To understand my opinion of CA IRA, Roger Water's opera, I think you should know a little of my musical background. One, Pink Floyd has always been one of my favorite rock bands from the early works with Syd Barrett to the post Waters material. I have also enjoyed Roger Water's solo albums especially The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. In short, I like and respect Roger Waters.

Since sometime in college, I also caught the opera bug. I started to collect operas by Richard Wagner, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi and Puccini and several others. My first opera was Puccini's Madame Butterfly, and I have season tickets to the Boston Lyric Opera Company.

So, Roger Water's newest project is an OPERA. Not a rock opera, a full scale classical music style Opera, in the tradition of Puccini, Wagner and Verdi. I purchased CA IRA on a three disc set. Two hybrid SACDs contain the opera in 5.1 surround sound as well as a regular stereo layer playable on all CD players. It also contains a DVD with interviews with Roger Waters.

What it is

Make no mistake, this is a full blown opera complete with a majestic orchestral score, characters singing their scenes, pouring out their thoughts in arias and joined in by full choruses. If I had to compare it to other operas, I would say it falls on the light side like Puccini or Rossini rather than the heavier operas of Wagner and Verdi. Since it is about the French Revolution, it's not a love story, its about the politics that led to the King and Queen of France getting their heads chopped off. Therefore it is a serious opera.

My thoughts:

Opera first and foremost must be able to move you! It doesn't really matter what its about, but a good opera needs to have the power to make you feel. I cried when Madame Butterfly committed suicide in Puccini's Madame Butterfly, I feel like I could take on the world when I hear the Ride of the Walkeries in Wagner's Die Walkerie, I laugh when I hear the Queen of the Night deliver her note filled aria in Mozart's The Magic Flute. A good opera will have arias that will have you enchanted, tunes that will stay in your head, and choruses that will inspire you.

Why Don't I like it?

It is always hard to say why one loves something or hates something, something else to say why you find it merely mediocre, but I will try.

First, it is in ENGLISH! This isn't an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical, it is an OPERA! It is set during the french revolution so why is it in English? Maybe I am an opera snob, but I prefer my operas in one of two languages. ITALIAN or GERMAN! A man could be measuring a room to fit his wedding bed, but it sounds wonderful in Italian! (Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro)

Second - There is no compelling Overture. There is an overture, I just didn't get into it like Wagner or Mozart's operas.

Third - no really memorable arias or choruses. None of them really captured my attention, that's all.

What is Good about it?

Well, I have to give Waters a lot of credit for doing this. He has taken a libretto and written music for it that is totally out of his genre. Opera and rock 'n'roll are definitely different and I give Water's kudos for taking it on.

The music isn't bad, it just didn't capture my attention the way the masters did. I've heard many operas, and many of those performed live.

I appreciated that he released it in SACD format (It is available in a regular 2 CD version and a highlights single CD version as well).

The leads in the opera have good voices. Bryn Terfel performs The Ringmaster, the trouble maker and the King of France. Ying Huang had a lovely voice, and I did enjoy many of her scenes, especially as Marie Antionette. Paul Groves performs as a revolutionary priest and a military officer.

The Story

CA IRA is about the French Revolution presented in 3 acts in a sort of circus setting. In the beginning the king and queen issue rules that bother the general populace that result in them losing their heads by ACT III. The 3 Disc set comes with a full libretto, although since the opera is in English, it isn't entirely necessary.

Sound Quality

Sound quality was excellent, a full orcehstra is used, and the key singers sounded quite good. The SACD renders the experience very clearly with outstanding detail.

Summary

I could only give this opera 3 stars, because I just could not get into it. You either feel an opera or you do not. I far prefer Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall or Wagner's Ring Cycle and Rossini's The Barber of Seville to this. I can really only say it was average.

Recommended: No

Great Music to Play While: Reading or Studying