Biography - Enigma 1
“Enigma is not an artist and it’s not a group. It’s a project, an idea.“ Michael Cretu, for whom Enigma is the realisation of a childhood dream, did not want his project to be connected to visuals - his goal was to establish Enigma as a symbol for experimental and creative music instead. “The people will like it without knowing anything about it, without any information.“ This was the reason for using the pseudonym of Curly MC, and it was with this credit that “Sadeness (Part I)“ first hit the radio stations in autumn 1990. (Curly is the English translation of Michael’s Romanian family name Cretu, and MC are Michael’s initials.) “I wanted the music to speak for itself.“ - and Michael was sure that the people would appreciate this kind of music without any background information on the person/people behind the project.
“It is music for everybody. It is intellectual, but has a very simple naive feeling.“ - a feeling that at the time was probably one of the reasons, if not the decisive one, for it’s worldwide success. The new sound was well-received in the USA, in Greece, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, the UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand - in countries with different cultures, tastes and traditions - and the album "MCMXC a.D.“, as well as the Enigma singles, topped the charts in several countries for weeks.
Success shows that Michael was right in trying to break every rule and to create music that had not yet been put on a sound-carrier. “I started working on this project when I wanted to create something that could not be bought in the shops.“ - and apparently he was not the only one to crave this idea.
Michael Cretu was born in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on May 18, 1957. His mother is Austrian and his father is Romanian. In 1975 Micheal Cretu emigrated to Germany. He studied at the Frankfurter Music Academy and graduated in Theory of Composition obtaining first-class honours. Soon he became one of the most renowned studio musicians, arrangers and producers. He started his solo career with the two albums "Legionäre“ and "Inivisible Man“. The albums of his wife, Sandra, that Michael produced in his own studio, are internationally successful and made his sound known throughout the world.