Ruders: Tjenerindens Frotaelling (The Handmaid's Tale)

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
With The Handmaid's Tale, which is based on a novel by Margaret Atwood, Danish composer Poul Ruders has created a powerful opera that presents the bleakest of futures for mankind. Ruders uses an extensive musical vocabulary to portray the horrors of a society in which women living in sin or second marriages are forced to become "handmaids," who are sent to childless families to be impregnated. This society, Gilead, forms the backdrop on which Ruders and his librettist, Paul Bentley, can pose the most uncomfortable of questions.

Ruders's orchestral colors are frequently hyper-expressionist, as befits a story of the utmost oppression. The dramatic effectiveness of the piece is never in doubt; frequent flashbacks put the ongoing drama in context and accentuate it. Ruders draws on a vast range of techniques to create this futuristic world. The Handmaid's Tale is a draining experience, but it is nevertheless stimulating. One is left with the highest sense of admiration for Ruders's seemingly endless invention. Marianne Rorholm, in the main role of Offred, is astonishing in her stamina and involvement, projecting all the vulnerability and hopelessness of the central character. There is not a single weak link in the cast of this performance, recorded live in March 2000. Strongly recommended, but not to the faint of heart. --Colin Clarke

Ruders: Tjenerindens Frotaelling (The Handmaid's Tale), Music, Poul Ruders, Michael Schonwandt, Royal Danish Orchestra & Opera Chorus, Marianne Rørholm, Poul Elming, Classical, Classical Music, Opera, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio, Opera/Operetta
Ruders: Tjenerindens Frotaelling (The Handmaid's Tale)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • MORE THEATRICAL THAN OPERATIC
  • Stunning
  • Why 'The Handmaid's Tale' matters.
 Ruders: Tjenerindens Frotaelling (The Handmaid's Tale)
Poul Ruders , Michael Schonwandt , Royal Danish Orchestra & Opera Chorus , Marianne Rørholm , and Poul Elming
Manufacturer: Marco Polo
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ruders, PoulRuders, Poul | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
OperettasOperettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B0000542HI
Release Date: 2001-01-16

Tracks:

  1. Symposium Prologue (2195 AD) - Marianne Rorholm/Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise
  2. The Red Centre Prld: Scene 1: The Classroom - Anne Margrethe Dahl/Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise/Marianne Rorholm...
  3. The Red Centre Prld: Scene 2: The Dormitory - Marianne Rorholm/Djina Mai-Mai/Lise-Lotte Nielsen/Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise
  4. The Red Centre Prld: Scene 3: The Classroom - Anne Margrethe Dahl/Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise
  5. The Red Centre Prld: Scene 4: The Washroom - Anne Margrethe Dahl/Marianne Rorholm/Djina Mai-Mai/Annita Wadsholt
  6. The Red Centre Prld: Scene 5: Graduation In The Assembly Hall - Anne Margrethe Dahl/Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise
  7. Act One, Scene 1: The Wall - Marianne Rorholm
  8. Act One, Scene 2: The House In The Day - Marianne Rorholm/Susanne Resmark/Kari Hamnoy
  9. Act One, Scene 3: Offred's Bedroom - Marianne Rorholm/Kari Hamnoy/Susanne Resmark/Poul Elming/Hanne Fischer
  10. Act One, Scene 4A: The Kitchen - Kari Hamnoy/Hanne Fischer/Djina Mai-Mai/Marianne Rorholm
  11. Act One, Scene 4B: The Walk To The Shops - Marianne Rorholm/Elsebeth Lund/Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise
  12. Act One, Scene 5: The Wall - Marianne Rorholm/Elsebeth Lund
  13. Act One, Scene 6: The Doctor - Bengt-Ola Morgny/Marianne Rorholm
  14. Act One, Scene 7: The House In The Day - Gert Henning-Jensen/Anne Margrethe Dahl/Ulla Kudsk Jensen/Poul Elming/Hanne Fischer/Marianne Rorholm
  15. Act One, Scene 8: Offred's Bedroom - Anne Margrethe Dahl/Hanne Fischer/Poul Elming/Marianne Rorholm
  16. Act One, Scene 9: Joy's Sitting Room - Ulla Kudsk Jensen/Hanne Fischer/Kari Hamnoy/Marianne Rorholm/Gert Henning-Jensen/Susanne Resmark...
  17. Act One, Scene 10: Joy's Bedroom - Susanne Resmark/Marianne Rorholm/Aage Haugland/Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise
  18. Act One, Scene 11: Offred's Bedroom - Gert Henning-Jensen/Marianne Rorholm
  19. Act One, Scene 12: The Red Centre Assembly Hall - Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise/Anne Margrethe Dahl/Lise-Lotte Nielsen...
  20. Act One, Scene 13: The Commander's Study - Aage Haugland/Marianne Rorholm
  21. Act One, Scene 14: Offred's Bedroom - Marianne Rorholm

