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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name        = Dropera
| type        = studio
| artist      = [[Fred Frith]] and [[Ferdinand Richard]]
| cover       = Fred&Ferd AlbumCover Dropera.jpg
| released    = {{Start date|1991}}
| recorded    = August 1989
| studio      = Sound and Vision Studio, [[Zürich]], Switzerland
| genre       = [[Avant-rock]]
| length      = {{Duration|m=46|s=03}}
| language    = [[French language|French]]
| label       = [[RecRec Music|RecRec]] (Switzerland)
| producer    = [[Raymund van Santen]]
| misc        = {{Extra chronology
 | artist     = [[Fred Frith]]
 | type       = studio
 | prev_title = [[Attention Span (album)|Attention Span]]
 | prev_year  = 1990
 | title      = Dropera
 | year       = 1991
 | next_title = [[Live Improvisations]]
 | next_year  = 1992
 }}
}}

'''''Dropera''''' is a [[concept album]] by [[Fred Frith]] and [[Ferdinand Richard]], credited as "Fred & Ferd". It was their first collaborative album as a [[Duet|duo]] and was recorded in [[Zürich]], [[Switzerland]] in August 1989. It was released on both [[LP album|LP]] and [[Compact disc|CD]] by [[RecRec Music]] in Switzerland in 1991. The album's songs were sung in [[French language|French]] and a booklet of the song lyrics in French, [[German language|German]] and English accompanied the album.

== Background ==
[[England|English]] experimental guitarist/composer [[Fred Frith]] and [[France|French]] experimental bass guitarist/composer [[Ferdinand Richard]] had previously worked together in other contexts before coming together as a [[Duet|duo]] to record this album. Frith was a founding member of the English [[avant-rock]] [[Musical ensemble|band]] [[Henry Cow]] and Richard a founding member of the French avant-rock band [[Etron Fou Leloublan]]. Their paths first crossed in the mid-1970s when Henry Cow began touring [[Europe]]. Contact consolidated in 1978 when the two bands and three others joined forces to form [[Rock in Opposition]]. In mid-1980 Etron Fou Leloublan (including Richard) recorded with Frith in France and [[Switzerland]], and appeared on one side of Frith's 1981 solo LP, ''[[Speechless (Fred Frith album)|Speechless]]''. Frith also played on and produced two of Etron Fou Leloublan's albums in 1982 and 1985.

== Content and reception ==
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=AMG />
}}
''Dropera'' is a "twisted rock opera" about the comic and surreal adventure of two diners in a French restaurant involving abduction, an aircraft crash, death and re-awakening.<ref name=booklet>Booklet accompanying the LP and CD.</ref> Frith and Richard composed the music, and Richard wrote and sang the song texts. The music has been described as a mixture of [[avant-rock]], [[pastorale]] with a little [[Musical improvisation|improvisation]].<ref name=AMG>{{AllMusic |class=album |id=dropera-mw0000966287 |title=''Dropera'' |first=Ted |last=Mills |access-date=2007-11-06}}</ref> [[AllMusic]] wrote that notwithstanding the "leaden" sound of the programmed drums, "Fans of Frith will not be disappointed with this collaboration.<ref name=AMG />

== Track listing ==
Music by [[Fred Frith]] and [[Ferdinand Richard]]; lyrics by Ferdinand Richard.
;Face A<nowiki>:</nowiki> On Vit!
#"Petite Entrée: Au Restaurant, On Se Regarde!"&nbsp;– 3:31
#"Tableau 1: Riche Et Mystérieux!"&nbsp;– 5:56
#"Tableau 2: Mauvaise Gauche!"&nbsp;– 2:24
#"Tableau 3: Deux Emballés!"&nbsp;– 2:52
#"Tableau 4: Tous Cuits!"&nbsp;– 4:02
#"Fin Tragique: Flottent Les Petits Morceaux!"&nbsp;– 2:33
;Face B<nowiki>:</nowiki> On Est Mort!
#"Enchaînement Alchimique: Nos Fantômes Naissent!"&nbsp;– 3:42
#"Tableau 5: La Mer Est Notre Mère!"&nbsp;– 4:08
#"Tableau 6: Ah, Que La Vie Est Dure!"&nbsp;– 4:59
#"Tableau 7: Allez, On Danse!"&nbsp;– 4:08
#"Tableau 8: Holà! Tu Rèves! / Fin Comique: A Quand La Suite?"&nbsp;– 7:48

=== English titles ===
;Side A<nowiki>:</nowiki> One Lives!
#"Petite Entrée: In the Restaurant, They Eye Each Other!"&nbsp;– 3:31
#"Scene 1: Rich and Mysterious!"&nbsp;– 5:56
#"Scene 2: Wrong Left Turn!"&nbsp;– 2:24
#"Scene 3: Two Abducted!"&nbsp;– 2:52
#"Scene 4: Everyone Fried!"&nbsp;– 4:02
#"Tragic Finale: Little Pieces Floating!"&nbsp;– 2:33
;Side B<nowiki>:</nowiki> One Has Died!
#"Alchemical Outcome: Birth of Our Phantoms!"&nbsp;– 3:42
#"Scene 5: The Sea Is Our Mother!"&nbsp;– 4:08
#"Scene 6: It's a Hard Life!"&nbsp;– 4:59
#"Scene 7: Hey, Let's Dance!"&nbsp;– 4:08
#"Scene 8: You Must Be Dreaming! / Comic Finale: When's the Sequel?"&nbsp;– 7:48
Translations from the album booklet.<ref name=booklet />

== Personnel ==
*[[Fred Frith]]&nbsp;– guitars, violins, keyboards, digital and analogue percussion, background vocals
*[[Ferdinand Richard]]&nbsp;– six-string bass guitar, lead vocals
*[[Raymund van Santen]]&nbsp;– alto saxophone, clarinet, flageolet

=== Production ===
*Recorded by [[Andy Rathgeb]] in August 1989 at Sound and Vision Studio, [[Zürich]], [[Switzerland]]
*Mixed by [[Tim Hodgkinson]] in December 1989 at Cold Storage Studio, [[London]]
*Produced by [[Raymund van Santen]]
*Photography by [[Bill Gilonis]]
*Artwork by [[Peter Bäder]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{Discogs release|name=''Dropera''|id=820416}}

{{Fred Frith}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1991 debut albums]]
[[Category:1991 collaborative albums]]
[[Category:Experimental music albums]]
[[Category:1990s French-language albums]]
[[Category:RecRec Music albums]]
[[Category:Fred Frith albums]]
[[Category:1990s concept albums]]