Ça Ira is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in three acts by Roger Waters

Roger Waters

George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...

 based on the French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 co-written by Étienne

Étienne Roda-Gil

Étienne Roda-Gil was a songwriter and screenwriter. He was married to the painter Nadine Roda-Gil until her death in 1990.-Biography:...

 and Nadine Roda-Gil on the historical subject of the early French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. Ça Ira was released 26 September 2005, as a double CD album featuring baritone Bryn Terfel

Bryn Terfel

Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner....

, soprano Ying Huang

Ying Huang

Ying Huang is a Chinese operatic soprano. She first came to international attention when she sang the title role in Frédéric Mitterrand's 1995 film adaptation of Madama Butterfly and went on to an international career both in opera and on the concert stage....

, and tenor Paul Groves

Paul Groves (tenor)

Paul Groves is an American operatic tenor. In 1991 he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and in 1995 he won the prestigious Richard Tucker Award...

.

History

Waters, known for his work in the English rock band Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

, was approached by friends Étienne Roda-Gil and his wife Nadine Delahaye in 1987, and asked to set their libretto to music. The initial version was completed and recorded by the end of 1988. After hearing it, François Mitterrand

François Mitterrand

François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...

 was suitably impressed and urged the Paris Opera to stage it for the bicentennial of the revolution the following July. The opera directors, however, were resistant, according to Waters, because "I was English, and I had been in a rock group." Starting in 1989, Waters rewrote the libretto in English.

Critical reaction

Ça Ira has received mixed reviews. The biggest criticisms were that the opera is too narrative, which makes staging very difficult — and, as a result, disrupts the flow of the piece. Others have complained that the score is too conventional and that Waters should have taken more risks with it.

Performances

The first time any part of Ça Ira was heard in public was on 16 October 2002 when the Overture was performed live at the Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....

 in London.

The next public airing (not a live performance, but a recording played through a sound system) took place in Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 on 1 May 2004, the night that Malta entered the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

. An approximately 15 minute long excerpt was heard by 80,000 people present at the waterfront of the Grand Harbour. The music was accompanied by a light show by Gert Hoff.

The official premiere took place in Rome on 17 November 2005, in front of a sold-out crowd, and was followed the next evening by another performance. Both shows were praised for the high quality of music, vocal performances, and sound. The choir, orchestra, and soloists were complemented by a projection screen backdrop which displayed images (some photographed by Mark Holthusen

Mark Holthusen

Mark Holthusen is a San Francisco-based photographer most recognized for his set-work on Roger Waters' opera, Ça Ira, and his "As I See It" advertising series for Kohler....

) helping to tell the story.

A full operatic performance took place on 25 August 2006 in Poznań

Poznan

Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, and was televised live on Poland's TVP

Telewizja Polska

Telewizja Polska Spółka Akcyjna is Poland's public broadcasting corporation...

. The project involved the same number of musicians from the concert performances in addition to more than 200 dancers from the Great Theatre in Poznań. There were also period elements of stage design (such as horses, carriages and war scenes with soldiers and stunt performers) and full costumes. Over 500 artists were involved, and the production reportedly cost in excess of €2 million. Performances were held in Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 on December 16, and at the Poznań Opera House on December 30 and 31, 2006.

In April 2008, the opera was performed, with the libretto in English, as part of the Festival Amazonas de Ópera

Festival Amazonas de Ópera

The Festival Amazonas de Ópera is an annual festival of opera presented in the Amazon Theatre in Manaus, Brazil.-External links:*...

 in Manaus, Brazil.

Recordings

The album spent 14 weeks on Billboard's Classical Chart in the United States and peaked at number 5.

Act One

1. "The Gathering Storm" – 1:38
2. "Overture" – 4:06
3. "Scene 1: A Garden in Vienna 1765" – 0:53
4. "Madame Antoine, Madame Antoine" – 2:53
5. Scene 2: Kings Sticks and Birds – 2:41
6. "Honest Bird, Simple Bird" – 2:10
7. "I Want to Be King" – 2:37
8. "Let Us Break All the Shields" – 1:45
9. Scene 3: The Grievances of the People – 4:40
10. Scene 4: France in Disarray – 2:34
11. "To Laugh is to Know How to Live" – 1:44
12. "Slavers, Landlords, Bigots at Your Door" – 3:36
13. Scene 5: The Fall of the Bastille – 1:34
14. "To Freeze in the Dead of Night" – 2:19
15. "So to the Streets in the Pouring Rain" – 4:17

Act Two

1. Scene 1: Dances and Marches – 2:11
2. "Now Hear Ye!" – 2:18
3. "Flushed With Wine" – 4:31
4. Scene 2: The Letter – 1:39
5. "My Dear Cousin Bourbon of Spain" – 2:48
6. "The Ship of State is All at Sea" – 1:46
7. Scene 3: Silver Sugar and Indigo – 0:55
8. "To The Windward Isles" – 4:50
9. Scene 4: The Papal Edict – 1:17
10. "In Paris There's a Rumble Under the Ground" – 6:19

Act Three

1. Scene 1: The Fugitive King – 2:21
2. "But the Marquis of Boulli Has a Trump Card Up His Sleeve" – 4:27
3. "To Take Your Hat Off" – 2:40
4. "The Echoes Never Fade from That Fusillade" – 3:15
5. Scene 2: The Commune de Paris – 2:43
6. "Vive la Commune de Paris" – 3:16
7. "The National Assembly is Confused" – 2:41
8. Scene 3: The Execution of Louis Capet – 1:39
9. "Adieu Louis for You It's Over" – 3:45
10. Scene 4: Marie Antoinette - The Last Night on Earth – 1:39
11. "Adieu My Good and Tender Sister" – 5:09
12. Scene 5: Liberty – 2:51
13. "And in the Bushes Where They Survive" – 6:52