Tracks:

  1. Act Two, Scene 1: Offred's Bedroom - Kari Hamnoy/Marianne Rorholm
  2. Act Two, Scene 2: The Study At Night - Aage Haugland/Marianne Rorholm/Gert Henning-Jensen
  3. Act Two, Scene 3: Joy's Sitting Room - Susanne Resmark/Marianne Rorholm/Aage Haugland
  4. Act Two, Scene 4A: The Kitchen - Kari Hamnoy/Hanne Fischer/Djina Mai-Mai/Poul Elming
  5. Act Two, Scene 4B: The Walk To The Shops - Marianne Rorholm/Elsebeth Lund/Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise/Lise-Lotte Nielsen
  6. Act Two, Scene 5: The Wall - Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise/Elsebeth Lund/Marianne Rorholm
  7. Act Two, Scene 6: The Houselight - Hanne Fischer/Poul Elming/Aage Haugland
  8. Act Two, Scene 7: The Wall - Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise/Poul Elming/Elsebeth Lund/Marianne Rorholm
  9. Act Two, Scene 8: The House - Susanne Resmark/Marianne Rorholm
  10. Act Two, Scene 9: Offred's Bedroom - Marianne Rorholm/Hanne Fischer
  11. Act Two, Scene 10: The Study - Aage Haugland/Marianne Rorholm/Gert Henning-Jensen
  12. Act Two, Scene 11: Jezebel's - Aage Haugland/Marianne Rorholm/John Laursen
  13. Act Two, Scene 12: Jezebel's Restroom - Djina Mai-Mai/Marianne Rorholm/Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise
  14. Act Two, Scene 13: Jezebel's Bedroom - Aage Haugland/Marianne Rorholm
  15. Act Two, Scene 14: Joy's Sitting Room - Susanne Resmark/Gert Henning-Jensen
  16. Act Two, Scene 15: Offred's Bedroom - Susanne Resmark/Marianne Rorholm
  17. Act Two, Scene 15: Offred's Bedroom - Marianne Rorholm/Gert Henning-Jensen
  18. Act Two, Scene 16: The Salvaging - Royal Danish Opr Chor/Kaare Hansen/Andrew Wise/Anne Margrethe Dahl/Marianne Rorholm/Elsebeth Lund
  19. Act Two, Scene 17: The Wall - Pia Hansen/Marianne Rorholm
  20. Act Two, Scene 18: The House - Susanne Resmark/Marianne Rorholm
  21. Act Two, Scene 19: Quartet. The House - Marianne Rorholm/Susanne Resmark/Aage Haugland/Kari Hamnoy/Gert Henning-Jensen...
  22. Act Two: Postlude - Royal Danish Orch/Michael Schonwandt

Amazon.com

With The Handmaid's Tale, which is based on a novel by Margaret Atwood, Danish composer Poul Ruders has created a powerful opera that presents the bleakest of futures for mankind. Ruders uses an extensive musical vocabulary to portray the horrors of a society in which women living in sin or second marriages are forced to become "handmaids," who are sent to childless families to be impregnated. This society, Gilead, forms the backdrop on which Ruders and his librettist, Paul Bentley, can pose the most uncomfortable of questions.

Ruders's orchestral colors are frequently hyper-expressionist, as befits a story of the utmost oppression. The dramatic effectiveness of the piece is never in doubt; frequent flashbacks put the ongoing drama in context and accentuate it. Ruders draws on a vast range of techniques to create this futuristic world. The Handmaid's Tale is a draining experience, but it is nevertheless stimulating. One is left with the highest sense of admiration for Ruders's seemingly endless invention. Marianne Rorholm, in the main role of Offred, is astonishing in her stamina and involvement, projecting all the vulnerability and hopelessness of the central character. There is not a single weak link in the cast of this performance, recorded live in March 2000. Strongly recommended, but not to the faint of heart. --Colin Clarke

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars MORE THEATRICAL THAN OPERATIC.......2002-09-05

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.

5 out of 5 stars Stunning.......2001-07-29

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.

4 out of 5 stars Why 'The Handmaid's Tale' matters........2001-07-11

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.

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