The beautiful ‘House of Rufus’ box set, a 19-disc collection which spans Rufus Wainwright’s entire career, will be unleashed on July 18th on Universal.
The most complete collection of Rufus Wainwright recordings to date, ‘House Of Rufus’ is housed in a gorgeous, red velvet encased, 90-page hardback book containing rare and unseen photos as well as Rufus’ early hand-drawn tour posters, handwritten lyrics, four art prints and other memorabilia.
‘House of Rufus’ will be released on the same day that Rufus starts his eagerly awaited five night residency of the same name at the Royal Opera House (July 18th-23rd). This will be the first event of its kind that the prestigious venue has ever hosted.
The set’s extensive and revealing sleeve notes feature interviews with Neil Tennant, Martha Wainwright, Linda Thompson and Lenny Waronker as well as an introduction by Rufus himself.
One of the most talented songwriters and consummate performers of his generation, Rufus is a global sensation. Taking the deft showmanship of the past and melding it with a distinctly modern sensibility, he has been praised by The Telegraph as a “wildly original aesthete [who] brings opera, chamber music, musical theatre and a rampant gay sensibility to the frequently jaded craft of the singer-songwriter”.
‘House Of Rufus’ contains:
Six studio albums: ‘Rufus Wainwright’, ‘Poses’, ‘Want One’, ‘Want Two’, ‘Release The Stars’ and ‘All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu’, all now with additional previously unreleased bonus material.
Two concerts on CD: ‘Milwaukee at Last!!!’ and the legendary ‘Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall’ (two CDs), now with previously unreleased songs from the show.
P.T.O
Four additional CDs
Rufus Rarities:
Featuring previously unreleased songs and rarities.
Rufus at the Movies:
This contains many of the songs Rufus has recorded for soundtracks including ‘Hallelujah’ from the film Shrek.
Friends & Family:
The third disc is drawn from Rufus’ collaborations with friends and family members such as Leonard Cohen, Teddy Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, Martha Wainwright, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, The Pet Shop Boys, and Burt Bacharach.
Original Demos:
The final disc is made up of the demos from the tape which secured Rufus his first record deal.
Six DVDs: ‘Live at Fillmore’, ‘Rufus Does Judy at the London Palladium’,
‘Milwaukee at Last!!!’, ‘Release The Stars’ album commentary and live
performance and two feature-length documentaries, ‘All I Want’ and ‘Prima Donna: The Making of An Opera’.
Rufus Wainwright at the Royal Opera House:
July
Mon 18th Rufus Does Judy! orchestra conducted by Stephen Oremus
Tue 19th An Evening with Rufus and Martha Wainwright + band
Thu 21st An Evening with Rufus and Loudon Wainwright + band
Fri 22nd Rufus Does Judy!
Sat 23rd Concert Version of Prima Donna with Janis Kelly, plus Rufus Does Rufus with orchestra
