Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen Cabuli (born August 17, 1977) is a Finnish
singer-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and
composerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. She is a full
lyric sopranoA lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre which can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have...
and has a
vocal rangeVocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
of three octaves.
Turunen studied singing at
Sibelius AcademyThe Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
and
Hochschule für Musik KarlsruheKarlsruhe's University of Music is a college of music in Karlsruhe, Germany.-Studies:The Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe offers tuition in voice, orchestral instruments, piano, composition and music journalism. The academic degrees go from Bachelors to Artists Diplomas.- External links:*...
. She is well known as a professional classical
lied is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
singer but best known as the former lead vocalist of the Finnish
symphonic metalSymphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
band
NightwishNightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. Formed in 1996 by songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen, Nightwish's current line-up has five members, although Tarja has been replaced by Anette Olzon and the...
, which she founded with
Tuomas HolopainenTuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music....
and Erno Vuorinen in 1996. Their combination of hard and fast guitar riffs with Turunen's classical lead vocals quickly achieved critical and commercial popularity. Their symphonic metal style, soon dubbed "opera metal", inspired many other metal bands and singers.
Turunen was dismissed from the band on October 21, 2005 for personal reasons. She started her solo career in 2006 with the release of a Christmas album called
Henkäys Ikuisuudesta-Breath from Eternity Tour:To promote the album, Turunen a released a special tour playing in Finland and also in Russia; on December 6, 2006, Turunen performed a big concert at the Sibelius Hall in Lahti, Finland and the full show was live broadcasted by the Finnish channel YLE TV2 for 450,000...
. In 2007, Turunen released
My Winter StormMy Winter Storm is the second solo album by Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, and the first to consist mainly of new and original songs specifically written by or for Turunen...
, an album featuring various styles, including
alternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
and symphonic metal and started the
Storm World TourStorm World Tour was the first world tour by finnish singer Tarja Turunen to support her second studio album, My Winter Storm, released on November 19, 2007, by Universal Music; it was Tarja's first world tour since her dismissal from Nightwish in 2005, playing for the first time in several...
. Turunen released her third album,
What Lies Beneath, in 2010. She performed several concerts in Europe, playing in metal festivals including the
Graspop Metal MeetingGraspop Metal Meeting is an annual metal festival in Dessel, Belgium that has taken place each year since 1996. Despite the small size of the festival grounds the festival draws a large number of international spectators, with a total of 142,000 visitors in the course of the 2011 edition...
and the
Wacken Open AirWacken Open Air is a summer open air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small town of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany...
, before starting the
What Lies Beneath World TourWhat Lies Beneath World Tour is the second world tour by Finnish soprano Tarja Turunen to promote her third album, What Lies Beneath, released by Universal Music on August 31, 2010....
, scheduled to last until April 2012.
1977–1995: Early life
Tarja Turunen was born in the small village of Puhos, near
KiteeKitee is a town and a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...
, Finland. She has an older brother, Timo, and a younger brother, Toni. Her mother Marjatta Turunen worked in the town administration, and her father Teuvo Turunen is a carpenter. Her talent for music was first noted when she sang the song "Enkeli taivaan" (the Finnish version of "
From Heaven Above to Earth I ComeThe Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" , BWV 769, are a set of five variations in canon for organ with two manuals and pedals by Johann Sebastian Bach on the Christmas hymn by Martin Luther of the same name...
") in the Kitee church hall at age three. She joined the church choir and started taking vocal lessons. At age six, she started playing piano.
At
comprehensive schoolA comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
, Turunen performed as a singer for several projects. Her first piano teacher Kirsti Nortia-Holopainen remembered that "Tarja was in a school that had some very musical people. Even then she got to perform a lot. I think she sang in every school function there was." Her music teacher, Plamen Dimov, later explained that "If you gave Tarja just one note, she immediately got it. With the others, you´d have to practice three, four, five times". At school she had a tough time, since some girls bullied her because they envied her voice. To solve that problem, Dimov organized projects outside school. At fifteen, Turunen had her first major appearance as a soloist at a church concert in front of a thousand listeners. In 1993 she attended the Senior Secondary School of Art and Music in
SavonlinnaSavonlinna is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region. The Finnish name of the town means "Castle of Savonia" and the Swedish name means "Newcastle".- History :...
