Freudiana

''Freudiana'' is a rock opera by Eric Woolfson. It was to be the 11th album by the Alan Parsons Project, but during its development, Woolfson had creative differences with Alan Parsons, causing the Project's split. With the two still working together on the album, the 1990 production utilizes the Project's personnel as well as guest vocalists, making it the "unofficial" Project album. The Project's official 11th and final album would end up being '' The Sicilian Defence'', later released in 2014 after being shelved for 36 years since its recording in 1979, as part of ''The Complete Albums'' box set.

Woolfson hit upon the idea of researching the life and works of Sigmund Freud with a view to their musical potential after he finished ''Gaudi''. He retraced Freud's footsteps and explored his realms through his homes in London and Vienna (both now museums), as well as literary sources including Freud's classic cases, whose real identities he concealed by use of names such as Wolfman, Ratman, Dora, Little Hans, and Schreber, the Judge. In addition, Freud's writings on his discovery of the unconscious, his well-known theories such as the Oedipus Complex, the ego and the id and perhaps his best known work, '' The Interpretation of Dreams'' all served as springboards for musical ideas. About halfway through the recording process, Woolfson was approached by Brian Brolly to develop the concept still further into a musical. With Brolly's help, Woolfson turned ''Freudiana'' into a stage musical. The musical had a successful run, and it was hoped that the show would open in other cities. Further plans were put on hold when a lawsuit broke out between Brolly and Woolfson, each fighting for control of the project. In the end, Brolly won, but the album remained attributed to Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons. ''Freudiana'' gave Woolfson a taste of musical theatre and he chose to continue in that end of the business.

Releases

This album was released in two versions: the "White Album" and the "Black Album".

The "White Album" was released in 1990 through EMI Records and was the standard album. While it was credited to "Freudiana" and not Eric Woolfson, Alan Parsons nor the Alan Parsons Project, the earliest releases had "The Alan Parsons Project" at the top. It includes 18 tracks with lead vocal performances from Leo Sayer, Kiki Dee, Marti Webb, 10cc's Eric Stewart, Frankie Howerd, Gary Howard and the Flying Pickets, as well as previous Alan Parsons Project vocalists Chris Rainbow, John Miles, Graham Dye, and Woolfson. Alan Parsons made musical contributions throughout the album as well as writing and producing, as he had with Alan Parsons Project albums. Howard would later appear with Parsons' live band on '' Alan Parsons Live'', and Stewart on Parsons' first two solo studio albums, ''Try Anything Once'' and ''On Air''.

The ''Deutsche Originalaufnahme'' ("German original recording"), also known as the "Black Album", features a double-length cast disc containing material from the rock opera recorded at Theater an der Wien.

Quotes

Track listing (the "White Album")

Personnel

* Eric Woolfson – Keyboards, vocals, executive producer
* Alan Parsons – Additional keyboards, engineer, producer
* Andrew Powell – Arrangements, orchestra leader
* Ian Bairnson – Guitar
* Laurie Cottle – Bass
* Richard Cottle – Synthesizer, saxophone
* Stuart Elliott – Drums, percussion

Charts

Stage musical version

''Freudiana'' premiered at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria on 19 December 1990. It was produced by Vereinigte Bühnen Wien. Until 18 April 1992, it played for 380 performances before 320,000 people.

The stage director was Peter Weck. The German song texts were by Lida Winiewicz. Erik was played by Ulrich Tukur.

Track listing, Deutsche Originalaufnahme (the "Black Album")

#"Freudiana" (Instrumental) – 3:07
#"Kleiner Hans" – 3:08 Original: Little Hans
#"Ich bin dein Spiegel" – 4:00 Original: I Am A Mirror
#"Es ist durchaus nicht erwiesen" – 4:42 Original: Funny You Should Say That
#"Dora" – 3:55
#"Du bist allein" – 4:24 Original: You're on Your Own
#"Ausgestossen" – 3:58 Original: Far Away From Home
#"Doctor Charcot" – 4:54 Original: Let Yourself Go
#"Frau Schmetterling" – 4:11 Original: Sects Therapy
#"Der Ring" – 3:06 Original: The Ring
#"Vision Dora" (Instrumental) – 3:00 Original: Beyond The Pleasure Principle
#"Nie war das Glück so nah" – 3:20 Original: Don't Let The Moment Pass
#"U-Bahn" – 3:45 Original: Upper Me
#"Wer ging den Weg" – 5:04 Original: There But for the Grace of God – Note: Title in lyric booklet given as "Wer kennt den Weg"
#"Oedipus – Terzett" – 6:25 Original: The Nirvana Principle (intro only) / No One Can Love You Better Than Me
#"Chorus" – 0:58 Original: Destiny
#"Freudiana" – 4:58

The CD contains most of the musical content of the show; aside from the spoken passages and some incidental music, there's also a reprise of "Es ist durchaus nicht erwiesen" following "Der Ring" which was cut from the cast recording.

Personnel

* Herwig Ursin – production manager, post-processing and mixing
* Fritz Staudinger, Gernot Ursin, Peter Naumann – recording engineers
* Recorded with the HEY-U-Studiomobil at the Theater an der Wien

References

External links

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{{Authority control

1990 albums
Eric Woolfson albums
Alan Parsons albums
1990s concept albums
Rock musicals
Albums produced by Alan Parsons
EMI Records albums
Composer tributes (classical music)
Rock operas
Sigmund Freud
Musicals set in Austria
Musicals set in London
Austrian musicals