Roger Waters: Ça Ira (There Is Hope)

Roger Waters - Roger Waters: Ça Ira (There Is Hope)

Roger Waters: Ça Ira (There Is Hope)
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CD Details

Artist: Roger Waters
Edition: Music CD
Format: Enhanced
CD Release Date: 2005-09-27
Music Label: Sony
Product features:
  • Roger Waters - Ça Ira
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. The Gathering Storm
  2. Overture
  3. A Garden In Vienna 1765
  4. 'Madame Antoine, Madame Antoine...'
  5. Kings, Sticks And Birds
  6. 'Honest Bird, Simple Bird...'
  7. 'I Want To Be King...'
  8. 'Let Us Break All The Shields...'
  9. The Grievences Of People
  10. France In Disarray
  11. 'To Laugh Is To Know How To Live...'
  12. 'Slavers, Landlords, Bigots At Your Door...'
  13. The Fall Of The Bastille
  14. 'To Freeze In The Dead Of Night...'
  15. 'So To The Streets In The Pouring Rain...'
  16. Dances And Marches
  17. 'Now Hear Ye!...'
  18. 'Flushed With Wine...'
  19. The Letter
  20. 'My Dear Cousin Bourbon Of Spain...'
  21. 'The Ship Of State Is All At Sea...'
  22. Silver, Sugar And Indigo
  23. 'To The Windward Isles...'
  24. The Papal Edict
  25. 'In Paris There's A Rumble Under The Ground...'
Music CD 2
  1. The Fugitive King
  2. 'But The Marquis Of Boulli Has A Trump Card Up His Sleeve...'
  3. 'To Take Your Hat off...'
  4. 'The Echoes Never Fade From That Fusillade...'
  5. The Commune De Paris
  6. 'Vive La Commune De Paris...'
  7. 'The National Assembly Is Confused...'
  8. The Execution Of Louis Capet
  9. 'Adieu Louis For You It's Over...'
  10. Marie Antoinette - The Last Night On Earth
  11. 'Adieu My Good And Tender Sister...'
  12. Liberty
  13. 'And In The Bushes Where They Survive...'

Music reviews of Roger Waters: Ça Ira (There Is Hope)

Music Review: Worth it
Rating: 4 Stars

Some aspects of "Ca ira":

NOT A REAL SOLO ALBUM
It's remarkable that, from a creative standpoint, and contrary to what he uses to do, this is not really a one-man Waters album: the original French libretto was written by his two late French friends Etienne and Nadine Rhoda-Gil; and the orchestration and choral arrangements were provided by Rick Wentworth. Like Paul McCartney, Waters cannot read or write traditional scores. Of course, everything must be approved by the mastermind, i.e. Mr. Waters (just as he must approve, for instance, the guitar solos or the guests' singing in his rock albums). And, as far as I know, the English translation is his.

MORE AN ORATORIO THAN A REAL OPERA
The plot revolves around the first years of the French Revolution. But there are very few real dialogues, it's not a really theatrical or dramatic work. It could not be turned into a play or a movie, because of the lack of action onstage, and the lack of psychological give-and-take between the characters. (That, in spite of the presence of shooting guns, cannons and a guillotine onstage!) Which is odd to me, because there are very few things more suitable to drama than the French Revolution. This is attributable to Rhoda-Gil's libretto, which is more a series of recited thoughts by isolated characters who mostly play the parts of "narrators", as if in an oratorio.

1960s OPTIMISM
The moral of the story is, of course, that "there is hope" in spite of the bloodbath, the treasons, the cheating, the exploitation and the pettiness shown by almost everybody during the Revolution. I think it's basically true, because laws and political systems are better (at least theoretically) after that historical period... but the actual Revolution degenerated into a fight that eventually led to Napoleon's Empire, not a very democratic regime. (Were all French persons at that time a mere wild mob, or a sanctified People?) The way the Revolution is portrayed in this opera sounds to me very much like a 1968 student-strike French or San Franciscan hippie idealism... After all, that's Rhoda Gil's and Waters' generation.

MORE RECITATIVO THAN A SERIES OF ARIAS
As all Waters' fans know, his great strength lies on his concepts, his clever lyrics, and his ability to organize ideas and a few melodies into a structured whole that conveys significant humanitarian messages very effectively, everything with a very professional and polished production (plus some great guest musicians). But... he is not really a brilliant melodist. His splendid memorable riffs ("Money", "Another Brick in the Wall", "Not Now John", "What God Wants") are more bluesy, rhythmic, not really great as pure melodic inventions. To hear the difference, let's compare his work (again) to McCartney's, the other rocker-turned-into-orchestral-composer. Sir Paul is a born melodist, and in two bars he can tell a musical story (which sometimes makes him too conceptually shallow), whereas Waters needs more space to produce contrasts (which sometimes makes him too musically dry).
All this is heard in "Ca ira": if Waters chose a master, it would be Wagner rather than Mozart or Rossini. In many parts, he words are more recited by the opera singers than melodically sung. There are not real arias, but in many parts a continuous flow of music, of a deliberately unfinished melody blending into another without a pause, just as in Wagner's recitativo (mutatis mutandis: all differences considered!). Also, reiterated melodic motifs are used. It sounds to me very much like the "Pros and Cons" structure translated into orchestral music. In a few parts, however, very catchy simple melodies are presented, and they sound very emotional (especially the marches, like track No. 3 of CD 3).
But again... the orchestral richness is not always present. Certain arrangements sound like movie music, which can be great some times, but some others not. We're very far from the density found in Wagner or Richard Strauss, without the luminosity found in Mozart. There's a struggle to find an orchestral language. Sometimes it's too dense to be a simple rock opera, but now and then too mellow to be a real musically dramatic score. But when it gels, it gels greatly, as in act 3, scene 1, for instance.

GREAT PERFORMANCE
The vocal level of Bryn Terfel, Paul Groves and Ying Huang is superb! And the children's chorus is very beautiful.

ALL IN ALL
"Ca ira" is a serious effort, not a mere dilettante's work or a frivolous approach to a centuries-old musical genre. There are memorable parts in it, sparks of real human drama here and there, perfectly transmitted by the music. Maybe it's not a masterpiece at all moments, maybe at certain times you'll need more than a little patience while listening, but you can feel emotion all through it. It grows on you. It's indispensable to all Waters' fans, and it can be a very acceptable introduction into opera for many.


"Ca ira" is worth it.
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Description of Roger Waters: Ça Ira (There Is Hope)

CD > CLASSICAL MUSIC
Roger Waters has long been known for his musical ambition. The bassist and leader of Pink Floyd made that band famous in the 1970s and 1980s with concept-heavy albums as well as a certain self-aggrandizing image--attributes he maintained in his solo career. No wonder, then, to see that he's written what he calls as an opera. But don't be fooled: Waters's work has little to do with contemporary operas by the likes of John Adams or John Corigliano--even if the latter's 1991 The Ghosts of Versailles is set in Marie-Antoinette's Versailles, just as Waters's Ça Ira takes place during the French queen's last years, as the French Revolution unfurls. Based on a clunky libretto by Etienne and Nadine Roda-Gil, the show could have been a successful musical theater-­opera hybrid in the vein of Sweeney Todd but it falls closer to Andrew Lloyd Webber's historical pageants, without their recognizable melodies. Thankfully the cast holds the material aloft, especially Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel (no stranger to the world of musical theater, as shown on albums such as his tribute to Rodgers & Hammerstein) and Chinese soprano Ying Huang. Note that this version comes as a double SACD set that includes a making-of DVD and a 60-page booklet. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

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