Let me Introduce you Tarja Turunen
For people who like heavy-metal, name Tarja Turunen is already well known. However, to many music lovers it might be yet a totally new name. So let me introduce you Tarja Turunen – a beautiful woman both outside and inside with stunning classical voice.
“…Sharp is the edge of all discovery,
now I see.
A scar without suffering, impossible.
I'll wait until my last day with no shame.
Who's to blame?
Shaping the signs left for me…”
Tarja Turunen comes from Finland, but her voice is loved by people all around the world. Tarja’s style is a mix of symphonic metal and classical music. Imagine powerful rock guitars with a breath-taking female classical voice and an orchestra to deepen the atmosphere, this is exactly how Tarja’s songs sound like. Tarja had been the first vocalist with classical background engaged in symphony metal and later became an inspiration for other female vocalists in metal scene.
I discovered her amazing voice in 2005 when after splitting up with band Nightwish, where Tarja had been a vocalist for 9 years; she pursued her long term dream and became a solo artist. It took Tarja and her new team two years to put material together and record her first solo album “My Winter Storm”, which came out at the end of 2007. The album had quite a dark mood, though it attracted listeners with its strong theatrical and dramatic concept. Album had a good reception and was highly rated by the critiques. “My Winter Storm” became double platinum in Russia, platinum in Finland and golden in Germany and Czech Republic.
Tarja has a light lyrical soprano voice with vocal range of three octaves. However, to fully appreciate the strength and the beauty of her voice, one needs to hear it live. I realised this fact after I attended her concert for the first time in October 2009. That concert was part of a “Storm World Tour” in support of the first album. It was the biggest event of the year for me as I was dreaming about it for a long time.
At her concerts Tarja sings with incredible ease at the same time jumping and moving around the stage. She has a great connection with the audience and likes to communicate with people at her concerts. Tarja managed to gather an excellent support band of international musicians (one of them is an American legendary heavy metal drummer Mike Terrana) with whom she goes on tours and also records her albums. Together they deliver great, unforgettable performances, which always leave audience wanting for more.
In 2010 came out Tarja’s second album “What lies beneath”. Being much brighter than the previous album, “What lies beneath” was received even better. The album not only showed Tarja’s great skills as a song writer, but also a producer as she was taking part in the creating process from the beginning to the end. As her big fan I certainly love all the songs from the album, but among my very favourite ones are: “Anteroom of Death”, “Until my Last Breath”, “River of Lust”, “Archive of Lost Dreams” and “Naiad”.
As a big compliment to Tarja’s voice and beautiful orchestral arrangements are the lyrics of her songs. Tarja likes her listeners to find their own meaning in every song of her. Some of the lyrics in her songs are implicit and have a fantasy theme, whereas others are more explicit and reflect upon Tarja’s personal experiences in life.
"...We send our inner fears to the ocean to score,
Waiting it takes them all away from the shore.
Deepest beliefs from billions of souls
Longing for our wishes to find the way back home..."
Tarja’s voice and music are truly magical. So many times it helped me to survive through the darkest moments of my life. I’m very grateful for the day I discovered this very talented lady and I’m honoured to be leaving in the days of Tarja Turunen and her fantastic music.
Some facts about Tarja Turunen:
1. She was born on 17 of August 1977.
2. Her zodiac sign is Leo.
2. Tarja plays piano from the age of 6.
3. Tarja was bullied at school by some girls who envied her voice.
4. Tarja’s inspiration was Whitney Houston.
5. Tarja has been married to Marcelo Cabuli since 2003, who is also her manager.
6. Tarja’s second home is in Argentina where her husband comes from.
7. She performed at more than 30 countries.
8. She gives both Metal and Classical concerts.
9. Tarja’s voice is described by critiques as exceptionally powerful and emotional.
10. Tarja is not only a singer, but also a song-writer and composer.
11. Tarja is a perfectionist by nature, she constantly working on improving her vocal skills.
12. First song Tarja written herself was “Oasis” from the album “My Winter Storm”.
13. Tarja has a huge collection of CDs and she is a collector of movie scores.
14. Tarja’s fans love her sweet Finnish accent when she sings and speaks English.
15. She loves scuba diving; it helped her to fight her water fear.
16. Tarja is fascinated by sharks and has swam with them on many occasions.
17. Tarja’s favourite drink is red wine from Chile.
18. Her favourite dish is meat stake with simple salad.
19. Tarja is petrified of spiders.
20. She can speak fluently in five languages: Finnish, English, German, Spanish and Swedish.
21. Tarja' favourite colour is black.
22. She loves sound of water.
23. Jasmine is the smell Tarja loves.
24. In 2012 Tarja became mum, she gave birth to a baby girl called Naomi.