From Mozart to Berghain: Rosalía’s LUX Bridges Centuries of Musical Temptation
Rosalía’s new album LUX, created in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, connects centuries of musical passion and cultural evolution. Conducted by Daníel Bjarnason, the project unites classical sensibility with modern rhythm and spiritual exploration.
Before Beatlemania there was Lisztomania; before young people were dancing in nightclubs, they waltzed through beer halls, singing operas driven by desire and emotion. Musical tastes shift, but the underlying passions remain timeless. What once made a 3/4 waltz alluring became, centuries later, the sensual pulse of 4/4 club rhythms.
Spiritual Layers and Philosophical Depth
LUX reflects Rosalía’s personal take on spirituality, shaped by her Catholic roots, as well as influences from classical philosophy, New Age thought, and Islamic mysticism. The album weaves these traditions into a dialogue between sacred reflection and earthly temptation, framing it as a search for meaning through sound.
A Modern Dialogue with the Past
Philosophically and structurally, LUX resonates with Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the tale of the insatiable nobleman who repeatedly escapes danger only to meet his inevitable doom. Like the opera, Rosalía’s narrative explores moral peril and human fragility, culminating in an inescapable confrontation with mortality.
“Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de’ perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual,”
“This is the end of one who does evil, and for the wicked, death is like life.”
Through this interplay of classical form and contemporary sound, LUX becomes both an homage to music’s historical sensuality and a meditation on the spiritual cost of temptation.
Author’s Summary
Rosalía’s LUX unites classical and modern music into a vivid reflection on faith, desire, and mortality, blending centuries of sound into one transcendent experience.