{"id":2140019,"date":"2025-11-06T23:59:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T23:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2140019"},"modified":"2025-11-06T23:59:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T23:59:41","slug":"rosalia-lux-review-opera-and-classical-references-and-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/rosalia-lux-review-opera-and-classical-references-and-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Rosal\u00eda ‘Lux’ Review, Opera and Classical References, and Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When the cover art for Lux<\/a><\/em>, Rosal\u00eda\u2019s<\/a> newest album, was unveiled just weeks ago, we got our first look at the long-anticipated work: the musician wearing white with a nun-like veil, embracing herself while basking in sunlight. One might\u2019ve made predictions about what the album would sound like based on this image\u2014maybe some religious themes or celestial vibes\u2014and, to an extent, that turned out to be true. But no one could\u2019ve possibly predicted the sheer magnitude of the album. Inspired by classical orchestral music and opera\u2014but imbued with influences of pop, electronic, hip-hop, and more\u2014Lux<\/em> is grandiose, audacious, and full of big risks (sung in 13 languages, by the way). But it\u2019s also purely Rosal\u00eda.<\/p>\n

Lux<\/em> follows her bombastic 2022 album Motomami<\/em>, which was inspired by the Caribbean and Reggaeton. That was preceded by her breakthrough second album, El Mal Querer<\/em>, where her modern, pop-inspired spin on flamenco music started earning her mainstream recognition. The Spanish singer spent three years writing Lux<\/em>, penning lyrics in various languages (and checking in with her teachers about her pronunciation), reading feminist literature and biographies, and recording arrangements with the London Symphony Orchestra. As a result, the album explores the divine feminine, her freedom, and the idea of sainthood in a truly avant-garde way. <\/p>\n

Here, two ELLE editors (one of whom is a former opera major!) discuss Rosal\u00eda\u2019s bold new work, her religious inspirations, and why it might be the best album of 2025. <\/p>\n

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First Impressions<\/h2>\n

Samuel Maude, content strategy manager: <\/strong>You know how there are albums where you listen to them for the first time and you\u2019re like, \u201cI\u2019m going to remember where I was\u201d? This is one of those albums for me. Maybe it was because I was sick in bed with the flu, but it really blew me away. There\u2019s no other piece of music out there right now that sounds like this. <\/p>\n

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I\u2019m always joking, \u201cIf I were a pop star, this is what I\u2019d do.\u201d But with my background in classical music and opera, I\u2019ve always wanted to find a way to marry my love of pop music and classical together. I\u2019m so glad Rosal\u00eda figured out how to do that. This album feels tailor-made for me. I honestly think it\u2019s the best album of this year\u2014and it\u2019s already one of my all-time favorites.<\/p>\n

Erica Gonzales, deputy editor, culture: <\/strong>It\u2019s hard even entering this conversation, because this album feels so big and expansive in so many ways, from the sounds to her ambition, the lyrics, and the literary and classical references. But speaking of knowing exactly where you were when you first listened, I had a moment like that with her album El Mal Querer <\/em>in 2018. I remember sitting in my apartment listening to \u201cMalamente\u201d and thinking, Oh my God, I\u2019ve never heard anything like this before<\/em>. I need more from her<\/em>.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s classically trained and studied flamenco, so back then, she was already integrating all these different elements with her take on the classical genre. I feel like Lux <\/em>is that times a hundred. It\u2019s so unexpected and it\u2019s so unique, and something only she could have done.
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Is It Pop?<\/h2>\n

EG: <\/strong>I relistened to Rosal\u00eda\u2019s New York Times Popcast<\/em> interview, where she talks about how she fully believes her music is pop. And I think that\u2019s so important, because you and I listen to new music every day for our jobs, and a lot of it is pop music. And then somebody like her comes along and shows you: this is what pop music can be, actually. It can sound like this.<\/em> <\/p>\n

SM: <\/strong>I was listening to these songs and I thought, These could be on the radio<\/em>.<\/p>\n

EG: <\/strong>I dare you to put \u201cBerghain\u201d on Z100!<\/p>\n

SM: <\/strong>I dare you. The thing is, people do actively listen to music like this walking down the streets in New York or driving in traffic in L.A. This is what pop music can be. We should strive for more than just a radio hit.<\/p>\n

