FEATURE:
Bringing Opera and Classical to the Mainstream
PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Maggio
Why ROSALÍA’s Berghain Is Such a Revelation
__________
THERE is no doubting the fact…
ROSALÍA’s Berghain is one of this year’s best singles. It is also one of the most revelatory and different. One of the greatest artists in the world, maybe you define her music as Experimental Pop or Alternative Reggaeton. Her third album, Motomami, was released in 2022. Her upcoming fourth studio album comes out on Friday. LUX is going to be among this year’s best albums. Its lead single features Björk and Yves Tumor. I am picking up on something The Guardian posted. Whether Berghain is Opera. It is this dramatic, bombastic, string-filled and mesmeric song that features a series of German verses "Seine Angst ist meine Angst, Seine Wut ist meine Wut, Seine Liebe ist meine Liebe, Sein Blut ist mein Blut". In English: 'His fear is my fear, His anger is my anger, His love is my love, His blood is my blood”. The fact that the song brings together a Spanish superstar, an Icelandic icon and a wonderful American artist (you can guess who is who!), coupled with the German lyrics, makes this a song that is so different to what is in the Pop mainstream. There are few artists singing in different languages. You do get some artists singing in Spanish. Maybe there are additions of other languages as an effect or a gimmick almost. Artists like Gwenno singing in Cornish or Welsh is more natural and authentic. However, what ROSALÍA has done with Berghain is unique:
“Since her breakout album El Mal Querer in 2018, the 33-year-old musician and producer born Rosalía Vila Tobella has made her name on visionary avant garde mutations of the flamenco she studied at a prestigious music school. She has also attracted praise and controversy for exploring Caribbean and Latin sounds on her 2022 album Motomami.
Her new record centres her classical training: the LSO is featured throughout – directed by Daníel Bjarnason – alongside fado and flamenco singers. “It is thrilling to watch this woman grow,” Björk wrote in an approving tweet. “Congratulations to her with this incredible album, switching genre kung-fu style. This concept is fierce!”
With its thunderous strings and Wagnerian vocals, the lead track is in parts more Radio 3 than Spotify hit, but pop fans seem delighted by the star’s return. As one posted on TikTok of the evident heartbreak on Berghain: “I love whatever is wrong with Rosalía, this song is actually INSANE.”
Perhaps predictably, it’s classical music fans who seem more divided. It piqued the attention of Classic FM, which asked on its website: “Why does Rosalía’s song Berghain feature a symphony orchestra and German opera?”
On TikTok, the classical music influencer Daria Challah called it “probably the most important thing that’s happened to classical music this year … Finally an artist has delivered something that will really change the way people see this tradition of music.”
Classical critic Hugh Morris disagreed, calling it “new musical kitsch”. He accused Rosalía of perpetuating the “genrefication” of classical music and using “pre-digested musical gestures as a shortcut to depth or emotional power”. Others have pointed out that despite her technical prowess as a singer, the amplification and effects mean the song cannot be considered opera.
New York City-based opera singer Sarah Khan, who went viral for her traditional operatic rendition of Berghain on TikTok, praised Rosalía’s genre-crossing.
“I immediately heard opera, but she also trained in the vocal art of cante flamenco, and you can tell she’s done a lot of study to perfect this song,” Khan said. She also praised Rosalía for singing in another language.
“German is difficult to sing if it’s not your first language,” she said. “Part of classical opera training is learning how to manoeuvre your resonance and your tone through languages that you’re not familiar with. She did it really beautifully.”
Khan, 26, also said she connected with the rare, distinctly feminine perspective of the song – about being overwhelmed by a male partner’s fear and anger, and dissolving like “a sugar cube” – in comparison with the male perspective of most operas.
In most male-written librettos, she said, “there’s a hero, a direct peak and climax. But in this storyline, you can tell she’s wrestling with her broken heart as the music gets louder and softer. It’s not like she breaks through and then doesn’t have a broken heart any more; she’s going in and out of it. That pulls the storyline to a very feminine, human place.”
For Khan, whether or not Berghain technically constitutes opera is immaterial. “The way that opera connects with a person is very subjective, which I think is beautiful,” she said. “Having opera come to the mainstream inspires more people to sing it, maybe to learn it and appreciate it and to want to go and see an opera”.
It is no surprise that the song has confounded some people. I have recently written how there is this melding of modern Pop and Classical. How artists are performing with orchestras. St. Vincent, Little Simz and Dua Lipa are examples of artists whose music has been elevated and transformed by partnering with orchestras or string quartets. Maybe there is still snobbery from purists. Orchestras and Classical being seen as pure and maybe adding something as commercial as Pop weakens or waters it down. However, the clash leads to spectacular results! ROSALÍA is a hugely innovative artist who has created this operatic song. From a feminine viewpoint, this is something new in Opera. By bringing a song like Berghain more into the mainstream, it will help bring more attention to Opera. A style and art that some turn their noses up to. See as inaccessible or overwrought. ROSALÍA is one of the most extraordinary vocalists in the world. How she can naturally inhabit the spirit of an acclaimed and professional Opera singer. It is a wonderful song! I do feel like a lot of Pop music is quite stale and unnatural in terms of sound. Maybe you would not define ROSALÍA as ‘Pop’. Though she is a commercial artist, yet she is making music that differs from a lot of the more bland Pop being offered. Vigorous, thrilling, dramatic and evocative, Berghain is this revelation. We can argue whether it is Opera or not. Classical music has remained somewhat distant from Pop and the mainstream. Even if artists do collaborate with orchestras, there is rarely any real integration. I still think there is dubiousness and elitism when it comes to Classical music. How some have asked why ROSALÍA would step into this world.
