Catherine Lara, born Catherine Bodet on May 29, 1945, is a multifaceted French artist who has made a lasting impact on the music industry. Over a career spanning more than five decades, she has established herself as a renowned violinist, composer, singer, and author.
Born in Poissy, near Paris, to a doctor and pianist father, and a violinist mother, Catherine started playing the violin at the tender age of five. She later entered the Conservatoire de Versailles at the age of 11 and obtained first prize in 1958. Her exceptional talent continued to flourish, as she went on to receive the 2nd prize for violin at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1965 and the first prize for chamber music in 1966.
After leaving the Conservatoire, Lara founded her own chamber orchestra, Les Musiciens de Paris, in which she played the first violin. She then created the Lara Quartet, which accompanied singers on stage, including Claude Nougaro, Nana Mouskouri, Mireille Mathieu, and Jean Ferrat. Her impressive list of collaborations includes recording with Françoise Hardy, Maxime Le Forestier, Georgette Lemaire, Jean Sablon, and Juliette Gréco, as well as writing two songs for Barbara's 1972 album Amours incestueuses.
In 1969, Lara opened for Canadian musician Gilles Vigneault at the Olympia music hall in Paris. Her first original album, Ad libitum, was released in 1972, and in 1975 she composed the score to the French film Docteur Françoise Gailland. The following year, William Sheller dedicated a song to her on his album Symphoman, and she played violin on the recording.
Lara's 1974 folk-tinged album La craie dans l'encrier featured vocal contributions from Gilbert Montagné. Since her 1979 album Coup d'feel, her songs have been more influenced by rock music. This album, recorded in the town of Morin-Heights in Quebec, marked the beginning of her collaboration with French-Canadian lyricist Luc Plamondon. Jean-Pierre Ferland also contributed to the album.
Throughout the 1980s, Lara continued to write scores for films, including The Rebel (1980),Men Prefer Fat Girls (1981),and La Triche (1984). She also wrote the music for the musical show Revue et corrigée, created by her friends Bob Decout and Annie Girardot in 1982.
The 1983 album La Rockeuse de diamant proved a major success, with the eponymous single and the daring song "Autonome", in which Lara openly revealed her sexual preferences. This made her one of the first French celebrities to come out as openly gay. In 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".
