''Opus'' is the eighth studio album of the music project

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

created by the German electronic musician

Christopher Von Deylen Schiller () is a German electronic music band that rose to fame in 1998 and is named after the German poet and dramatist Friedrich Schiller. Originally, it was a duo consisting of Christopher von Deylen () and Mirko von Schlieffen. Around 2001 ...

. The album was announced on and was released on . On this album Schiller has collaborated with Russian operatic soprano

Anna Netrebko Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (russian: Анна Юрьевна Нетребко; born 18 September 1971) is an Austrian operatic soprano with an active international career and performed prominently at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna ...

, French pianist

Hélène Grimaud Hélène Rose Paule Grimaud (born 7 November 1969) is a French classical pianist and the founder of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York. Early life and education Grimaud was born in Aix-en-Provence, France. She described famil ...

and German classical oboist

Albrecht Mayer Albrecht Mayer (born 3 June 1965) is a German classical oboist and conductor. The principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic, he is internationally known as a soloist and chamber musician and has made many recordings. Biography Born in Erlangen, ...

. Opus is the first release of the new label "Panorama" by

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

. The album reached in its first week number 1 of the German albums chart and number 6 in Switzerland and number 10 in Austria. These are the highest entries of Schiller in Austria and Switzerland and the fourth number-1-album of Schiller in Germany. Schiller has received a Gold award in Germany in December 2013 for 100.000 sold albums of Opus. In 2014 a reedition of the album was released: ''Opus - White Album''.

Album

The album Opus combines electronic music with classical music such as

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

. It's also inspired by and based on songs such as '' Gymnopédie no. 1'' by

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

's "Solveig's Song" from ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed ''Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on wh ...

'',

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

's '' Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini op. 43'' and

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

's ''Rêverie''. After Schiller already released some singles with classical influences such as " Ein schöner Tag" (2000) with German singer

Isgaard Isgaard Marke (born 1972 in Husum, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) is a classically trained singer, who in 2003 participated in the German pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest and reached seventh place with the song ''Golden Key''. Her alb ...

and " Time for Dreams" (2008) with Chinese pianist

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...

, it's the first completely classical inspired album of Schiller. Originally it was planned as a purely instrumental album, but then it was supplemented with vocals during the developing process. For the creation of the album Christopher von Deylen travelled to the Coachella Valley in California, USA. The performances of Anna Netrebko were recorded in the Dvorák Hall of the Rudolfinum in Prague, Hélène Grimaud's performances were recorded at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City,

Diana Tishchenko Diana Tishchenko (; born 1990) is a German classical violinist of Ukrainian descent and the winner of the International Long Thibaud Crespin Competition in Paris 2018. Named “Rising Star” by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) in ...

's and

's performances were recorded at the b-sharp Studios in Berlin. It was released in different editions, including the limited "Ultra Deluxe Edition" of 2.500 exemplares handsigned by Christopher von Deylen. Schiller presented this album for the first time to journalists and traders at four exclusive listening sessions in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne. On and the album Opus was presented to the Schiller fans at two album release events in Berlin. With the album ''Opus,'' Schiller introduced, for the first time since the debut album ''Zeitgeist,'' a new logotype and a completely new corporate identity. It's also the first album without a name in German language. And it's the first Schiller album without the standard "Willkommen" (welcome) introduction and the first with a photography instead of a graphic on its cover. The art work includes pictures by photographer Philip Glaser.Berliner Zeitung
Das Werk von Schiller
/ref> The cover landscape photo was shot by Toby Harriman. The music video of

had its world premiere on on the websites mtv.de and viva.tv. Even though Swan Lake wasn't officially released as a single, the song charted at position 57 on the German singles chart. The music video was produced by Peacock Productions London and was shot in

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacint ...

in the United States. The video was produced and directed by Tara Clark and Caroline Jones.

Track listings

Standard edition

# Opus: Exposition # Desert empire # Gymnopédie no. 1 (with

) # Swan lake (with

) # Solveig's song (with

) # Twentynine palms # Promenade # El cielo # Rêverie # Imperial valley # Sunrise way # In paradisum # Rhapsody on a theme of paganini (with Hélène Grimaud) # Opus: Reprise

Deluxe edition

Limited Ultra Deluxe edition

CD 1 # Opus: Exposition # Desert empire # Gymnopédie no. 1 (with Hélène Grimaud) # Swan lake (with Albrecht Mayer) # Solveig's song (with Anna Netrebko) # Twentynine palms # Promenade # El cielo # Rêverie # Imperial valley # Sunrise way # In paradisum # Rhapsody on a theme of paganini (with Hélène Grimaud) # Opus: Reprise CD 2 # Desert empire: Variation # L'horizon # Gymnopédie no. 1: variation (with Diana Tishchenko) # Bermuda dunes # Indian canyons # Swan lake: variation (with Albrecht Mayer) # Imperial valley: variation # L'horizon empire CD 03 - Horizon # Horizon Part I 5:28 # Horizon Part II 7:17 # Horizon Part III 6:43 # Horizon Part IV 6:21 # Horizon Part V 8:32 # Horizon Part VI 8:25 # Horizon Part VII 8:37 CD 04 - Originals # Pictures At An Exhibition: Promenade (Modest Mussorgsky) - New York Philharmonic (Orchestra) & Giuseppe Sinopoli (Conductor) 1:08 # Solveig's Song (Edvard Grieg) - Anna Netrebko (Voice), Prague Philharmonia (Orchestra) & Emmanuel Villaume (Conductor) 5:00 # In Paradisum (from 'Requiem op. 48) (Gabriel Fauré) - Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra (Orchestra) & Carlo Maria Giulini (Conductor) 3:50 # Swan Lake: Scene (Piotr Illitch Tchaïkovsky) - Boston Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) & Seiji Ozawa (Conductor) 2:38 # Rêverie (Claude Debussy) - Pascal Rogé (Piano) 4:55 # Gymnopédie No. 1 (Erik Satie) - Hélène Grimaud (Piano) 3:37

Limited White edition

# Opus: Exposition # Desert Empire # Gymnopédie No. 1 (with Hélène Grimaud) # Swan Lake (with Albrecht Mayer) # Solveig's Song (with Anna Netrebko) # Twentynine Palms # Promenade # El Cielo # Rêverie # Imperial Valley # Sunrise Way # In Paradisum # Rhapsody On A Theme Of Pagani (with Hélène Grimaud) # Opus: Reprise # Apollo Peak # Time For Dreams (Variation) (with Lang Lang) # Un Bel Di , Ein Schöner Tag (with Eva Mali)

Charts

Credits and personnel

Discogs
/ref> * Christopher von Deylen – music and production of all tracks * Anna Netrebko – vocals on "Solveig's Song" * Eva Mali – vocals on "Un Bel Di , Ein Schöner Tag" * Hélène Grimaud – piano on "Gymnopédie No. 1"; "Rhapsody On A Theme Of Pagani" * Albrecht Mayer – oboe on "Swan Lake" * Diana Tishchenko – violin on "Solveig's Song" * Lang Lang – music on "Time for Dreams (Variation)" * The London Symphony Orchestra – orchestra on "Un Bel Di , Ein Schöner Tag"

Cover art

* Philip Glaser – photography * Toby Harriman – photography * Katja Stier – artwork * Sandra Morath – artwork

References

External links

Music video of Swan Lake
{{Authority control Schiller (band) albums 2013 albums