.
For several years Turunen performed various songs including
soul musicSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
by
Whitney HoustonWhitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
and
Aretha FranklinAretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
. Later she listened to songs from the classical singer
Sarah BrightmanSarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
, especially the song "
The Phantom of the Opera"The Phantom of the Opera" is a song from the stage musical of the same name, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, sung by Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, lyrics written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and additional lyrics by Mike Batt...
", and decided to focus on that genre of music. At eighteen, she moved to
KuopioKuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of , of which is water and half forest...
to study at the
Sibelius AcademyThe Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
.
1996–2005: With Nightwish
In December 1996, former classmate
Tuomas HolopainenTuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen is a Finnish composer known best for symphonic metal music. He has also studied jazz and classical styles, but prefers to be influenced by harmonic film music....
invited Turunen to join his new acoustic mood music project. She immediately agreed. At the recording session for the first demo Holopainen discovered that due to her classical singing lessons, Turunen's voice had become much more powerful than he recalled from their school days. At the following band practices,
Emppu VuorinenErno "Emppu" Matti Juhani Vuorinen is a Finnish guitarist, most famous for being a founding member and occasional songwriter of the symphonic metal band Nightwish...
used an electric guitar instead of an acoustic guitar because he felt that it gave a better accompaniment to her voice. Holopainen later explained that the band members had gradually realised that Turunen's voice had become too dramatic for acoustic mood music, they came to the conclusion that the music had to be massive too. Hence Holopainen decided to form Nightwish as a
metal bandHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
.
Nightwish recorded a second demo with "more bombastic, dramatic" songs in September 1997. Holopainen used this material to convince the Finnish label
Spinefarm RecordsSpinefarm Records is a Finland-based record label focusing mainly on heavy metal artists. In 1999, a sub-label titled Spikefarm Records was started by Sami Tenetz from Thy Serpent...
to publish the band's debut album,
Angels Fall FirstAngels Fall First is the debut album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. The original limited edition of which only 500 copies were released features seven tracks, two of which are not on the regular edition.- Musical style :...
. The success of the first album came as a surprise to the label. As the album hit the top 40 of the Finnish charts, Nightwish started their tour
The First Tour of the Angels-Tour dates:-External links:*...
. That same year, Turunen performed at the
Savonlinna Opera FestivalSavonlinna Opera Festival is held annually in the city of Savonlinna in Finland. The Festival takes place at the medieval Olavinlinna , built in 1475...
for the first time, singing songs from
Richard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and Verdi.
Due to her commitment to the band, Turunen was not able to concentrate sufficiently on her schoolwork and interrupted her academic studies. In 1998, Nightwish published their second album,
Oceanborn-Personnel:Credits for Oceanborn adapted from liner notes.The band*Tarja Turunen - Vocals*Tuomas Holopainen - Keyboards*Emppu Vuorinen - Lead guitar*Sami Vänskä - Bass guitar*Jukka Nevalainen - Drums and PercussionMain Crew...
. This album lacked the earlier elements of folk and
ambient musicAmbient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, and instead focused on fast, melodic keyboard and guitar lines and Turunen's dramatic voice. In addition to the
Oceanborn Europe Tour-Tour dates:...
(1999), Turunen sang solo in
WaltariWaltari is a band from Finland, known for its diversity and combination of music styles, frequently combining alternative metal, progressive metal, death metal, hard rock, heavy metal, hip hop, industrial, pop, punk, rap, symphonic metal, techno and thrash metal.Most of the band's music is written...
's rock-themed ballet
Evankeliumi (also known as
Evangelicum) in several sold-out performances at the
Finnish National OperaThe Finnish National Opera in Helsinki is the leading opera company in Finland. Its home base is the Opera House on Töölönlahti bay in Töölö which opened in 1993, and is state-owned through Senate Properties...
. In 2000 and 2001, Nightwish recorded
WishmasterWishmaster is the third album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on May 19, 2000 by Spinefarm Records.Wishmaster's sound continues the bombastic symphonic power metal approach originally featured on Oceanborn, albeit with more emphasis on atmosphere and melody versus powerful speed...
and
Over the Hills and Far AwayOver the Hills and Far Away is the first EP by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released in 2001 by both Spinefarm Records and Drakkar Records...
and toured Europe and South America (the
Wishmaster World Tour-In 2000:-In 2001:...
