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Roger Waters – Ça Ira (2005) 2xSACD
SACD ISO: DST64 2.0, 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Classical Opera | 5.96 Gb
Work on Ça Ira, his first opera for full orchestra and voice, began in 1989, during the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. Waters was introduced to the well-respected and successful songwriter Etienne Roda-Gil and his wife, Nadine, by a mutual friend. They had created an original libretto for an opera, written in French, as part of the Bicentennial, entitled Ça Ira, after a revolutionary song of the period.
Waters was deeply impressed by the passion and the power of Etienne's manuscript and began work on creating a full orchestral score for Ça Ira. Work on the project was suspended when Nadine died tragically of leukaemia, but in 1997, Roger began writing an English version of the text. The finished version of Ça Ira features orchestration and choral arrangements by Rick Wentworth and Roger Waters, also the album's producers.
Principal characters in the opera are brought to life by Bryn Terfel (the Ringmaster, the Troublemaker, Louis Capet - the King of France); Internationally acclaimed soprano Ying Huang (Marie Marianne - the Voice of Liberty, Reason and the Republic, Marie Antoinette - the Queen of France); American tenor Paul Groves (A Revolutionary Priest, A Military Officer); and Senegalese "one man orchestra" Ismael Lo (a Revolutionary Slave).
Ça Ira (French for “It’ll be fine”, subtitled “There is Hope”) is an opera in three acts by Roger Waters based on the French libretto co-written by Étienne and Nadine Roda-Gil on the historical subject of the early French Revolution. Ça Ira was released 26 September 2005, as a double CD album featuring baritone Bryn Terfel, soprano Ying Huang, and tenor Paul Groves.
Allmusic Review
Roger Waters, the man who equated “education” with “thought control” in his pseudo-opera The Wall, is now back and appealing to higher culture in his new opera Ça Ira. Moreover, this is a real opera, with singers, a chorus, and an orchestra with not a single dreamy, overlong electric guitar solo in sight. Fans of Pink Floyd will find little in Ça Ira to satisfy their jones for “the Floyd,” although there are many standard musical features associated with the classic rock staple group that have been carried over into this work — crushingly slow tempi, somber and monotonous singing, and a mania for pristine recordings of sound effects. At one point, a volley of musket fire makes you jump out of your seat.
Ça Ira was undertaken with librettists Etienne and Nadine Roda-Gil not long after The Wall, but it took Waters so long to put the finishing touches on it that his collaborators have since died. Waters made a smart decision in using librettists for this project, as his own corroded worldview would certainly have undone the basic idea, the message of which is “there is hope.” That said, the Roda-Gils took on too large of a swath of the French Revolution to cram into three acts, and the listener gets no more than a picture postcard sense of its flavor. All of the principal singers in this recording are required to take on multiple roles in Ça Ira, and this results in a twofold effect. The first is that it brings Ça Ira into the realm of opera-oratorio, and even to some degree Brechtian “Lehrstück,” and secondly, it’s hard to tell what character a singer is supposed to be portraying if one is not following the libretto. Expect the motion picture version soon!
Naturally, Bryn Terfel and Ying Huang are top-drawer opera singers, and Terfel relishes the opportunity, chewing on as much scenery as he can get his hands on. Huang, for her part, hangs in there, but she does not sing as though she loves this material. Ça Ira would be a hard opera for a singer to love, as there is no characterization through the singing whatsoever, and characters themselves are not given enough of the floor to engage us. The orchestration is handled with taste and some sophistication, but in terms of melody, Ça Ira is the sing-songiest opera since the pre-revolutionary days of Thomas and Sally. Wherever the fundamental of the harmonic movement is, the melody line follows, and vice-versa. In spots where there is no harmonic foundation, Waters resorts to scalar or bugle-call like figures that, while effectively passing as notes to hang the words onto, do not constitute melody in and of themselves. This kind of texture overall would be tremendously monochromatic and dull for the average opera listener.
However, if the name above the title were Andrew Lloyd Webber, then Ça Ira would be considered better than average. Moreover, there is potential good to be reaped if Ça Ira gains some popularity. If it proves to your standard-issue stoner that you don’t have to be a dork to enjoy an opera, that’s terrific. If it helps raise the public profile of the fine singers involved here, that is great, too. Nevertheless, as an opera of which the notion “there is hope” is the main theme, at least musically Ça Ira isn’t very hopeful.
