Poul Ruders Edition, Vol. 3: Paganini Variations / The City in the Sea / Anima

Poul Ruders (Composer), Jan Wagner (Conductor), Odense Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Mette Ejsing (Performer), Michaela Fukacova (Performer), David Starobin (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Mette Ejsing, Michaela Fukacova, David Starobin
• Orchestra: Odense Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Jan Wagner
• Composer: Poul Ruders
• Audio CD (October 20, 2002)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Bridge
• ASIN: B00007653G
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,967 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Poul Ruders was born in Ringsted, Denmark on March 27, 1949. His early studies in piano and organ led eventually to studies in orchestration with the Danish composer Ib Nørholm. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-60s. Ruders regards his own compositional development as a gradual one, with his true voice emerging with the chamber concerto, Four Compositions, of 1980. Writing about Ruders, the English critic Stephen Johnson states: "He can be gloriously, explosively extrovert one minute–withdrawn, haunted, intently inward-looking the next. Super-abundant high spirits alternate with pained, almost expressionistic lyricism; simplicity and directness with astringent irony."

Poul Ruders has created a large body of music ranging from opera and orchestral works through chamber, vocal and solo music. In recent years, performances of his work on both sides of the Atlantic and in such distant locals as China, Japan and Russia have taken place with increasing regularity. With the overwhelming success of his second opera, "The Handmaid's Tale" (1996-98), produced in Copenhagen (2000), Ruders became even more in demand, with commissions coming in rapid succession from the Berlin Philharmonic, The New York Philharmonic, The BBC Philharmonic, and from the Royal Danish Opera. Productions of "The Handmaid's Tale" will be given this season by The English National Opera and by the Minnesota Opera, and both the New York Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic will perform "Listening Earth" (2001), a work interrupted and then influenced by the events of September 11, 2001.

Poul Ruders is currently at work with his "Handmaid's Tale" collaborator, Paul Bentley, on an opera based on Franz Kafka's "The Trial". Commissioned by the Royal Danish Opera for the opening of the new opera house in Copenhagen (2005), the opera will explore Kafka's unfinished masterpiece, as well as including dramatized events from the writer's life. This summer, Ruders will be composer-in-residence at the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen Colorado.

Product Description

This CD features premiere recordings of three Poul Ruders concertos. Ruders has been hailed as one of the most exciting composers of our time and was named "Composer of the Year" in 2001 at the Cannes International Critics Awards. Ruders, (b. 1949 in Denmark) will be having a "career" year this season, with new orchestral works due for premiere by the Berlin Philharmonic and The New York Philharmonic. His smash hit opera, "The Handmaid's Tale" is set for new productions by the English National Opera (April, 2003) and the Minnesota Opera (May, 2003), and the CD of The Handmaid's Tale received two 2001 Grammy nominations–for "Best Opera"; and "Best Contemporary Composition". Paganini Variations, Ruders's second guitar concerto is a roller coaster ride through Paganini's famous 24th Caprice, and is a brilliant display vehicle for guitarist Starobin and orchestra alike. The City in the Sea is a dramatic setting of Edgar Allan Poe's gothic poem about a lifeless decaying city, surrounded by "hideously serene" seas. The sensational Danish contralto, Mette Ejsing, gives a reading of power and conviction. Anima, Ruders's second cello concerto, is a work of true lyric beauty. It is played here by the Czech cello virtuoso, and Tchaikovsky competition prize winner, Michaela Fukacova.