Tara Turunen has long been at the top of the wish list of the “Rock Meets Classic” makers: Hardly anyone embodies the bombastic fusion of symphony and guitar riff like the trained soprano from Finland. With her band Nightwish The “Walküre of Symphonic Rock” co-invented “Opera Metal” at the turn of the millennium. Even after the separation from Nightwish, Turunen was so in demand for projects between all genres that there was no time for the crossover classic “Rock Meets Classic” – until the current round, on which she is now with colleagues from Supertramp, Ultravox and Manfred Man’s Earth Band plays with a large orchestra.
SZ: Ms. Turunen, you have been living in Marbella for eight years and before that you were in Buenos Aires for a long time. Doesn’t the Finnish melancholy, which is so important for Scandinavian metal, suffer from all the sun?
Tara Turunen: I can compose in dark places, but I prefer to be on the beach. I need the light! For my art. For my life. For my health.
What is still typically Finnish about you today?
We Finns call this “Sisu”: an inner strength and stubbornness with which we work our way through tough situations like water through rock. Maybe it comes from the Vikings.
You have been working persistently on your career as a classical singer for 30 years, but you are much better known among rock fans.
True, classical music was always my goal. While I was still studying church music at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, I became a rock singer, almost overnight. That turned my entire life upside down. Rock is my main job, but I am also often asked to perform in orchestral concerts. Soon I want to record a classical album, Sibelius or German art songs. I practice a lot classically and also have a singing teacher in Buenos Aires: I have no problem singing a classical aria.
Does the classical music audience, which is considered very demanding, let you get away with it?
I always felt embraced by classical audiences. But actually I often remained “the rock singer”. The purists should also be taught that there are extraordinary talents not only in classical music. For me, the liberation process was similar: it took a long time to get rid of everything I had studied. I was stubborn when it came to composing. It was an eye-opener to realize: You know so much, but where is your heart? Sometimes you have to break the rules to get ahead.
On the other hand, many crossover projects are arranged in a boring way. Always the same string rock riffs. Will you shake up the “Rock Meets Classic” orchestra with your dual talent?
Haha. Normally I actually do my symphonic arrangements for albums and concerts myself. Let’s see if they let me or if they just see me as a singer.
What will you sing, including Nightwish songs?
Yes too. The setlist is very interesting, but the production doesn’t want me to reveal anything. Just this much: I’m also going to connect with some of these other great guests, I’m going to be one Supertramp-Sing number.
What is the relationship with her former band Nightwish, which she fired in 2005 after nine successful years?
So, there is no longer a relationship in that sense. But I’m friends with the current singer Floor Jansen. And I was on tour in South America with former bassist Marco Hietala in March. This shared connection back is wonderful.
Do you actually have different personalities when you sing classical or metal?
When it comes to classical music, my perfectionist self comes through. At rock shows I want to do everything right, but there’s also this other voice inside me that says: You can have fun! But I’m always emotional, on stage I’m an open book, a storyteller – you’ll never see me singing without a heart.
You wrote a book about life in the music business – did you feel misunderstood?
Actually not. I wrote it for the many women who follow me, young and old. They see me as an encouraging woman who has gone her own way.
Would you advise young musicians to follow their example, doing projects in so many genres and countries, with so many partners? Or should they rather concentrate on one thing?
My path is not the easiest road. I work hard. I often lit the candle from both ends. As a result, I already had serious health problems.
In 2018 you suffered a stroke.
Yes. But my roots, lyrical singing, helped me there too. I always have to come back to them, I have to pay attention to them, because if they rot, the rest dies too.
Why is classical music a medicine for you?
Because her whole body resonates. Not just the vocal cords up here. You can destroy these small muscles very easily. Okay, in classical music it’s even easier to damage the body if you don’t know what you’re doing. But if you have the technique and continue to practice it throughout your life, then it is healthier.
Rock meets Classic with Tarja Turunen, Sunday, April 14th, 8 p.m., Munich, Olympiahalle; Further dates in Bavaria: April 11th Kempten, 12th Passau, 13th Regensburg, 18th Ingolstadt, 20th Nuremberg, 21st Würzburg