). During the Wishmaster World Tour, Turunen met the Argentine Marcelo Cabuli whom she married in 2003.
Turunen enrolled in 2000 at the German music university
Hochschule für Musik KarlsruheKarlsruhe's University of Music is a college of music in Karlsruhe, Germany.-Studies:The Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe offers tuition in voice, orchestral instruments, piano, composition and music journalism. The academic degrees go from Bachelors to Artists Diplomas.- External links:*...
to gain a professional qualification as a soloist with further specialization in
art songAn art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs....
. In addition to the good reputation of the university, Turunen chose to go to Karlsruhe because some people at the Finnish university did not take her seriously as a classical singer due to her commitment in a metal band. While there, she recorded vocals for Nightwish's 2002 album
Century ChildCentury Child is the fourth studio album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released in 2002 by Spinefarm Records. It is the first album with current bassist and male vocalist Marco Hietala....
and for
Beto Vázquez InfinityBeto Vázquez Infinity is an Argentine metal band from Buenos Aires, formed in 2001.-Biography:After the split-up of Nepal, the Argentinean bass player and songwriter Beto Vazquez continued enlarging his musical horizons, always accumulating new ideas, and with the hope of finally making a group of...
. As with the other albums, Holopainen wrote the pieces and sent Turunen the lyrics and a demo recording of the prerecorded instrumental tracks by mail. Using the demo, Turunen designed her vocal lines and the choral passages.
In 2002, Turunen toured South America, performing in the classical
Lied is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
concert
Noche Escandinava (
Scandinavian Night) to sold-out houses. Following this and an exhausting world tour in support of
Century Child (the
World Tour of the Century-In 2002:-In 2003:-External links:*...
), Nightwish took a hiatus and Turunen returned to Karlsruhe to finish her studies. After the hiatus Nightwish recorded the album
OnceOnce is the fifth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on June 7, 2004 by Nuclear Blast and on November 24 by Spinefarm, with the US release on October 5 by Roadrunner Records. In an interview, Tuomas Holopainen said that it is up to the listener to find out the meaning...
; it was released on October 5, 2004. The album has sold platinum in Finland and Germany and was the best selling album in all of Europe in July 2004. The band performed in the supporting
Once Upon a Tour-In 2004:-In 2005:-External links:*...
throughout 2004 and 2005.
For Christmas 2004, Turunen released her first solo single, titled "
Yhden Enkelin UnelmaYhden Enkelin Unelma is a christmas single by finnish singer Tarja Turunen, released as Turunen's first solo project ever, when she was still part of the symphonic metal band Nightwish, back in December 2004; it was also released as an Extended Play in limited edition.Right after the release it...
" (One Angel's Dream), which sold gold in her native country of Finland. At Christmas 2005 it made a reentry at position one in the Finnish Charts. In spring 2005 she prepared the duet "
Leaving You for Me"Leaving You For Me" is a rock song by Star Search-winner German Martin Kesici sung by Finnish singer Tarja Turunen. The single was released on 23 May 2005; the music video was recorded in a Viking community in western Finland called Rosalia Center....
", a collaboration with
Martin KesiciMartin Kesici is a German-Turkish singer and songwriter. He was born to a German mother and a Turkish father. After becoming Star Search-Winner at German TV station Sat.1 in 2003, his first solo single, "Angel of Berlin" entered the German Chart at number one...
, accompanied by a video.
2005: Breakup
The first change in the line up of Nightwish was in September 2001, when bassist
Sami VänskäSami Vänskä is the former bassist of Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish.-Background story:He started playing bass as a private study. He has played in a few bands which have been mostly from the metal genre....
was fired because Holopainen was no longer able to continue working with him. In the following years the relationship between Holopainen and Turunen's husband and manager Marcelo Cabuli deteriorated. This had an impact on the relationship between Holopainen and Turunen as well. At a band meeting after the concert in Oberhausen in December 2004 Turunen announced to the band members that she wanted to leave the band, but agreed to record one more album and to participate in the subsequent tour, planned for 2006/2007. According to her husband, Turunen had further agreed not to make her decision public and to release her first solo album after the new studio album from Nightwish. After the last concert of the
Once Upon a Tour on October 21, 2005 (which was released on video as
End of an EraEnd of an Era is a DVD and double CD from Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. Nuclear Blast recorded their live performance at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland on October 21, 2005, the final concert of a long worldwide tour for their album Once...
