The Classical Conspiracy is the second live album by Dutch symphonic metal band Epica. The recorded live show took part in Miskolc, Hungary on 14 June 2008 in the framework of the Miskolc Opera Festival, 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, excerpts from operas and movie soundtracks, as well as Epica's songs. The album was released on 8 May 2009 through Nuclear Blast Records.
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, who had already left the band when the album was released.
Track listing
Personnel
Epica
Simone Simons – lead vocals
Mark Jansen – lead & rhythm guitar, grunts, screams, band arrangements on tracks 2, 6 Ad Sluijter – lead & rhythm guitar, editing Yves Huts – bass, band arrangements on tracks 5, 7, 8, 11, 12 Coen Janssen – synthesizer, piano, orchestral and choir arrangements, band arrangements on tracks 2, 4, 7 Ariën van Weesenbeek – drums
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