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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 More Stage Shows from Rock Artists
We Will Rock You: Rock Theatrical
The Rocky Horror Show
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds
Tommy
The Wall
Godspell
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
More Stage Shows from Rock Artists
We Will Rock You: Rock Theatrical
The Rocky Horror Show
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds
Tommy
The Wall
Godspell
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