The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman is the 22nd album by American
rock group
Sparks, released in August 2009. The duo's first work in the radio musical or
pop opera[2] genre, the album is built around an imaginary visit to
Hollywood by Swedish film director
Ingmar Bergman in the mid-1950s. Its storyline focuses on the divides between European and American culture, between art and commerce. Unlike other Sparks albums, the work is conceived as a single piece, to be listened to as a whole, rather than a collection of stand-alone songs.
The work was commissioned by
Sveriges Radio Radioteatern, the
radio drama department of Sweden's national radio broadcaster. First released in the Swedish broadcast version in August 2009, with an English-language version following in November 2009, it features a cast of Swedish and American actors and a variety of musical styles ranging from
opera to
vaudeville and
pop. The album's recording was a collaborative effort – while the music and English vocals were recorded by Sparks in the United States, the album's Swedish vocals were recorded by Sveriges Radio in Stockholm, and then sent to the Maels via an
FTP server. The album and its ambitious dramatic concept received favourable reviews, and the Mael brothers have said that they are planning both a live show and a film version of the musical.
