10/10 - "Highest Rating" from ClassicsToday.com
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.
Reviews:
“In sum, this new disc only confirms Ruders’ credentials as a truly major voice in contemporary music, working at the absolute peak of his form.” - ClassicsToday.com (10/10 Highest Rating)
“I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending this release as the best possible introduction to this highly personal, strongly expressive and often beautiful music, the more so when served by such excellent performances and recording.” - MusicWeb International
“David Starobin plays the Paganini Variations with technical ease, hyper-delicious licks and rapport with the Ruders style. Mette Ejsing sings The City in the Sea with a burnished low register and a nice open-throat vibrato, smooth in all registers. Anima is performed with a heart-felt long line by Michaela Fukacova.” - New Music Connoisseur
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Paganini Variations (Guitar Concerto No. 2)
City in the Sea (based on a poem by Edgar Allan Poe)
Anima (Cello Concerto No. 2)
David Starobin, guitar
Mette Ejsing, contralto
Michaela Fukacova, cello
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Jan Wagner, conductor
BRIDGE 9122
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9475, 9433, 9427, 9382, 9375, 9336, 9237, 9143, 9136, 9098, 9057, 9037