Music icon Roger Waters presents
Ça Ira, his original classical composition set during the early days of the French Revolution. A work of stunning beauty and power,
Ça Ira evokes the passion, faith, and madness of a time that forever changed the world.
Featuring spoken narration by Roger Waters,
Ça Ira is scored for full orchestra, four solo voices, chorus, and children's chorus. The work is sung in English* and is presented with original visual projections from the designer of Waters’ iconic tour,
The Wall Live. ...
read full bioAndriana Chuchman, Soprano
Paul Groves, Tenor
Bryan Hymel, Tenor
Oren Gradus, Bass-Baritone
Christian Van Horn, Bass-Baritone
Roger Waters, Narrator
Music icon Roger Waters presents Ça Ira, his original classical composition set during the early days of the French Revolution. A work of stunning beauty and power, Ça Ira evokes the passion, faith, and madness of a time that forever changed the world.
Featuring spoken narration by Roger Waters, Ça Ira is scored for full orchestra, four solo voices, chorus, and children's chorus. The work is sung in English* and is presented with original visual projections from the designer of Waters’ iconic tour, The Wall Live.
Synopsis
In 1789 France was virtually bankrupt. In order to raise money, and in the hope that he could raise taxes in exchange for limited political reform, King Louis XVI convoked the Estates General, a loosely representative governing body that hadn't met for over a century. Elections to the assembly agitated already burgeoning aspirations for political change, and the King's ploy failed. When the Estates General met in 1798 it made manifest the new political consciousness in France along with its new radical aspirations. It was only a matter of time before Louis and the old order were swept away. Ca Ira concerns the events that occurred during the period between 1789 and 1793 that led to the establishment of the Republic.
Roger Waters
Roger Waters became a legend of rock music through his seminal creations, The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon. Waters has sold more than 250 million albums worldwide, including 74.5 million units sold in the United States, and has sold more tickets in the last three years than any other performing artist. He now turns to his latest creation and great passion – his own operatic composition.
In 1965, Waters co-founded the band Pink Floyd with drummer Nick Mason, keyboardist Richard Wright and guitarist, singer and songwriter Syd Barrett. Waters initially served as the group's bassist and co-lead vocalist, but following the departure of Barrett in 1968, he also became their lyricist and conceptual leader. Pink Floyd subsequently achieved international success with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall and The Final Cut. By the early 1980s, they had become one of the most critically acclaimed and best-selling acts in the history of popular music; as of 2013, they have sold more than 250 million albums worldwide.
Waters' solo career has included three studio albums: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, Radio K.A.O.S. and Amused to Death. In 1990, he staged one of the largest and most extravagant rock concerts in history, The Wall - Live in Berlin, with an official attendance of 200,000. In 1996, he was inducted into the US and the UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. In 2005, he released Ça Ira an opera in three acts translated from Etienne and Nadine Roda-Gils' libretto about the French Revolution. Later that year, he reunited with Pink Floyd bandmates Mason, Wright and David Gilmour for the Live 8 global awareness event; it was the group's first appearance with Waters since 1981. He has toured extensively as a solo act since 1999 and played The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety for his world tour of 2006-2008. In 2010, he began The Wall Live and in 2011 Gilmour and Mason appeared with him during a performance of the double album in London. As of 2013, the tour is the highest-grossing of all time by a solo artist.
*subtitles available
