Ruders: Tjenerindens Frotaelling (The Handmaid's Tale)

Poul Ruders (Artist), Michael Schonwandt (Artist), Royal Danish Orchestra & Opera Chorus (Artist), Marianne Rørholm (Artist), Poul Elming (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 16, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Marco Polo
• ASIN: B0000542HI
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,227 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MORE THEATRICAL THAN OPERATIC, September 4, 2002

By 

F. FUNES (WHITE PLAINS,NEW YORK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ruders: Tjenerindens Frotaelling (The Handmaid's Tale) (Audio CD)

I have to credit danish composer Poul Ruders for his supreme effort in musicizing such a complex work like Margaret Attwood's
prizewinning novel and translate it into TJENERINNENDES FORTAELNING.It's a great job,specially the part of Offred,which
can be extremely taxing for the poor soprano who takes it on.
As for the rest of the piece,to me it sounds more like modern theatre rather than opera,like many other works by composers like Harrison Birtwistle,York Holler or David Blake.Listening to this work means a powerful schock to the system,so if you're not into this type of works,just handle it with tongs...
It would be great to listen to the piece without the libretto first,just the music,then follow it with the text,although I'm fully conscious that both things form a compact block in this
particular work.Enjoy,as much as you can and be warned of where political and mainly religious fanaticism could lead us all to,which is one of the many messages of Attwood's novel and by extension of Ruders piece.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, July 28, 2001

By 

Thomas F. Dillingham (Columbia, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ruders: Tjenerindens Frotaelling (The Handmaid's Tale) (Audio CD)

Ruders and Bentley, along with the outstanding cast and orchestra of this recorded performance, have captured the core of Margaret Atwood's horrific vision of a possible future. Ruders's music is astonishingly inventive (as the other reviewers have pointed out), with moments of intensity that rival, for example, Strauss's "Elektra" or Berg's "Lulu," while managing to remain singable and listenable. The libretto distils the strongest moments of Atwood's narrative into what must be intense dramatic moments onstage. (Too bad the film did not have a similarly inventive screenplay.)I suspect this will rank among the best of 20th century operas and may well be among the few that receive many productions.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why 'The Handmaid's Tale' matters., July 10, 2001

By 

Randall Herman (San Benito, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ruders: Tjenerindens Frotaelling (The Handmaid's Tale) (Audio CD)

This modern opera is based on a Orwellian-like novel by Margaret Atwood. The composer-Poul Ruders-does an effective job of highlighting the bleakness of this story. He has a very creative libretto-by Paul Bentley- to work with. The cast's peak performance lends high drama and tension to the story. This works together with the variety of musical styles to present a highly recommended opera.