), Holopainen gave Turunen a letter signed by himself and the other band members informing her that the band did not want to work with her any more. The
open letterAn open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
was simultaneously published on the band's website. The media closely covered her very public separation from Nightwish, and due to references in the letter to
divaA diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
-like behaviour and to greed, even Turunen's character became the subject of media discussions.
Turunen responded through an open letter on her website and through some interviews in which she explained her view. She was upset that after nine years of working together, Holopainen had announced the separation via an open letter. Because of the continuing media interest, Marcelo Cabuli posted a message addressing the situation on the website in February 2006. He asked that anyone who had questions should email him. In June 2006, Cabuli posted a lengthy reply to many of the questions he had received. He answered questions related to the greed accusation by explaining that the band had agreed on the distribution of earnings in a contract at the formation of Nightwish. Based on that contract, every band member got a fixed share of 20% of the bands income. Marcelo Cabuli stated that unlike others Turunen had never fought for additional songwriter royalties.
Despite the circumstances of the separation, Holopainen's appreciation of Turunen as an artist remained. He explained that he did not search for a similarly trained singer as a successor for Turunen because he considers her to be extraordinarily good in her genre and therefore irreplaceable. Turunen said in an interview that she is very proud of her career with Nightwish. She considers the remaining band members extremely talented and wishes all the best for them and their subsequent lead singer
Anette OlzonAnette Ingegerd Olsson , known by the stage name Anette Olzon, is a Swedish singer from Helsingborg, best known as the second lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish. Olzon was formerly the vocalist in the Swedish AOR band Alyson Avenue...
.
Between 1997 and 2005 she had toured the world with Nightwish, playing on all the continents except Africa and Antarctica. She performed live for more than 500,000 people.
2005–present: Independent career
At the end of 2005, Turunen performed several classical concerts in Finland, Germany, Spain, and Romania. Since she expected to participate in another Nightwish album, several concerts and the release of her Christmas album
Henkäys Ikuisuudesta-Breath from Eternity Tour:To promote the album, Turunen a released a special tour playing in Finland and also in Russia; on December 6, 2006, Turunen performed a big concert at the Sibelius Hall in Lahti, Finland and the full show was live broadcasted by the Finnish channel YLE TV2 for 450,000...
(Finnish for "breath of eternity") were the only activities scheduled for 2006. Turunen again played at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in July 2006, this time as the main act; she sang alongside Finnish
tenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
Raimo SirkiäRaimo Sirkiä is a Finnish operatic tenor whose repertoire ranges from spinto to dramatic. Mr. Sirkia's most famous roles are Otello, Calaf, Tannhäuser, Siegmund, and Lohengrin....
, supported by the Kuopio Symphonic Orchestra. Turunen performed classical arias like "O mio babbino caro" by
PucciniGiacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
, "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" by
VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
and some songs from
Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
—"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "Phantom of the Opera"—among other songs. In November she performed at the charity concert “Tomorrow's Child” with the Tapiola Choir as a benefit for the UNICEF Children's Fund. On December 6, 2006, Turunen performed a big concert at the
Sibelius HallThe Sibelius Hall is a concert hall in Lahti, Finland, named after the composer Jean Sibelius. The concert hall was completed in 2000. Architects Kimmo Lintula and Hannu Tikka designed the hall, which is made of wood. The acoustics were engineered by Artec Consultants, New York...
in
LahtiLahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...
, Finland; it was broadcast live by the Finnish channel
YLE TV2YLE TV2 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by YLE.TV2 launched in 1964, and broadcasts public service programming, children's, youth, sport and music programmes.-Own Productions:* Ajankohtainen kakkonen* Akuutti* Jopet Show* Kummeli...
for 450,000 viewers. She was nominated for the Finnish
Emma AwardThe Emma-gaala is a Finnish music gala arranged yearly by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland, awarding the most distinguished artists and music professionals of the year. It has been arranged since 1983, except for the years 1988–1990....
as Best Soloist of 2006. The following year, Turunen recorded vocals for the track "In The Picture" on the
Nuclear BlastNuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
All-stars album
Into the LightInto the Light is a compilation album from Nuclear Blast Records to commemorate their 20 years as a record label. Produced by Rage guitarist Victor Smolski, with singers Tobias Sammet , Peter "Peavy" Wagner , Tony Kakko , Mats Levén , Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer , Hansi Kürsch , Andi Deris , Oddleif...
