Dressed in an eternal velvet black dress with a thigh-high slit, she exuded charm. Throughout the performance, she tossed several mink boleros—in shades of enchanting blue or rose—onto the stage behind her, her long, fair arms constantly waving and interacting with the audience. Although she knew most of the audience might not understand a word of her Spanish, she could feel that "music knows no borders" from the screams of the crowd. Luz Casal, a national treasure diva of Spain, made her debut on the Chinese stage on May 6th, performing at the Beijing Poly Theatre. This was also one of the main projects of the 12th "Meet in Beijing" Arts Festival.
For her first performance in China, Luz Casal, who does not speak Chinese, chose a clever way to understand the country: she spent several weeks searching the internet for Chinese rock and pop music. Through the "immersion" in these songs—whose names she could neither understand nor remember—Luz felt she could touch upon Chinese culture. "Through the instruments, I can understand the message these songs want to convey." She did not even go to the theater for a soundcheck rehearsal in advance. "Coming to China was an adventure and a challenge in itself; I wanted to experience the most vivid live performance in the most passionate state." In the "most vivid" live setting as described by Luz, when singing with deep emotion, she called on all female audience members to "raise their arms" in response to her singing. This was also the intention behind her specifically choosing the compilation album "A Bouquet of Roses" that day. "A Bouquet of Roses" is a new song from the album of the same name, composed by Juan Cerro, with lyrics by Luz herself and Carolina Cortés. This song had received a huge response at the concerts of Bulgarian singer Carolina, largely because "the lyrics express the singing of oppressed women for liberation." Luz herself commented, "When you examine life in high heels, one can walk out of adversity with more composure."
A Woman in the Forbidden Zone of Rock
Everyone knows that Luz's voice not only represents the banner of a generation of Spanish pop music but also represents Spanish pop culture, much like Teresa Teng does for China. However, it must be mentioned that Luz actually rose to fame singing rock. In 1982, when the 24-year-old Luz released her first album, which was primarily rock, rock music was still a forbidden zone for female musicians. Songs on the album like "I Can't Stand It" and "Outlaw City," which used electronic music to express themselves, subverted the inherent perception that soft, beautiful images dominated the music scene. Immediately after, she conducted the most successful tour of the 80s—"Rock on a Midsummer Night." This tour greatly increased her popularity. Since then, Luz officially broke into the music scene and released her second album, "Cat's Eyes," the following year, and "Luz III" the year after that, both of which were huge successes. "Fascinated" and "A Tenth of a Second" from her third album solidified her electronic style. By then, Luz already possessed a powerful force that could turn initially confused listeners into passionate supporters. The 1987 release of "Love Me, Even If You Are Hurt" marked the end of this chapter of the Galician singer's musical journey. After this, she changed her musical style. The 1989 album continued the use of Roman numerals, "Luz V," and several songs topped the charts. She told herself, "It's time to step out of Spain." In 1991, director Pedro Almodóvar invited Luz to record two songs for his new film, "High Heels." This collaboration brought Luz an excellent opportunity—the film was highly acclaimed internationally, especially in France.
This success made Luz hope to record an album of pure boleros. For her, having always sung rock, this was a challenge, and her idea was rejected at the time. It wasn't until the film for which she sang the interlude became a huge success that the music producer found her and said: "It's time to record a bolero album. You don't blame me for rejecting your idea before, do you? Now, I want to invite you to record one. Let's start later." This "later" turned into a wait of nearly 20 years, until "Passion" was sung in 2009, fulfilling her dream. During these nearly 20 years, she successively released albums such as "Backlight," "As If That Promised Flower," "Sea of Trust," "With Another Look," and "My Trust." Among them, the "My Trust" album witnessed her huge success in France—her concert at the Olympia in Paris was truly sold out. Luz never gave up her outstanding performance in film music either. After the song she co-wrote with Pablo Guerrero for the film "The Living Forest" won the Goya Award for Best Original Song, Chilean film director Alejandro Amenábar used her song "Shadows," based on the beautiful poetry of Rosalía de Castro, in the Oscar-winning film "The Sea Inside."
Passion Can Never Be Extinguished by Cancer
In 2007, Luz left the stage due to breast cancer. But she did not become depressed or dejected because of chemotherapy. She created a complex and poetic album titled "Poisoned Life," which powerfully answered various speculations about her illness and mental state, and returned to the stage through several charity concerts and a long-term tour. This tour was connected to her subsequent album, "Passion." "Passion" reviewed the popular music of Latin America in the last century. The album was produced by Blue Note Records in 2009, sold over 300,000 copies worldwide, and won Luz numerous awards: she received the French Order of Arts and Letters. At the awards ceremony, the then-French Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand, called her an "outstanding international ambassador of Spanish culture." At the end of 2009, the album "Passion" was finally released after day-after-day of anticipation. "This is actually a love story, a gift that has been promised to everyone for a long time," she once said firmly: "I will definitely present it to everyone when I think it is the most appropriate time." What others didn't know was that in the recording studio, Luz felt her voice was not in its best state, so she paused the recording and finally completed the final recording in Madrid. This is a pebble that has been polished through hardships and gathered all emotions to become smooth and moist.