ARTIST: Roger Waters
TITLE: Ca Ira
LABEL: Sony BMG Masterworks/Columbia Records
GENRE: Opera
BITRATE: 181kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 1h 51min total
RELEASE DATE: 2005-09-24
RIP DATE: 2005-09-23

Track List: CD #1/2

01. The Gathering Storm             1:37
02. Overture                        4:07
03. Act 1: Scene 1: A Garden In     0:55
Vienna 1765
04. Act 1: Scene 1: Madame          2:53
Antoine, Madame Antoine...
05. Act 1: Scene 2: Kings, Sticks   2:41
And Birds
06. Act 1: Scene 2: Honest Bird,    2:10
Simple Bird...
07. Act 1: Scene 2: I Want To Be    2:38
King...
08. Act 1: Scene 2: Let Us Break    1:46
All The Shields...
09. Act 1: Scene 3: The Grievances  4:40
Of The People
10. Act 1: Scene 4: France In       2:35
Disarray
11. Act 1: Scene 4: To Laugh Is To  1:43
Know How To Live...
12. Act 1: Scene 4: Slavers,        3:37
Landlords, Bigots At Your
Door...
13. Act 1: Scene 5: The Fall Of     1:35
The Bastille
14. Act 1: Scene 5: To Freeze In    2:19
The Dead Of Night...
15. Act 1: Scene 5: So To The       4:17
Streets In The Pouring Rain...
16. Act 2: Scene 1: Dances And      2:12
Marches
17. Act 2: Scene 1: Now Hear Ye!    2:18
18. Act 2: Scene 1: Flushed With    4:32
Wine...
19. Act 2: Scene 2: The Letter      1:38
20. Act 2: Scene 2: My Dear Cousin  2:49
Bourbon Of Spain...
21. Act 2: Scene 2: The Ship Of     1:47
State Is All At Sea...
22. Act 2: Scene 3: Silver, Sugar   0:55
And Indigo
23. Act 2: Scene 3: To The          4:51
Windward Isles...
24. Act 2: Scene 4: The Papal       1:18
Edict
25. Act 2: Scene 4: In Paris        6:21
There's A Rumble Under The
Ground...

Track List: CD #2/2

01. Act 3: Scene 1: The Fugitive    2:12
King
02. Act 3: Scene 1: But The         4:28
Marquis Of Boulli Has A Trump
Card Up His Sleeve...
03. Act 3: Scene 1: To Take Your    2:41
Hat Off
04. Act 3: Scene 1: The Echoes      3:15
Never Fade From That
Fusillade...
05. Act 3: Scene 2: The Commune De  2:44
Paris
06. Act 3: Scene 2: Vive La         3:15
Commune De Paris...
07. Act 3: Scene 2: The National    2:42
Assembly Is Confused...
08. Act 3: Scene 3: The Execution   1:40
Of Louis Capet
09. Act 3: Scene 3: Adieu Louis     3:46
For You It's Over...
10. Act 3: Scene 4: Marie           1:36
Antoinette - The Last Night On
Earth
11. Act 3: Scene 4: Adieu My Good   5:10
And Tender Sister...
12. Act 3: Scene 5: Liberty         2:51
13. Act 3: Scene 5: And In The      6:55
Bushes Where They Survive...

Release Notes:

Waters, who co-founded the groundbreaking rock group Pink Floyd in 1966, began to
bridge the worlds of rock and classical music in such pioneering major works as
"The Dark Side Of The Moon" (1973) and "The Wall" (1979) in which he incorporated
elements of operatic form--theatricality, coherent narrative, dramatic arcs,
thematic music and song cycles--in a pop context.

Waters' work on "Ca Ira," his first opera for full orchestra and voice, began in
1989, during the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. The well-respected and
successful songwriter Etienne Roda-Gil and his wife, Nadine, had created an
original libretto for an opera, written in French, as part of the Bicentennial.
Entitled "Ca Ira," after a revolutionary song of the period, the Roda-Gil's
original manuscript, copiously and beautifully illustrated by Nadine, portrayed
the events and the spirit of the French Revolution through a multitude of
perspectives--ranging from Marie Antoinette to the eyes and ears of the period's
revolutionaries and common people--using a circus as a central theatrical
framing device and metaphor.

Introduced to Etienne Roda-Gil by a mutual friend, Waters was immediately and
deeply impressed by the passion and the power of Etienne's manuscript and began
work on creating a full orchestral score for "Ca Ira." Work on the project was
suspended when Nadine died tragically of leukemia. Several years passed before
Roger and Etienne returned to "Ca Ira."

In 1997, Roger began writing an English version of the text. "It's not just a
translation," he says. "I've stuck very much to the spirit of Etienne's
original, adding to it somewhat. Although it's rooted in the history of the
revolution, its philosophical slant is, I suppose, contemporary as well. It's
more than just a history of the French Revolution, it's a piece about the
human potential for change."

The finished version of "Ca 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 the Welsh
bass-baritone 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). Other parts are sung by Jamie Bower (Honest Bird - the
young Revolutionary Priest) and Helen Russill (Madame Antoine - the young
Marie Antoinette).

Before the rise and fall of the guillotine, before the terror took hold, the
People of France fought for a better world based on the ideals of liberty,
equality and fraternity rather than one ruled by a callous and outmoded
nobility. It is this story of hope and promise that inspired "Ca Ira." Set
during the optimistic early days of the French Revolution, "Ca Ira is a work
of stunning power and beauty, invoking the passion, madness, and triumph of
faith in a time that forever changed the nature of the world.

The thirteen year wait is over. Go enjoy this!  Roger Waters > *