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Enigma

and his wife Sandra]]
Enigma is a musical project started by Michael Cretu and his wife Sandra Cretu in 1990. Michael is both the composer and the producer; Sandra often provides vocals on Enigma tracks. The pair have also worked together under the name Sandra.

History

From the late 70s onwards, Michael Cretu already had his own music career on his hands and apart from several collabroation efforts with several other musicians, he also contributed to his wife's albums. Before Enigma, he released a number of albums but they all were not particularly successful. A decade later, he revealed in an interview that he believed that his ideas were soon running out.
It was then that Cretu plotted the creation of Enigma as a 10 year project at that time. In Enigma, he decided to head on a different direction and in December 1990, he found his winning formula in the release of its groundbreaking debut album, MCMXC a.D.. The album was Cretu's first commercial success through the single "Sadeness (Part I)", which juxtaposed Gregorian chants and sexual overtones over a dance beat that was highly peculiar to the ears of the public at that time.
Before the album was released, Cretu was cautious of the response towards the upcoming album, decided to forgo mentioning his and most of the personnel's real name and credited himself as Curly M.C., while the album sleeve contained little information about the background of the project, furthering the mystery and enigma about the creators of the album.
In 1993, Cretu was given an offer by producers to compose the full soundtrack of the motion picture, Sliver but he refused the offer and instead, he came up with "Carly's Song" and "Carly's Loneliness". Cretu gave another hint that he was moving to another direction again, charging up the song with heartful Mongolian chanting.
Later in the same year, The Cross of Changes was released and it received about the same, if not a even larger and better response from the public. However, both of the albums also hitched up lawsuits over the issue of sampling from other music sources. In 1994, they were sued by Polydor Germany for the samples used in MCMXC a.D. while Kuo Ying-nan and Kuo Hsiu-chu from Taiwan's Ami tribe filed a suit in 1998, both of the lawsuits have been settled.
Enigma's music has evolved from Gregorian chants (MCMXC a.D.), to ethnic chants (The Cross of Changes), to modern sounds and beats (Screen Behind the Mirror, Voyageur). Enigma achieved their first commercial success through the single "Sadeness", which juxtaposed Gregorian chants with elements of overt sexuality in a strange and unusual new way; a great deal of New Age electronica owes its existence to Enigma's first album. "Sadeness" was named "Sadeness (Part I)" on its single release in Germany, and "Sadness Part I" on its single release in England. It is a sensual track with an insatiable beat based around questioning the sexual desires of the Marquis de Sade, hence the German release name of "Sadeness", as opposed to the English word of Sadness.
The content of Enigma's music ranges from sexuality (Principles of Lust), love (Gravity of Love), and innocence (Return to Innocence). However, Michael describes Enigma's music as sensual, not sexual. Every album starts with their signature horn sound mixed into the introductory music.
Michael Cretu is based in Ibiza. Until recently, he ran the "ART Studios" from his mansion in the Ibiza Hills. Michael has now relocated to a purpose built mansion, in Ibiza, and has recently started installing a state-of-the-art recording studio inside one area of the building.
Enigma is under contract by Virgin Records to release a total of eight albums at a rate of one per three years. At the current rate, the last Enigma album will be released in 2012.