.
In August 2006 she started to work on her next solo album,
My Winter StormMy Winter Storm is the second solo album by Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, and the first to consist mainly of new and original songs specifically written by or for Turunen...
, the beginning of her main solo project. It was the first time that Turunen had written songs. She was supported by some professional songwriters. The choir and orchestral arrangements were written by film music composer
James DooleyJames Michael Dooley is a film score composer. Dooley studied music at New York University, majoring in music composition. After finishing the university he moved to Los Angeles, where he studied music with prolific film score composers Christopher Young, Elmer Bernstein and Leonard Rosenman...
. Turunen released
My Winter Storm, an album featuring various styles, including
symphonic metalSymphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
with classical “operatic” lead vocals, in November 2007. The album took the number one spot on the Finnish charts, and went platinum in Finland double platinum in Russia and gold in Germany. She was nominated for an Echo as best newcomer and an
EmmaThe Emma-gaala is a Finnish music gala arranged yearly by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland, awarding the most distinguished artists and music professionals of the year. It has been arranged since 1983, except for the years 1988–1990....
for best Finnish artist. On November 25, 2007, Turunen embarked on the
Storm World TourStorm World Tour was the first world tour by finnish singer Tarja Turunen to support her second studio album, My Winter Storm, released on November 19, 2007, by Universal Music; it was Tarja's first world tour since her dismissal from Nightwish in 2005, playing for the first time in several...
to promote
My Winter Storm. She performed 95 concerts throughout Europe, North and South America and ended the tour in October 2009 at the O2 Academy Islington in London. In December 2008, the EP
The Seer was released in the UK and the new extended edition of
My Winter Storm released on January 2, 2009.
She also contributed three songs to the Finnish charity Christmas album
Maailman kauneimmat joululaulut (Finnish for "The World's Most Beautiful Christmas Songs") released on November 18, 2009. In December 2009 she recorded her vocal part for the song "The Good Die Young", a duet with
Klaus MeineKlaus Meine is a German singer, best known as the lead vocalist and occasional rhythm guitarist of the heavy metal band Scorpions...
which is included on the final
ScorpionsScorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
album
Sting in the TailSting in the Tail is the seventeenth studio album by German heavy metal band Scorpions. It was released on March 19, 2010 in Europe and was released on March 23 in North America...
.
Turunen recorded her third album,
What Lies Beneath, in 2009 and 2010; it was released on September 1, 2010. The album combined
metalA metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
with classical “operatic” elements in an out of the box approach. She started the
What Lies Beneath World TourWhat Lies Beneath World Tour is the second world tour by Finnish soprano Tarja Turunen to promote her third album, What Lies Beneath, released by Universal Music on August 31, 2010....
performing in several festivals, including the
Wacken Open AirWacken Open Air is a summer open air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small town of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany...
and the
Graspop Metal MeetingGraspop Metal Meeting is an annual metal festival in Dessel, Belgium that has taken place each year since 1996. Despite the small size of the festival grounds the festival draws a large number of international spectators, with a total of 142,000 visitors in the course of the 2011 edition...
, with special concerts at
Miskolc Opera FestivalThe Miskolc Opera Festival or International Opera Festival of Miskolc is a cultural event held every summer in Miskolc, the capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Hungary...
and at the
Masters of RockMasters of Rock is a large heavy metal festival in Czech Republic. The main styles represented on this festival are power, speed and heavy metal, though the production tries to make the fest more open for other rock and metal styles as progressive rock/metal, hardcore, death metal or even ska...
, when she performed accompanied by a full orchestra. The tour is scheduled to last until April 2012. Also in 2010 she supported
Alice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
on the German leg of his
Theatre of Death TourThe Theatre of Death Tour was a concert tour by solo artist Alice Cooper that began on July 31, 2009. The tour consisted of 11 legs spanning across North America, Australia and Europe. The tour incorporated a heavy use of theatrics and stunts performed by Cooper himself and a number of actors,...