Tracklist:
Say THANKS (DANKE), please!
SACD ISO: DST64 2.0, 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Classical Opera | 5.96 Gb
Work on Ça Ira, his first opera for full orchestra and voice, began in 1989, during the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. Waters was introduced to the well-respected and successful songwriter Etienne Roda-Gil and his wife, Nadine, by a mutual friend. They had created an original libretto for an opera, written in French, as part of the Bicentennial, entitled Ça Ira, after a revolutionary song of the period.
Waters was deeply impressed by the passion and the power of Etienne's manuscript and began work on creating a full orchestral score for Ça Ira. Work on the project was suspended when Nadine died tragically of leukaemia, but in 1997, Roger began writing an English version of the text. The finished version of Ça Ira features orchestration and choral arrangements by Rick Wentworth and Roger Waters, also the album's producers.
Principal characters in the opera are brought to life by Bryn Terfel (the Ringmaster, the Troublemaker, Louis Capet - the King of France); Internationally acclaimed soprano Ying Huang (Marie Marianne - the Voice of Liberty, Reason and the Republic, Marie Antoinette - the Queen of France); American tenor Paul Groves (A Revolutionary Priest, A Military Officer); and Senegalese "one man orchestra" Ismael Lo (a Revolutionary Slave).
Ça Ira (French for “It’ll be fine”, subtitled “There is Hope”) is an opera in three acts by Roger Waters based on the French libretto co-written by Étienne and Nadine Roda-Gil on the historical subject of the early French Revolution. Ça Ira was released 26 September 2005, as a double CD album featuring baritone Bryn Terfel, soprano Ying Huang, and tenor Paul Groves.
Allmusic Review
Roger Waters, the man who equated “education” with “thought control” in his pseudo-opera The Wall, is now back and appealing to higher culture in his new opera Ça Ira. Moreover, this is a real opera, with singers, a chorus, and an orchestra with not a single dreamy, overlong electric guitar solo in sight. Fans of Pink Floyd will find little in Ça Ira to satisfy their jones for “the Floyd,” although there are many standard musical features associated with the classic rock staple group that have been carried over into this work — crushingly slow tempi, somber and monotonous singing, and a mania for pristine recordings of sound effects. At one point, a volley of musket fire makes you jump out of your seat.
Ça Ira was undertaken with librettists Etienne and Nadine Roda-Gil not long after The Wall, but it took Waters so long to put the finishing touches on it that his collaborators have since died. Waters made a smart decision in using librettists for this project, as his own corroded worldview would certainly have undone the basic idea, the message of which is “there is hope.” That said, the Roda-Gils took on too large of a swath of the French Revolution to cram into three acts, and the listener gets no more than a picture postcard sense of its flavor. All of the principal singers in this recording are required to take on multiple roles in Ça Ira, and this results in a twofold effect. The first is that it brings Ça Ira into the realm of opera-oratorio, and even to some degree Brechtian “Lehrstück,” and secondly, it’s hard to tell what character a singer is supposed to be portraying if one is not following the libretto. Expect the motion picture version soon!
Naturally, Bryn Terfel and Ying Huang are top-drawer opera singers, and Terfel relishes the opportunity, chewing on as much scenery as he can get his hands on. Huang, for her part, hangs in there, but she does not sing as though she loves this material. Ça Ira would be a hard opera for a singer to love, as there is no characterization through the singing whatsoever, and characters themselves are not given enough of the floor to engage us. The orchestration is handled with taste and some sophistication, but in terms of melody, Ça Ira is the sing-songiest opera since the pre-revolutionary days of Thomas and Sally. Wherever the fundamental of the harmonic movement is, the melody line follows, and vice-versa. In spots where there is no harmonic foundation, Waters resorts to scalar or bugle-call like figures that, while effectively passing as notes to hang the words onto, do not constitute melody in and of themselves. This kind of texture overall would be tremendously monochromatic and dull for the average opera listener.
