Elisa Miralles
Christina Rosenvinge (Madrid, 1964) set Sappho's verses to music in a play at the Mérida Festival in 2022. Now she is releasing Los sáficos verses, an album in which she reinterprets the Greek poet in nine songs.
You have just published a new job, The Sapphic Verses. Which records accompanied you while you were composing? The reference work was an album by Rufus Wainwright entitled “Take All My Loves” about nine Shakespeare sonnets. It's not the same as what I did because Wainwright couldn't change Shakespeare's sonnets and I reinvented a lot. But it inspired me a lot. This album was also made for a theater commission, and then he re-recorded the songs with different arrangements, and I did that too. In the piece Sappho, many of the songs were not performed by me and had different arrangements, and now I have made an album out of them that could have been recorded now. It was about giving music back to Sappho's poems. Another influence was Tarta Relena, a Catalan group of two girls who have an album called Fiat Lux, where they had already done an adaptation of Sappho in Greek. Even though what I did is completely different, I listened to it to motivate myself. And finally, I also listened to Jane Birkin, especially a song that is part of the Madame Claude soundtrack, because it is a very sexy song and sensuality is a very important part of the Sapphic world.
Sappho has become a recurring character for you lately. Do you remember the first time you heard about this poet? I can't remember when I first heard of Sappho. I remember having an idea of who she was, that her name gave rise to the adjective “sapphic” and “Lesbos” gave rise to the adjective “lesbian”, and I knew that this was a very important reference in the LGTBI -world was. He also had a collection of poems at home and had also seen them depicted in paintings in various museums. But until I was commissioned with the theater project and started studying it, I was not aware of what was behind it, what controversies there were around his character from ancient times to today.
When did you know you were going to pursue music? When I saw The Clash on the London Calling Tour. That same day I started saving up to buy a guitar.
What song or musical composition would you use as a self-portrait? It could be a self-portrait from Tulsa. I like it a lot, but the truth is that the song that represents me changes very often.
What's the best review you've received? The most beautiful thing they have told me is that I have become a necromancer, able to turn risk and investigation into a song of law. This review was written by Marcos Gendre and I really enjoyed it because he put into words what I had in mind.
And the worst? In the 1990s I had some very sexist criticism. For example, I remember a review of the album “My Little Animal” in the “Temptations” supplement. The critic said that he found my voice unbearable and that he had Steve Jordan, the Rolling Stones drummer, show me off with a checkbook. This second thing made me very angry because it wasn't true. It took a lot to convince the company to let me do it with them, and that was under certain conditions. That was a complete lie. As for the first, the truth is that I'm more in the league of lyricists who sing, and also all my favorite singers. I'm not Beyoncé, but I never claimed to be.
What song or album would you like to have composed? There is a song that has obsessed me over the last few years: Tearjerker by Jarvis Cocker and Chilly Gonzales, based on a piece by Ryūichi Sakamoto. The text is about a rock star who is at the hotel with a groupie while his wife arrives at the airport and waits for him. He portrays himself in a very pathetic way. I think they're incredibly well written lyrics and I really like that.
What book is open on your bedside table? Right now, Virginie Despentes, dear cunt, and Pedro Lemebel, crazy eagerness. I bought it in Chile when I was there.
Which one couldn't finish? Sorry, Knausgård's fatherhood saga. Not because I didn't like it, but because it was incredibly long.
What did being on stage teach you that you can't learn from a book? Books happen in the head, but music happens in the whole body. It is an incomparable life experience.
Which film have you seen most often? The Swamp, by Lucrecia Martel, because I showed it to many people. And with my children, Zoolander.
Your favorite dialogue in a film? It's not a movie, it's a play in which Uncle Vanya says, “I could have been Dostoyevsky.” In fact, I have a song that has that line in the chorus. I never released it because it didn't fit on an album, but I'll release it in the end.
What is the last series you watched in one go? The Last Of Us, on a transatlantic flight. I loved Gustavo Santaolalla's music.
Which museum would you live and live in? In the Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen. It is a beautiful building, very close to the ground, very discreet, which unfolds as you walk around it and also has a wonderful garden overlooking the sea.
Do you feel cultural guilt? Yes, anything with swords and dragons. From King Arthur to Game of Thrones, and this is a product of childhood.
What is socially overrated? Any form of success that is measured with a number.
What is your favorite historical event? The fall of the berlin wall.
What job would you never take? The question would be what job they would accept me for. Because I can't do many other things either.
If it hadn't been music, it would have been… Planter. I love getting my hands in the ground and the only thing I need to be completely happy is a big garden. But like all musicians, I travel too much and put off the garden or the dogs until I stop touring all the time.
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