. On July 17, 2011, she sang again at the Savonlinna Opera Festival along with
José CuraJosé Cura is a prominent operatic tenor known for his intense and original interpretations of his characters, notably Verdi’s Otello and Saint-Saëns’ Samson, as well as for his unconventional and innovative concert performances. He is also able to perform high baritone roles with the extended...
and accompanied by the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra.
Development
Along with visiting the music school in Savonlinna, Turunen began serious classical vocal training at 17. After school, she began studying music (with a specialization in church music) at the
Sibelius AcademyThe Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
. Due to her commitment with Nightwish, she had to interrupt her academic studies.
From 2001 to 2003 she studied at the music academy
Hochschule für Musik KarlsruheKarlsruhe's University of Music is a college of music in Karlsruhe, Germany.-Studies:The Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe offers tuition in voice, orchestral instruments, piano, composition and music journalism. The academic degrees go from Bachelors to Artists Diplomas.- External links:*...
, where she trained as a soloist with further specialization in
art songAn art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs....
. Turunen originally applied to train as a choir singer. At the audition she attracted the attention of professor Mitsuko Shirai, who encouraged Turunen to apply for soloist training.
As a classical singer, Turunen sings with classical vocal technique. She explained that in the early days of Nightwish, it was difficult to combine classical technique with the metal sound in a way that gave her liberty of action without damaging her vocal cords. Classical techniques helped her to play with her voice, so she decided not to pursue extra training in rock/pop singing.
Towards the turn of the millennium, the combination of hard and fast guitar riffs with classical female lead vocals attracted a great deal of attention in the metal scene. The new music style of Nightwish quickly achieved critical and commercial popularity; this
symphonic metalSymphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
style was soon dubbed "opera metal". Turunen does not see herself as an opera singer. She has sung excerpts from operas at the
Savonlinna Opera FestivalSavonlinna Opera Festival is held annually in the city of Savonlinna in Finland. The Festival takes place at the medieval Olavinlinna , built in 1475...
, but she stresses that singing opera cannot be performed as a side project. She would need special training to perfectly sing an entire opera without a microphone.
When asked how the association between the opera and metal genres may have arisen, Turunen said that despite the obvious differences, the two music styles have some similarities:
From the first Nightwish album
Angels Fall FirstAngels Fall First is the debut album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. The original limited edition of which only 500 copies were released features seven tracks, two of which are not on the regular edition.- Musical style :...
(1997) on, critics described Turunen's vocals using adjectives such as
angelic or
valkyrian. The Valkyrie image was later fostered by the second video for the single "
Sleeping Sun"Sleeping Sun" is a power ballad by Nightwish. The song was written by Tuomas Holopainen and dedicated to the solar eclipse that arose on the European sky in 1999, and recorded during the Oceanborn sessions...
" in which Turunen walks on a battlefield as if she were guiding the dead warriors.
On the following albums the singing was technically more complex. On the Nightwish album
Oceanborn-Personnel:Credits for Oceanborn adapted from liner notes.The band*Tarja Turunen - Vocals*Tuomas Holopainen - Keyboards*Emppu Vuorinen - Lead guitar*Sami Vänskä - Bass guitar*Jukka Nevalainen - Drums and PercussionMain Crew...
(1998), her classical vocal training was much more noticeable. For the song "
Passion and the OperaPassion and the Opera is the third single by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released from their album Oceanborn, the single was shipped only in a cardsleeve...
", Turunen performed a
staccatoStaccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...
coloraturaColoratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...
reminiscent of the aria "
Hell's vengeance boils in my heart"Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" is the second aria sung by a coloratura soprano role Queen of the Night in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute .-The aria:...
", sung by the soprano role Queen of the Night in
Mozart'sWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
opera
The Magic FluteThe Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
. "Sleeping Sun" required a well trained breathing technique. Turunen explained in an interview that when they recorded
Oceanborn, she had serious doubts, fearing that she was not yet advanced enough in her studies to have mastered the required techniques.
A challenge of a different kind was the cover version of "
Over the Hills and Far Away"Over the Hills and Far Away" is the third track from English rock band Led Zeppelin's 1973 album Houses of the Holy.-Overview:Jimmy Page and Robert Plant originally constructed the song in 1970 at Bron-Yr-Aur, a small cottage in Wales where they stayed after completing a gruelling North American...