However, if the name above the title were Andrew Lloyd Webber, then Ça Ira would be considered better than average. Moreover, there is potential good to be reaped if Ça Ira gains some popularity. If it proves to your standard-issue stoner that you don’t have to be a dork to enjoy an opera, that’s terrific. If it helps raise the public profile of the fine singers involved here, that is great, too. Nevertheless, as an opera of which the notion “there is hope” is the main theme, at least musically Ça Ira isn’t very hopeful.
Tracklist:
CD 1
1. The Gathering Storm 01:38
2. Overture 04:07
3. A Garden In Vienna 1765 00:54
4. Madame Antoine, Madame Antoine… 02:54
5. Kings, Sticks And Birds 02:40
6. Honest Bird, Simple Bird… 02:10
7. I Want To Be King… 02:38
8. Let Us Break All The Shields… 01:46
9. The Grievances Of The People 04:39
10. France In Disarray 02:35
11. To Laugh Is To Know How To Live… 01:44
12. Slavers, Landlords, Bigots At Your Door… 03:37
13. The Fall Of Bastille 01:35
14. To Freeze In The Dead Of Night… 02:19
15. So To The Streets In The Pouring Rain… 04:17
16. Dances And Marches 02:12
17. Now Hear Ye!… 02:18
18. Flushed With Wine… 04:32
19. The Letter 01:38
20. My Dear Cousin Bourbon Of Spain… 02:49
21. The Ship Of State Is All At Sea… 01:47
22. Silver, Sugar And Indigo 00:55
23. To The Windward Isles… 04:50
24. The Papal Edict 01:18
25. In Paris There’s A Rumble Under The Ground… 06:21
CD 2
1. The Fugitive King 02:12
2. But The Marquis Of Boulli Has A Trump Card Up His Sleeve… 04:28
3. To Take Your Hat Off… 02:41
4. The Echoes Never Fade From That Fusillade… 03:16
5. The Commune De Paris 02:43
6. Vive La Commune De Paris… 03:15
7. The National Assembly Is Confused… 02:42
8. The Execution Of Louis Capet 01:40
9. Adieu Louis For You It’s Over… 03:46
10. Marie Antoinette – The Last Night On Earth 01:36
11. Adieu My Good And Tender Sister… 05:10
12. Liberty 02:51
13. And In The Bushes Where They Survive… 06:55
1. The Gathering Storm 01:38
2. Overture 04:07
3. A Garden In Vienna 1765 00:54
4. Madame Antoine, Madame Antoine… 02:54
5. Kings, Sticks And Birds 02:40
6. Honest Bird, Simple Bird… 02:10
7. I Want To Be King… 02:38
8. Let Us Break All The Shields… 01:46
9. The Grievances Of The People 04:39
10. France In Disarray 02:35
11. To Laugh Is To Know How To Live… 01:44
12. Slavers, Landlords, Bigots At Your Door… 03:37
13. The Fall Of Bastille 01:35
14. To Freeze In The Dead Of Night… 02:19
15. So To The Streets In The Pouring Rain… 04:17
16. Dances And Marches 02:12
17. Now Hear Ye!… 02:18
18. Flushed With Wine… 04:32
19. The Letter 01:38
20. My Dear Cousin Bourbon Of Spain… 02:49
21. The Ship Of State Is All At Sea… 01:47
22. Silver, Sugar And Indigo 00:55
23. To The Windward Isles… 04:50
24. The Papal Edict 01:18
25. In Paris There’s A Rumble Under The Ground… 06:21
CD 2
1. The Fugitive King 02:12
2. But The Marquis Of Boulli Has A Trump Card Up His Sleeve… 04:28
3. To Take Your Hat Off… 02:41
4. The Echoes Never Fade From That Fusillade… 03:16
5. The Commune De Paris 02:43
6. Vive La Commune De Paris… 03:15
7. The National Assembly Is Confused… 02:42
8. The Execution Of Louis Capet 01:40
9. Adieu Louis For You It’s Over… 03:46
10. Marie Antoinette – The Last Night On Earth 01:36
11. Adieu My Good And Tender Sister… 05:10
12. Liberty 02:51
13. And In The Bushes Where They Survive… 06:55
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Say THANKS (DANKE), please!
