“But we knew that in Europe the project was launched on the strength of the music. “We didn’t sit down and say, ‘This project is called Enigma, so let’s be enigmatic,’ ” said Audrey Strahl, vice president of press and artist development for Charisma. What does Charisma-a branch of Virgin Records-think about all his reluctance to help promote the record? That’s why I think it’s not good to do too much promotion.” “I wanted the music to speak its own language. “It’s not important to know who plays the keyboards or who’s the producer or whatever,” he added. The producer was reared in Munich, where he attended a classical conservatory before venturing into pop. “The reason is that I consider Enigma a project, not an artist,” Cretu said by phone from his home on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Ibiza. They don’t even have any photos of him to give the press. record company, Charisma, knows little about him. This is his first effort as a recording artist, though he has had considerable success in producing records for his wife Sandra (a singer, who goes by just the single name and has had hits in Europe and South America) and records for German pop performer Peter Schilling.Ĭretu’s solo project is virtually a one-man show, with the chants and other vocals (including some opera excerpts) provided via electronic sampling.īeyond that, even his U.S. “Enigma” is Michael Cretu, a 33-year-old Romanian native who now lives in Spain. The only you’ll see is that of an ancient monk.Īs soon as Charisma Records released the single in January, the company started getting inquiries about the record, but all the company would say was that it was the work of a “German producer.”īut the veil-finally-is being lifted. Don’t look for any clues on the album cover. The hoopla even led to a run on Gregorian chant records in German stores at Christmas time.īut the curious appeal of the song-Medieval chants set against light Euro-dance beats-is no less intriguing than the shrouded identity of its creator, an entity appropriately called Enigma. All this success duplicates what happened when the album was released last year in Europe, where the single when to No.

Sadness enigma album cover