After 16 years of hard work, Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters has finally completed Ca Ira, which will be released on CD in September and will be performed in concert in Rome later this year.

The opera features Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel and other classical music stars. Ca Ira was described as an "operatic history of the French Revolution".

Waters started his opera project in 1989, on a libretto of songwriter Etienne Roda-Gil, which was illustrated by his wife, Nadine Roda-Gil. Ca Ira was put on hold after Nadine has died of leukemia.

Roger Waters, 61, has recently joined the other Pink Floyd members on stage at the Live 8 concert in London.

Ca Ira is his first traditional opera, therefore the musician dreams of have it performed by an opera company.

"It's actually very melodic and it's unashamedly emotional. So, if the intellectuals of the modern opera world are catty about it, so be it", Waters said on his "Ca Ira".

"I fully expect some resistance. There will be a lot of, 'Who does he think he is?"

Although worried about the sparks it might get from the classical music work, Water has announced the Ca Ira (There Is Hope) in Rome some time in November. The double-CD and DVD project from Sony music will be released on September 27.


Ca Ira is "not just a piece about the French Revolution, it's about revolution in a much broader sense, and it's about the capacity that human beings have for personal change", Waters declared.

"The piece is an exultation and an encouragement to those of us who believe the human race can discover its humanity and its capacity for empathy to the point where it may be possible for us at some point to guarantee the basic human rights of the individual (around the world)." (source: Associated Press)


As for a new Pink Floyd album after their Live 8 concert, Waters said there would be slight chance for the group to reunite in the studio.

"The Live 8 reunion couldn't have been better, it was terrific, I was really glad it happened, we got along famously and it was absolutely fine, but (guitarist) Dave (Gilmour) and I do have major musical, philosophical, political and artistic differences".