Camouflage Dresden

The German synth-pop trio Camouflage was officially formed in 1984 by vocalist Marcus Meyn and keyboardists/programmers Heiko Maile and Oliver Kreyssig. The group took first place in a radio-sponsored song contest in 1986, and before long, their debut single, "The Great Commandment," was scaling the German charts. Their full-length debut, Voices and Images, was released in 1988, reflecting the group's classic new wave synth-pop influences, but most of all Depeche Mode. 1989's Methods of Silence began to broaden Camouflage's sonic palette, yet the Depeche Mode sound still remained at the forefront. Oliver Kreyssig then left the group, leaving Maile and Meyn as a duo augmented by several studio musicians. By the time of 1991's Meanwhile, Camouflage had garnered a not insignificant following on college radio; the album moved still farther away from synth-pop and incorporated greater instrumentation…

Founded in the southern German city of Bietigheim-Bissingen by Heiko Maile, Oliver Kreyssig and Marcus Meyn in the year 1984, the band Camouflage scored an unexpected international hit with their debut album ‘Voices & Images’ in 1988. Their sophomore album ‘Methods Of Silence’, released just a year later, was an even bigger success. Songs like ‘The Great Commandment’ and ‘Love Is A Shield’, went on to become perennial classics of the synth pop genre. For the production of their third album ‘Meanwhile’ Heiko Maile and Marcus Meyn (Oliver Kreyssig has left the band by then) were striking a new path. They recorded the songs with a band lineup with real drums, bass, guitar and keyboards. To mark the 30th anniversary of the album, the band opened up the archives to assemble a special bonus edition including a wealth of rare and unreleased recordings, limited to 500 triple LP sets and 1,500 double CDs.

Features unique photos from Soviet and German archives and private collections, along with color side views featuring camouflage, insignias and tactical markings of Red Army Air Force aircraft. …

Acclaimed for his great recordings of works by Mozart and Berlioz, it is a little surprising that Sir Colin Davis is not equally hailed for his superb renditions of Schubert's symphonies, a repertoire for which this conductor's blending of Classical elegance and Romantic passion is perfectly suited. Previously released as a box set in 1996, this RCA Complete Collection reveals Davis as a masterful interpreter of Schubert's unique uses of symphonic form; and his performances have real momentum and coherence, the two qualities that hold these symphonies together. Davis' sense of trajectory is plainly evident in the first six symphonies, which adhere to Classical models and depend on forward motion and clear structures to convey the unity of their movements. But propulsion is even more critical in the more expansive frameworks of the Symphony No. 8, "Unfinished," and the Symphony No. 9, "The Great".

To mark the 30th anniversary of the album, the band opened up the archives to assemble a special bonus edition including a wealth of rare and unreleased recordings.
Camouflage entered the synth pop game when most people had already moved on, which spelled trouble for their 1989 sophomore album. The total absence of acknowledged humor in Camouflage's material contrasted sharply with the vibrancy of the ensuing decade, and the album's widening addition of violins, saxophones, and guitars couldn't prevent the band from being forced into a prematurely outdated pigeonhole. In hindsight, this was the LP's biggest problem. "On Islands" and "One Fine Day" were sweet, multi-textured pop that swayed like a hammock strung between industrial pylons…

Antonio Pappano and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden are presenting a symphonic work with particular relevance for Dresden: Rachmaninoff‘s Symphony No. 2, which was written during the composer‘s years at the Saxon residency. The Petersburg premiere of Rachmaninoff’s 1st Symphony became a fiasco. This rejection, by the public and the critics, plunged the composer into a creative crisis. In 1906, Rachmaninoff moved to Dresden and composed his successful and highly dramatic Second Symphony. Included on this DVD are the full concert performance with Maestro Pappano and Sächsische Staatskapelle and the documentary Sergei Rachmaninoff in Dresden. It is the first time that Sächsische Staatskapelle performed Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No 2 under the baton of Antonio Pappano. The documentary includes extensive archive material, photos, scores and posters from Dresden in the years between 1906 and 1920.

Beethoven's Missa Solemnis was performed on 13 and 14 February, 2010 at the traditional memorial concert to commemorate the bombardement of Dresden during the last weeks of World War II. Under Christian Thielemann, the Staatskapelle Dresden proved itself exeptionally qualified to master this work´s magnificent challenges. Thielemann “conjured up the gigantic cosmos of the Missa with such lightness and grace that its mystery seemed to reveal itself”, wrote the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Director Peter Sellars helms this provocative adaptation of George Frideric Handel’s opera “Giulio Cesare,” sung in the original Italian by soprano Susan Larson (who plays Cleopatra) and countertenor Jeffrey Gall (in the role of Julius Caesar) but set in a very different locale: a futuristic Middle East. Sellars personally wrote the English subtitles included in this version to match the tone he intended for his vision.