CD/DVD Review: Tarja Turunen - Act I

Artist: Tarja Turunen
Title: Act I - Live in Rosario
Genre: Symphonic Metal / Classical Music
Release Date: 24th August 2012
Label: earMusic

Album / DVD Review

Earlier this March, Tarja Turunen’s concert in Teatro El Círculo at Rosario - one of the most beautiful theatres not only of Argentina but I suppose of South America in general - was recorded, commemorating her latest live performance which was released as ‘Act I’. 10 HD cameras were used in two days to cover the event. That it carries an aura of an ambitious statement over her solo career is certain. The fans will find here most of the songs included in her latest two albums (not counting the Christmas one), some others known from her days as a front woman of NIGHTWISH, and some new ones.

I will say at the onset that the album carries a certain amount of nervousness. Tarja had only a couple of hours for the final rehearsals before the concert, something that in all likelihood left its mark over the concert. As the concert progressed she became more comfortable and warmed by the audience’s reception. To be sure, Tarja knows as very few do how to connect with the audience, knows perfectly well the stage and she utilises that at will, and theatricality is the element that befits her the most and transforms any of her concerts into a memorable experience. In the DVDs all the minor problems before and during the concert disappeared. Even the acoustic set seems grand. The most prominent problem with the DVD was the issue of editing these interactions between Tarja and her audience, and at times missing out on Tarja’s artistic image.

In the CD/audio part of the release things appear differently. Some minor flaws seems to have occurred regarding the recording levels and the pronunciation of words, problems, which are nothing when compared to the fact that at the moment the weight that rests at Tarja’s shoulders as far it concerns the songwriting is enormous. In a way we are facing something that is akin to a Cold War, with Tarja struggling to prove herself, of course not vocally, but in every other aspect. That has led her into other mistakes like the covering of WHITESNAKE’s classic ‘Still of the Night’. The problem is similar with her earlier cover of ALICE COOPER’s ‘Poison’, where her voice actually removes the edgy aspects of these songs, transforming them to something more ethereal, something that lacks “life” to put it in other words. From this point of view this is the reason why her version of the ‘Phantom of the Opera’ is grand; to stay only in the film, Emmy Rossum delivers a sugary version of the songs whilst Tarja adds the missing edge. Speaking of which, it is notable that her collaboration with Diego Valdez on this song proves to be probably the one closer to a real opera than any she had done in the past.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” said Lao Tzu. And this is especially true for ‘Act I’. It is also a “Step I”, the first live album Tarja has produced since her days in NIGHTWISH and a statement that her solo career will continue at all costs. At the moment she is preparing her next album which is about to be released next year and ‘Act I’ serves as a gathering of power.


Tracklist

Line-up

Tarja Turunen - Lead Vocals, Piano, Keyboards
Alex Scholpp - Electric Guitar, Guitar
Kevin Chown - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals, Ukulele
Christian Kretschmar - Keyboards, Cello
Mike Terrana - Drums, Djembe
Max Lilja – Cello
Doug Wimbish - Bass Guitar, Acoustic Bass Guitar
Julian Barrett - Electric Guitar, Guitar
Diego Valdez - Vocal ("The Phantom of the Opera")


Websites

https://www.facebook.com/tarjaofficial / http://www.tarjaturunen.com


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