EG:<\/strong> I agree. In that interview, she said, \u201cI know I\u2019m asking a lot of my audience because I\u2019m singing classical, singing in 13 different languages.\u201d She says that it\u2019s supposed to be listened to front-to-back as a full album. In this era of TikTok clips and optimizing everything for short, viral success, it\u2019s asking for a lot, but there is an appetite and an audience for that. She\u2019s not underestimating the intelligence of her audience and knows that we can meet her there.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> One hundred percent. I\u2019ve seen a lot of praise for \u201cBerghain,\u201d so I\u2019m hopeful that the rest of the album has the same effect. I would\u2019ve loved to be in those studio sessions or in the room during the time she spent with the London Symphony Orchestra. I want to see what their sheet music looked like. I want to see what the conductor did with them. I want to live in her world because what she did here is unheard-of.
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\u201cMio Cristo\u201d and Classical Elements<\/h2>\n

SM:<\/strong> I don\u2019t cry to music, ever. I cried during \u201cMio Cristo.\u201d As a classical music fan, it is for sure an Italian art song, even an aria, that shows she obviously did her research. There were sounds of Vivaldi and other Baroque composers stitched in there. It makes me emotional because I worry so much about classical music and these art forms that I love and cherish fading out with my generation, and this made me feel like there is hope for it. I\u2019m curious if other musicians will start experimenting with more classical sounds as well. <\/p>\n

EG:<\/strong> We\u2019re seeing a lot of up-and-coming artists put a new, youthful, refreshing spin on \u201colder\u201d genres. We\u2019ve seen it with Laufey, Samara Joy<\/a>, and even Olivia Dean<\/a> with jazz music. People love Peso Pluma for what he did with Mexican traditional music. Even Bad Bunny and Rauw Alejandro<\/a> with Puerto Rican and Caribbean music. Maybe we\u2019ll see even more people reiterating or transforming genres in a certain way.<\/p>\n

SM:<\/strong> I love that in \u201cMio Cristo,\u201d in the break, she says, \u201cThat\u2019s gonna be the energy,\u201d and then it ends. It\u2019s what everyone\u2019s thinking in their head during a song like that.
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The Languages <\/h2>\n

SM: <\/strong>The languages are really important here. \u201cMio Cristo\u201d being entirely in Italian and feeling like an Italian art song definitely didn\u2019t go unnoticed. There\u2019s been a lot of commentary on her singing in different languages and what that means. The fact is, when you go to the Met Opera, chances are your opera\u2019s going to be in Italian or German\u2014and you might not understand a word.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very common for people in opera to sing in different languages and spend time learning how to speak the language. Of course, there are people who are critical of how those people speak those languages, and I\u2019m mildly worried someone\u2019s going to clock her for something here. But the people who are upset with her for singing in different languages don\u2019t understand the classical music genre either. It\u2019s more so about the vocals and the way this song connects to people. It\u2019s about how this song gets her story across. There are many operas I watch where I don\u2019t understand a word, but I can understand what\u2019s happening because of the emotion that the singer is conveying through their voice. And I think Rosal\u00eda does that throughout this album. It is true to the classical world she\u2019s inhabiting. <\/p>\n

EG: <\/strong>She was talking about how she spent a whole year just working on the lyrics, which ones sounded best in which languages, rewriting them if it wasn\u2019t right, and sending the songs to her language teachers for feedback. <\/p>\n

When it comes to the intention behind the language, I think of the song \u201cNovia Robot,\u201d because she\u2019s speaking Spanish, Mandarin, and Hebrew. I thought that was interesting, because the song is about the universal experience of women being sexualized and reduced to being just bodies for male pleasure. And using different languages further emphasizes that point\u2014it applies to women around the world. I wonder if it\u2019s also a commentary on the manufacturing industry and how a lot of technology is made in China, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s in Mandarin. <\/p>\n

SM: <\/strong>I think we\u2019re seeing an artist who thinks so intensely about every choice. I feel like we\u2019re just seeing a true master and someone who understands not only the impact art can have, but also the places it came from.
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