" (2001), as it required a deeper voice, far below the vocal range of an average soprano. In an interview with
Breakout magazine, she reported that in the studio, the band members were shaken by a paroxysm of laughter as she tried to warm up for the vocal lines. As a side benefit of her efforts, Turunen gradually expanded her vocal range considerably into the lower range, which manifested even more on the following albums.
For the album
Century ChildCentury Child is the fourth studio album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released in 2002 by Spinefarm Records. It is the first album with current bassist and male vocalist Marco Hietala....
(2002), she experimented with a more "rock" sounding voice, where she maintained the classical singing technique, but, for example, sang with less vibrato. Turunen was not satisifed that she had successfully transitioned to this new style until the album
OnceOnce is the fifth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on June 7, 2004 by Nuclear Blast and on November 24 by Spinefarm, with the US release on October 5 by Roadrunner Records. In an interview, Tuomas Holopainen said that it is up to the listener to find out the meaning...
(2004).
This deeper "rock"-sounding voice on
Once—as well as on the song "In the Picture" of the album
Into the LightInto the Light is a compilation album from Nuclear Blast Records to commemorate their 20 years as a record label. Produced by Rage guitarist Victor Smolski, with singers Tobias Sammet , Peter "Peavy" Wagner , Tony Kakko , Mats Levén , Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer , Hansi Kürsch , Andi Deris , Oddleif...
—was welcomed by critics as a refreshing change.
Her first solo album
My Winter StormMy Winter Storm is the second solo album by Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, and the first to consist mainly of new and original songs specifically written by or for Turunen...
(2007) contains rock and metal songs as well as songs that resemble classical songs. Turunen uses both her classical singing voice and a rock-sounding voice. In many songs she starts with a rock voice, and then switches for widely arching melodies into a distinctly classical singing voice.
In an interview, she explained that
My Winter Storm was the first album where she had the chance to use her full vocal range.
Register
Turunen's
voice typeA voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types...
is
sopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
(more precisely, (full)
lyric sopranoA lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre which can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have...
). Over the course of her career, Turunen has developed a
vocal rangeVocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
of three
octaveIn music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s. Therefore she is also capable of reaching the
mezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
,
contraltoContralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
and even
coloratura sopranoA coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps. The term coloratura refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice...
registerIn music, a register is the relative "height" or range of a note, set of pitches or pitch classes, melody, part, instrument or group of instruments...
.
This is apparent on her album
My Winter Storm, where the lowest note sung is
F3F is a musical note, the fourth above C. It is also known as fa in fixed-do solfège.When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of Middle F is approximately 349.228 Hz. See pitch for a discussion of historical variations in...
in the song "The Seer", while in another song, she sang up to
D6D is a musical note a whole tone above C, and is known as Re within the solfege system.When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of middle D is approximately 293.665 Hz. See pitch for a discussion of historical variations in...
.
Reception
Turunen's voice is described by critics as remarkably powerful and emotional. Sometimes it is stated that her voice is too trained or operatic for metal music, but even critics who do not like classical voices admit that her voice suits the kind of metal songs she sings unusually well.
Until the end of their collaboration, Turunen's singing was a trademark of Nightwish. She was known as the face and voice of Nightwish while bandleader Holopainen was the soul. Turunen was seen as a key to Nightwish's success. She is respected by other musicians of the metal genre and is an influence on their work; for instance,
Simone SimonsSimone Johanna Maria Simons is a Dutch coloratura mezzo-soprano singer who is the lead vocalist of symphonic metal band Epica.-Biography:...
names her as her inspiration to study classical music and apply that vocal style to a metal band.
Turunen receives most of her media attention in her homeland of Finland. In December 2003, she was invited by Finnish president
Tarja HalonenTarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...
to celebrate the Finnish Independence Day at the Presidential Palace together with other Finnish celebrities. The event is televised annually live by the state-owned broadcaster, the Finnish Broadcasting Company. In December 2007, she performed different versions of the Finnish national anthem "
MaammeMaamme or Vårt land is the title of Finland's national anthem. There is no law on an official national anthem in Finland, but Maamme is firmly established by convention....
