Luz Casal was a guest of honor at the recent Chinese New Year celebrations telecast by Beijing Television (BTV), with an audience of at least 700 million. For Year 4713, known as Year of the Sheep, Luz Casal performed two of her best-known hits, from the Chinese capital Beijing.
When she took the stage, she announced, “I’m going to sing ‘Piensa En Mí,’ music from an Almodóvar film. I’m also going to sing a song that’s very well known in China, ‘Historia De Un Amor,’ and although I don’t speak Chinese, I’ve learned some words to sing to you in your language.”
The audience responded to her words with applause. She added that she had spent months learning “some Chinese words” and that “I didn’t know if I would be able to; it’s been tough, but worth it.”
To achieve her goal, Luz Casal worked with a popular male singer based in Hong Kong, with whom she performed a Chinese version of “Historia De Un Amor” in which only the chorus was sung in Spanish.
“This is a show of thanks,” Luz Casal added. In fact, she is quite gifted when it comes to learning languages. Working to learn new languages, she notes, helps her empathize with international audiences: “I know where I am and I understand the effort that all of you are making, and that perhaps you don’t understand the lyrics of my songs.”
The public-performing rights of Luz Casal’s compositions are represented by SGAE internationally and by SESAC Latina in the United States and Puerto Rico. She is a recipient of Spain’s National Culture Award in Modern Music, granted by King Felipe VI.
The Palace of El Pardo in Madrid was the setting for this prestigious ceremony, which took place on February 16, 2015. Her performance for the kickoff of Chinese New Year festivities took place on February 19.
On March 3, Luz Casal kicks off a 10-day concert tour of France, which will take her to Portes-les-Valence, Toulouse, Thonon Les Bains, Haguenau and Rouen.
Her most recent album, Almas Gemelas (Soulmates), was recorded in Los Angeles.
