This disc presents the premiere recordings of two major Poul Ruders orchestral scores. Offred Suite is a suite of the five major arias from Ruders's greatest international success, the opera, The Handmaid's Tale. Ruders has structured the music in Offred Suite to flow continuously, so that the overall effect is that of a monodrama. Singing the role of Offred is the brilliant young soprano of Metropolitan Opera fame, Susanna Phillips. Ruders's Symphony No. 3 'Dream Catcher' is a 30-minute long work in two interconnected movements. After a stormy introduction, the music dissolves into the main movement, a long-breathed Adagio sognante. This dreamlike movement connects to a Scherzo prestissimo, a movement which annotator Malcolm MacDonald describes as: "a tour-de-force of virtuoso orchestral writing, a teeming, yelping, squealing, buzzing, chittering, whooping riot of sound." The performances by the Odense Symphony under conductor Scott Yoo are nothing short of spectacular. Volume Six of Bridge's Ruders series (BRIDGE 9336) was Grammy-nominated, and Volume Seven (BRIDGE 9375) has just been chosen as Editor's Choice by Gramophone.
Reviews:
“The Offred Suite of extracts reminds just how pungent and eloquent Ruders’s score is, with Susanna Phillips the chillingly accurate soprano. Ruders deals in exciting, dramatic gestures and though the harmonic direction may sometimes be unclear, the music sweeps us powerfully along.” - TheObserver
“A fine continuation of Bridge’s invaluable Ruders series.” - Gramophone
“This release is already Volume 8 in Bridge’s Ruders edition and it certainly does not pale when compared to its predecessors. The performances are uniformly excellent and the recorded sound is just superb.” - MusicWeb International
WBUR preview of The Handmaid's Tale
Christian Science Monitor preview of THT
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Offred Suite (2000)*
(Arias, Interludes and Postlude from the opera The Handmaid's Tale)
Susanna Phillips, soprano
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Scott Yoo, conductor
Tundra
(Hommage á Jean Sibelius) (1990)
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Scott Yoo, conductor
Symphony No. 3 'Dream Catcher' (2005-6)*
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Scott Yoo, conductor
*premiere recordings
BRIDGE 9382
Special thanks go to:
Robert Bielecki
Michael Liebowitz
Thomas Hampson
David v.R. Bowles
Contemporary Classical Internet Radio
John Ratnaswamy
Jeffrey James Arts Consulting/4Tay Records
Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Friedman
Will Sullivan
Oren Fader
Allen Salyer
Jason Stenger
Arlene Sierra
Alexander Y. Hawson, M.D.
Anonymous
Quintin H. Stone
Paul Hachmann
ulyssestone
Timur Bekbosunov
Doctor Nerve
Gerry Corcoran
amdacus@yahoo.com
Daniel Buckley, composer/critic
Ryan Seney
Jon Michael Anzalone
Anonymous
BRIDGE 9382
Related discs:
9475, 9433, 9427, 9375, 9336, 9237, 9143, 9136, 9122, 9098, 9057, 9037