" (Finnish: "Our country") accompanied by the Tapiola Sinfonietta, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Finnish independence. The concert was televised by the Finnish Broadcasting Company for 2 million Finnish viewers. During her solo career, Turunen has sold over 86,000 certified records in Finland, which places her among the top 50 of best-selling female soloists.
In Europe, her popularity is mainly limited to the hard rock and metal scene. She had a broader exposure on November 30, 2007, when she was invited to open the farewell fight of
Regina HalmichRegina Halmich is a popular female boxer from Germany. Halmich is among the most successful female boxers of all time, and helped popularize female boxing in Europe.-Amateur career:...
. Her performance of "I Walk Alone" was televised live by the German television station
ZDFZweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
for 8.8 million viewers.
Solo career
- Henkäys Ikuisuudesta
-Breath from Eternity Tour:To promote the album, Turunen a released a special tour playing in Finland and also in Russia; on December 6, 2006, Turunen performed a big concert at the Sibelius Hall in Lahti, Finland and the full show was live broadcasted by the Finnish channel YLE TV2 for 450,000...
(2006)
- My Winter Storm
My Winter Storm is the second solo album by Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, and the first to consist mainly of new and original songs specifically written by or for Turunen...
(2007)
- What Lies Beneath (2010)
- TBA (2012)
Singles
- You Would Have Loved This
You Would Have Loved This is Tarja's second solo single which is a dedication to her mother and predates the release of her christmas album, Henkäys Ikuisuudesta. Five fans watched the making of the single after winning the promotion "Win a Day With Tarja Turunen", made in the official web forum...
(2006)
- I Walk Alone
"I Walk Alone" is the first single from the album My Winter Storm by Tarja. It has been released on October 26, 2007 through Universal Music.-Song:...
(2007)
- Die Alive
"Die Alive" is the second single by Tarja from My Winter Storm. It was released on March 7, 2008 on Universal Music. The video for the song was recorded in December, and it premiered in January.-Song:...
(2008)
- Enough
"Enough" is the third and final single by Tarja from her debut album My Winter Storm, composed by Tarja and Michelle Leonard.The single was released on March 9, 2009 by Universal Music as a digital download exclusive to the United Kingdom...
(2009)
- Falling Awake (2010)
- I Feel Immortal
"I Feel Immortal" is a promotional single by Tarja from her second album What Lies Beneath and was to be the third single before being pushed forward to second....
(2010)
- Until My Last Breath
Until My Last Breath is the first Universal single for Tarja's album What Lies Beneath.The edition for Germany, Switzerland, and Austria comes with Tarja's new song, "The Crying Moon", which had been mentioned/discussed even before she finished the My Winter Storm tour.The International release on...
(2010)
- Underneath
"Underneath" is fourth single by Tarja from her third album What Lies Beneath it was released 22 April, only in digital version. The release has been confirmed for Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine, France and UK. It includes two unreleased versions of the song, plus a...
(2011)
With Nightwish
- Angels Fall First
Angels Fall First is the debut album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. The original limited edition of which only 500 copies were released features seven tracks, two of which are not on the regular edition.- Musical style :...
(1997)
- Oceanborn
-Personnel:Credits for Oceanborn adapted from liner notes.The band*Tarja Turunen - Vocals*Tuomas Holopainen - Keyboards*Emppu Vuorinen - Lead guitar*Sami Vänskä - Bass guitar*Jukka Nevalainen - Drums and PercussionMain Crew...
(1998)
- Wishmaster
Wishmaster is the third album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on May 19, 2000 by Spinefarm Records.Wishmaster's sound continues the bombastic symphonic power metal approach originally featured on Oceanborn, albeit with more emphasis on atmosphere and melody versus powerful speed...
(2000)
- Over the Hills and Far Away EP
Over the Hills and Far Away is the first EP by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released in 2001 by both Spinefarm Records and Drakkar Records...
(2001)
- Century Child
Century Child is the fourth studio album of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released in 2002 by Spinefarm Records. It is the first album with current bassist and male vocalist Marco Hietala....
(2002)
- Once
Once is the fifth studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released on June 7, 2004 by Nuclear Blast and on November 24 by Spinefarm, with the US release on October 5 by Roadrunner Records. In an interview, Tuomas Holopainen said that it is up to the listener to find out the meaning...
(2004)
External links