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==