There have been reviews of Berghain. This is what Pitchfork wrote: “Berghain” feels as ambitious as Lux’s supposed four-movement structure, cantering from violin fireworks à la Vivaldi’s “Winter” to a pummeling Rite of Spring grand finale. Yves Tumor is here—to usher us into the final act—as is Björk, whose own gale force presence threatens to knock the song on its side like a two-dimensional façade. Then there’s the matter of the titular Berlin nightclub. Last year, French Lebanese DJ Arabian Panther accused Berghain of cancelling a scheduled performance due to his pro-Palestine views. Controversy is built in with Rosalía—a Catalonian who sang in an Andalusian accent on 2018’s El Mal Querer and became a superstar making reggaeton—but “Berghain” never quite earns its provocation”. The Face were more positive: “Rosalía’s first single off her hotly-anticipated album, Lux is nothing short of epic. Accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Spanish artist takes on opera, merging German, Spanish and English in a devotional love song that borders on dangerous obsession. Singing in German, a choir emphasises in the chorus: “His fear is my fear/His anger is my anger/His love is my love/His blood is my blood,” before Rosalía joins them in a towering falsetto. Björk, who last collaborated with Rosalía on the 2023 one-off single Oral, belts out a chorus and Yves Tumor barks “I’ll fuck you till you love me” through a wall of distortion. This truly theatrical comeback is blowing up the internet, in part thanks to the strange and absorbing music video that feels like the trailer to a Lanthimos film. It’s safe to say I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of Lux. TL”.
Even though the article does not criticise ROSALÍA, the fact Classic FM wrote about Berghain means there is a certain amount of judgment. Their headline is “Why does Rosalía’s song ‘Berghain’ feature a symphony orchestra and German opera?”. That seems to suggest judgement. Why are we still at the point when artists who try something different is questioned. Especially if you are a woman. If fans of other genres are more accepting and less questioning, there does still seem to be a degree or elitism. Speaking with Linton Stephens, host of the Southbank Centre’s new podcast, So, Hear Me Out, CRACK asked for a breakdown of ROSALÍA’s incredible new track. The fact that it draws from Classical pieces means that it not only brings a new urgency and gravitas to Pop and the mainstream. It will hopefully draw those not overly-familiar of Classical to the genre:
“Which era of classical music do you think Rosalía’s Berghain draws from most strongly?
It instantly transported me to the sound world of Vivaldi’s concerti or the orchestral music of Rameau. The vibrant textures and rhythmic vitality are characteristic of the Italian Baroque.
Are there any particular classical works that Berghain reminds you of?
The arpeggiated opening reminds me of Vivaldi’s most famous Bassoon Concerto in E Minor, but when the choir enters, it also evokes the grandeur and richness found in Bach’s sacred works – or even Handel’s oratorios, as well as more modern choral music.
For listeners drawn to the classical elements in Berghain, what pieces or composers should they explore next?
Definitely seek out the instrumental works (especially concerti) of Vivaldi. If it’s the choral elements, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana has moments that offer that same kind of compelling raw emotion of massed voices.
How do you see Rosalía’s formal classical training background shaping her approach to composition and vocal performance on the track?
You can hear that the foundation of this work is rooted in classical traditions and built up from that. What’s unique is how Rosalía then brings in her own style and influence. She drops down the octave, and the genres begin to morph from traditional to modern. That’s what innovation is all about.
Do you think we’re entering a moment where more pop artists are engaging seriously with classical music? In your opinion, what might be driving that trend?
Not necessarily classical music, but live, instrumental and orchestral music, yes. I think it’s a way of adding some robustness and gravitas to live performances and recordings of genres that are generally more pared back. Also, I think with the introduction of AI, instrumental collaboration from the orchestral world reminds us that it’s authentically human-made”.
It is important that music, Pop or otherwise, evolves and keeps fresh. If ROSALÍA had released a single that sounded like her last, then there would be no bother. However, it does seem like there is still this risk of criticism or judgement if you step into Classical or Opera. Maybe it is not as accomplished as professional Opera. However, it is this remarkable modern-day operetta. This wonderful and sense-altering explosion that brings together the London Symphony Orchestra, Björk and Yves Tumor. I hope it is a sign of things to come from LUX. The innovative, sensational and hugely consistent ROSALÍA has released a single that has divided some. However, it has raised a larger conversation about marrying Opera, Classical and genres of music seen as more conventional and popular. How Berghain will open conversations around Pop artists working more with Classic artists and orchestras. If some have raised questions about why ROSALÍA would sing in German, create something operatic and step into the Classical world, the thrilling and monumental Berghain is nothing but…
A positive thing.