of Magic Lara - 12 hits (1986) Bravo à Catherine Lara (1988) Rock'n roll de Montréal (72–80) – double CD (1992) Sonate pour guitare et violon (1992) La craie dans l’encrier (1992) Coup de feel (1992) 16 chansons d’or (1993) Collection Gold - Au milieu de nulle part (1995) Collection Gold - Coup de feel(1995) Best of Lara (72–96 Les années magiques) – double CD (1997) Best of Lara (72–96 Les années magiques) – box set of 5 CDs (1997) Coup d’feel (2001) Les indispensables - versions originales (2003) Master Série (2003) Le best of (2005) Catherine Lara (2005) Les années CBS – box set of 8 CDs (2015) 4 albums originaux – box set of 4 CDs (2015) Best Hits – box set of 3 CDs (2016)

Collaborations Sol En Si with Alain Souchon, Francis Cabrel, Maurane, Maxime Le Forestier, Michel Jonasz (1993)

Scores Docteur Françoise Gailland (1976) The Rebel (1980) Men Prefer Fat Girls (1981) Revue et corrigée (1982) La Triche (1984) Terre indigo (1996) / TV Series Capitaine Marleau (2015) / TV Series