Berlian Hutauruk (born 11 October 1957, in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

) is an Indonesian

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...

descent. Beginning her career singing

religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

in church, Hutauruk later sang for movie soundtracks and released a solo album. She is best known for singing " Badai Pasti Berlalu", which ''

Rolling Stone Indonesia ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' selected as the third-best Indonesian song of all time in 2009.

Biography

Berlian Hutauruk was born in Jakarta on 11 October 1957. In 1968, she participated in the ''Ayo Menyanyi'' television show on

Televisi Republik Indonesia TVRI (, Television of the Republic of Indonesia), legally ( Public Broadcasting Institution Television of the Republic of Indonesia) is a public television network and the oldest television network in Indonesia. Its national headquarters is i ...

. After attending

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

, Hutauruk studied at a secretarial academy. Hutauruk started her vocal training in church, singing religious songs and eventually travelling to Europe for a religious music festival. After placing second in a national-level pop competition, the Association of Indonesian churches sent her to study in the United States. In 1977,

Eros Djarot Erros Djarot (born 22 July 1950) is an Indonesian songwriter, director and politician. Beginning his music career with the soundtrack of ''Kawin Lari'' in 1976, Djarot became famous with the success of '' Badai Pasti Berlalu'' and its soundtrack ...

asked Hutauruk to provide vocals for the soundtrack to '' Badai Pasti Berlalu'' together with

Chrisye Hajji Chrismansyah Rahadi (; 16 September 1949 – 30 March 2007), born Christian Rahadi (), better known by his stage name Chrisye (), was an Indonesian progressive pop singer and songwriter. In 2011 ''Rolling Stone Indonesia'' declared hi ...

. However, the director

Teguh Karya Teguh Karya (born Steve Liem Tjoan Hok; ; 22 September 1937 – 11 December 2001) was an Indonesian film director. Starting his entertainment career in theatre, he made his directorial debut with '' Wadjah Seorang Laki-Laki'', released thr ...

disliked her voice, asking "whose voice is this,

Kuntilanak The Kuntilanak (Indonesian name), also called Pontianak (Malay name), is a mythological creature in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is similar to Langsuir in other Southeast Asia regions. The Pontianak usually takes the form of a pregnant ...

?" after hearing it for the first time. When Djarot threatened to cancel the soundtrack, Teguh Karya gave in and Hutauruk recorded the song.Sakrie, Denny. "150 Lagu Indonesia Terbaik Sepanjang Masa: 3. Badai Pasti Berlalu." ''

''. December 2009. p. 37. (Indonesian) Later that year, Hutauruk was asked to return to record a soundtrack album for ''Badai Pasti Berlalu''. After its recording and release, the resulting album was well-received, as was the title song, " Badai Pasti Berlalu". Hutauruk's vocals were considered one of the highlights of the album. "Badai Pasti Berlalu" has since been considered her

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

. After the release of ''Badai Pasti Berlalu'', Hutauruk released ''Nyanyian Cinta''. She also provided vocals for the film version of ''Karmila'', adopted from the

Marga T Marga Tjoa (born 27 January 1943) is an Indonesian popular romance and children's literature writer better known by the pen name Marga T. One of Indonesia's most prolific writers, she first became well known in 1971 for her serial ''Karmila'' tha ...

novel of the same name. In 1981, she joined the

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

Pop Music Festival. Hutauruk later left the spotlight, although she continued to sing in churches, wedding receptions, and company parties. In 2005, Hutauruk made a brief return to the spotlight after the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

, singing "Badai Pasti Berlalu" for the victims. It was well received.

Legacy

Hutauruk's placing second in the 1975 pop competition has been cited as paving the way for female sopranos in Indonesia. Prior to that, most female

Indonesian singers Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesia ...

were

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

s and

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

s. In 2007, ''

'' chose ''Badai Pasti Berlalu'' as the best Indonesian album of all time."150 Albums Indonesia Terbaik Sepanjang Masa". ''

''. December 2007. (Indonesian). In 2009, they chose Hutauruk's version of "Badai Pasti Berlalu" as the third-best Indonesian song of all time, writing that

"... Berlian Hutauruk with perfect articulation breathes life into each and every word..."

They also wrote that other versions by male artists could not compare, lacking her emotional strength.

Discography

* '' Badai Pasti Berlalu'' ( en, The Storm Will Surely Pass; 1977) * ''Nyanyian Cinta'' ( en, Love's Song)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutauruk, Berlian 1957 births Indonesian sopranos Indonesian Christians People of Batak descent Living people 20th-century Indonesian women singers Singers from Jakarta