Artist: Schiller
Album: Opus
Genre: Ambient, Global Pop, New Age
Release Date: 30th August 2013
Label: We Love Music (Universal)
Album Review
SCHILLER is a project of Christopher von Deylen. It was founded in 1989 by him and Mirko von Schlieffen. Christopher chose this name after hearing the single ‘Glockenspiel’ - a musical adaption and because he had just read ‘Die Glocke’ (The bell) by Friedrich Schiller. In 2003, Mirko von Schlieffen left SCHILLER and Christopher von Deylen decided to go on alone with this project. Schiller is known for great Ambient/ Global Pop/ New Age music as well as for a series of amazing remixes for bands like MESH, U69, RAMMSTEIN, SINEAD O’CONNOR and many others. On his albums you will always find some great musicians as guest appearances like Anke Hachner (MILÚ), Peter Heppner (former WOLFSHEIM), Mila Mar, Kim Sanders, Alexander Veljanov (DEINE LAKAIEN) and even Sarah Brightman, to name just a few. His sound is very pleasant, relaxing and positive.
I guess everyone has experienced to have seen a trailer for a new film in the cinema and decided to go and watch this film, just to find out that the best parts of the film were already shown in the trailer, while the rest of the film is not really exciting or interesting. This happened to me with this album. When I heard the news about the upcoming album, that it will be an interpretation of some classical music pieces and saw and heard the first teaser of it, I was really looking forward to hearing the complete album. And the information that some famous musicians from the classical genre will appear, too, on this album sounded just too promising. Thus I had some great expectations. After hearing ‘Opus’ three times I was clueless and speechless. I just didn’t know what to think of it. It has some incredible brilliant pieces of music that gives you goose bumps all over because it is so beautiful but then there are the others that are lacking so much of depth that you can only feel deeply disappointed.
Without his incredible gifted guest musicians the attempt to interpret classical music in SCHILLER’s style would be completely insignificant. ANNA NETREBKO’s heavenly vocals in ‘Solveig’s song’ from EDVARD GRIEGS, attended by the violinist DIANA TISHCHENKO, will give you goose bumps and makes you want to cry of joy except you have beans in your ears. Further highlights are the interpretation of ERIK SATIES’s ‘Gymnopädie No.1’ and RACHMANNINOFF’s ‘Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini op. 43’ together with the French star pianist HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD and PETER TSCHAIKOWSKI’s ‘Swan Lake’ with ALBRECHT MAYER playing the oboe. After hearing this album a few more times I come to the conclusion that it is an album with definitely some amazing highlights but there is also lift music - music that does not annoy you but it leaves not much impression on you. The new album is available as a standard version, Deluxe edition with a bonus CD and Ultra Deluxe edition including 4 CDs and a canvas with the cover print on it (limited, numbered and signed by CHRISTOPHER VON DEYLEN).
Tracklist
01. Opus: Exposition
02. Desert Empire
03. Gymnopédie No. 1
04. Swan Lake
05. Solveig’s Song
06. Twentynine Palms
07. Promenade
08. El Cielo
09. Reverie
10. Imperial Valley
11. Sunrise Way
12. In Paradisum
13. Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini
14. Opus: Reprise
Line-up
Christopher von Deylen
Guest musicians
Hélène Grimaud – Piano
Anna Netrebko – Vocals
Albrecht Mayer – Oboe
Diana Tishchenko – Violin
Website
http://www.schillermusic.com/ / https://www.facebook.com/schillermusic
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 6.5
Sound: 9
Total: 7.5 / 10
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