"Rockcor Magazine, 8th Issue, 2006

Tarja Turunen is one of the brightest stars in the music world of rock and classical Opera.Her wonderful Soprano voice made her popular not only in Finland but also all around the world.She's become an idol for a lot of people.Her unique stage performances and her beautiful voice can enchant every person.In real life she's the same as the stage-image she's created-a good person, friendly, fothcoming and always so open-minded.Tarja's personal qualities absolutely match the nickname she uses in her Official Forum-Angel.And she truly is an Angel since she's so real and so down-to-earth person.I got in touch with Tarja's husband and manager-Marcelo Cabuli-and he easily arranged this interview for us.Between the studio recordings for the X-mas Album and the preparation for the X-mas tour 2006, Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen friendly aswered our questions. - Sergey Suchorukov-


Interviewer:
-The two successful concerts at Olavinlinna have already passed.Could you please tell us what you expected from those two concerts?
Tarja:
-The two concerts at Olavinlinna were really incredible.It was such a big honour for me to take part in the Savonlinna Opera Festival.I feel glad the tickets for both my concerts were completely sold out.I was also so happy that at those two concerts I was for the first time singing arias.I was very lucky to have as my partner on stage Raimo Sirkia-one of the greatest tenors of our time.I'm sure those concerts will live forever in my memories.Having a concert with Raimo Sirkia has been one of my biggest dreams so far.

Interviewer:
-Who had the idea of organising the two concerts at the Olavinlinna Castle?
Tarja:
-The idea came from the organisers of the Savonlinna Opera Festival.They asked me if I was willing to take part and I agreed.

Interviewer:
-Would you like to keep this tradition and continue having concerts at Castles?Which other Castles would you like to have concerts at?What about the Rostovskovo or Nijegorodskovo Kreml Castles in Russia?
Tarja:
-I'm sorry I have to disappoint you but I don't think that this can happen.Organising such an event is hard work-you have to contact also other singers and arrange things with symphonic orchestras.So organising such a concert doesn't depend only on me but also on many other people.But I would like to note that such Castle-concerts aren't IMpossible but too hard to arrange.Taking part in such a concert is a lucky chance for each singer.

Interviewer:
-Were there any problems regarding the songs you performed at Olavinlinna-the ones written by Tuomas Holopainen?
Tarja:
-No, there wasn't anything like that.Tuomas had been informed long ago about that and he let us use parts of his compositions.Usually when you do covers on such concerts you don't have to ask anyone for his/her permission.But I wanted to inform Tuomas about this and let him understand that I haven't given up on performing some Nightwish's songs.And so he agreed.(off-topic-I guess Tarja asked Tuomas if he will let her use his compositions-but that must have been before the break-up with Nightwish.And when Nightwish broke all ties with Tarja she wanted to confirm that she still wanted to use Tuomas' compositions.)

Interviewer:
-Would you release a DVD with one of those Olavinlinna concerts?
Tarja:
-No.But I will feel very happy if one day a DVD of my Solo concerts is released.I hope someday this will happen.

Interviewer:
-If you would like to have a career as an actress what kind of movie would you choose to take part in?
Tarja:
-Definitely a drama movie.Drama movies are my cup of tea.

Interviewer:
-A lot of your fans want to know who creates the design for your stage-clothes and the clothes themself?
Tarja:
-The design is created by me alone and then I talk with a good friend of mine who creates the stage-clothes for me.The clothes I wear usually depend on the mood I'm in, on the condition my soul is in that moment, my feelings show me what to wear and how to do my hair before a stage-performance.

Tarja:
-I regularly visit www.tarjaturunen.ru and I'm very pleased with your site.The only problem for me is the Russian language.But I have to say that it is NOT that hard to understand everything that is written in Russian on your site.I just have to learn a few Russian words.(off topic-this proves how good Tarja is at learning languages-it's amazing)"