''The Classical Conspiracy'' is the second

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-genre style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars ...

band

Epica Epica or EPICA may refer to: * Epica (band), a Dutch symphonic metal band * ''Epica'' (Kamelot album), 2003 * ''Epica'' (Audiomachine album), 2012 * The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) * The Epica Awards (International Adver ...

. The recorded live show took part in

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

on 14 June 2008 in the framework of the

Miskolc Opera Festival The Miskolc Opera Festival or International Opera Festival of Miskolc ''(Miskolci Nemzetközi Operafesztivál)'' was a cultural event held every summer in Miskolc, the capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Hungary. The event offers a selectio ...

, where the Swedish symphonic metal band Therion had done a similar show a year before. Epica performed on stage with a 40-piece orchestra and a 30-piece choir, entirely composed of Hungarian musicians conducted by Zsolt Regos. The expanded ensemble played

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, excerpts from

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s and

movie soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured ...

s, as well as Epica's songs. The album was released on 8 May 2009 through

Nuclear Blast Records Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

. This is the first album featuring Ariën van Weesenbeek as the new official drummer of Epica and also the last album with founding member and lead guitarist

Ad Sluijter Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen after his departure from After Forever. Originally formed as a symphonic metal band with gothic metal, gothic influences, Epica later incorporated strong death ...

, who had already left the band when the album was released.

Track listing

Personnel

Epica *

Simone Simons Simone Johanna Maria Simons (born 17 January 1985) is a Dutch singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, which she joined at the age of seventeen, releasing nine studio albums and touring the world ...

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Mark Jansen Markus Hubertus Johannes Jansen (born 15 December 1978) is a Dutch guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. A prominent figure in the symphonic metal subgenre, he is known for his work with the bands After Forever (1995–2002), Epica (2002–pr ...

– lead & rhythm guitar, grunts, screams, band arrangements on tracks 2, 6 *

– lead & rhythm guitar, editing *Yves Huts –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, band arrangements on tracks 5, 7, 8, 11, 12 *Coen Janssen –

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, orchestral and choir arrangements, band arrangements on tracks 2, 4, 7 *Ariën van Weesenbeek –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Additional musicians *Amanda Somerville – choir vocals *Agnes Liptak – choir vocals Choir of Miskolc National Theatre * Boglarka Jambrik, Edina Kecskemeti, Eszter Maria Papp, Eva Orth, Eva Vajda, Ildiko Simon, Zsuzsa Adamy, Zsuzsa Kurucz, Agnes Liptak, Anette Cseh, Angelika Hircsu, Diana Kuttor, Linda Dolhai, Maria Takacs, Mariann Majlath, Oksana Pascsenko, Andras Marton, Erik Molnar, Gergely Boncser, Gergely Irlanda, Laszlo Bodor, Nandor Nandor, Tibor Osvath, Akos Baksy, Balazs Kolozsi, David Dani, Ivan Nagy, Robert Molnar, Sandor Demeter Extended Reményi Ede Chamber Orchestra * Beata Lukacs – violin * Benjamin Almassy – violin * Boglarka Balog – violin * Doris Tatai – violin * Eva Siklosi – violin * Maria Lazanyi – violin * Monika Zsekov – violin * Zoltán Ficsor – violin * Zoltan Kerenyi – violin * Zsofia Nagy – violin * Tamas Kriston – violin * Janos Feher – viola * Jozsef Kautzky – viola * Sandor Szabo – viola * Tamás Tóth – viola * Angelika Béres – celli * Annamaria Bodi – celli * Kamilla Matakovics – celli * Arpad Balog – double bass * Gizella Keresztfalvi – double bass * Sandor Czimer – clarinet * Tamas Fogarasi – clarinet * Csaba Szilagyi – trombone * Istvan Molnar – trombone * Zoltan Kakuk – trombone * Gyorgy Aranyosi – trumpet * Peter Gál – trumpet * Beata Tatar – oboe * Janos Implom – oboe * János Dobos – tuba * Tamas Domotor – timpani * István Halász – bassoon * Krisztián Járdány – bassoon * Eniko Frencz – French horn * Ferenc Tornyai – French horn * Gergely Opauszky – French horn * Sándor Horváth – French horn * Marianna Moori – flute * Tamas Siklosi – flute * Mark Virágh – percussion * Andras Bujtas – keyboards Production *

Oliver Palotai Oliver Palotai (born 17 March 1974) is a German musician, best known as a member of the power metal band Kamelot and of Doro Pesch's touring band. Career He made his name playing keyboards and guitar for Doro and keyboards for Circle II Circ ...

– orchestral arrangements *

Sascha Paeth Sascha Paeth (born 9 September 1970) is a German guitarist, bassist, record producer and mixer known for working with heavy metal bands such as Avantasia, Edguy, Angra, Shaman, Rhapsody of Fire, Kamelot, After Forever and Epica. He owns the ...

– mixing, mastering *Zsolt Regos – choirmaster *Tamias Kriston – concertmaster *Hídvégi Dániel – live sound engineering *Gresiczki Tamás – live sound engineering *Olaf Reitmeier – editing *Miro – editing *Ad Sluijter – editing *Simon Oberender – editing, mixing, mastering *Stefan Heilemann – art direction, design *Levente Kovács – photography *Maria Schvab – photography *Patrakov Alexey – photography *Oleg Patrakov – photography *Rita Miklán – photography *Janos Adam – photography *László Mocsári – photography *Jan-Willem Stekelenburg - Epica FOH

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Classical Conspiracy, The Epica (band) albums 2009 live albums Nuclear Blast live albums