liaku | Merry Christmas

Current Music: Rob Fowler - Simon Zealotes

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elisabeth,
musicals

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays. And etc. Now back to my usual rambling.

So I've had the official Elisabeth Essen recording for forever, and I've never really listened to it until the plane ride back home from school just a week ago. It's pretty badass. Carsten Lepper usually annoys me half to death, and Uwe almost never gets any reaction out of me at all (and nothing in this case is a very bad thing), but I actually like both of them in this recording. There's just this lovely presence Uwe has, an aura of command and a subtler longing for Elisabeth. I love it. He still doesn't come near the expression of my favorite Deaths, but it's still a lovely recording in its own right. That, and Jesper owns every other Rudolf except possibly Szabó Dávid. (Yes, I had a brief obsession with Oliver Arno. It is over now. ...Mostly over, anyway.)

In other news, I finally went through some of the music I've been downloading over the semester, and I listened to Felix Martin singing Die Unstillbare Gier in English for the first time. On one hand, it's really nice to hear the lyrics in English sung by anyone that's not Michael Crawford. On the other hand, that was English???? I kid, I kid. After a few seconds of adjusting to his accent, it's a great recording of the song--provided you can adjust to his accent at all, that is.

And to repeat some old news: Rob Fowler is my favorite Simon Zealotes for Jesus Christ Superstar. Bar none.

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I have to say I can't stand Carsten on the Essen Elisabeth recording either (rather, that was my first recording of Carsten!Hate that has continued ever since!) but Uwe is indeed quite good there. I'm not normally a big Uwe fan, but he's nice as Death on the recordings. In a way, back then when his voice wasn't bad yet, he was very easy to listen to as Death: he had an interpretation that had enough of what one requires for the part but was pretty inobtrusive at the same time. Like, I need to be in the right mood to listen to Máté!Death. I can listen to Uwe!Death when I just want to hear a Death in German and don't much care who it is (as long as it isn't Olegg).

That, and Jesper owns every other Rudolf except possibly Szabó Dávid.

Doesn't he, though? Those two are my favourites by a long shot. *loves*

On the other hand, that was English????

*giggles* That's what usually happens when Felix sings English. One can spend many an amusing hour trying to figure out what the lyrics actually are. (I think there still isn't a fandom consensus on the second line of The Final Dance.)

The first time I heard Carsten was on DVD, and he was godawful in that one though I have another DVD of him where he's passably good, but for the most part, I can't watch/listen to anything with him as Lucheni without playing a round of Serkan Kaya or Tamas Szaraz afterward. At least I don't want to start crying when I hear Carsten in the official recording, which is certainly a huge step up from usual.

I don't like Uwe in the original Wien production (recording included, though I admit he sounds fantastic there), but I usually find him okay in Essen. I feel like his der Tod shows a bit more personality in Essen, and that gives him a bit more presence and charisma that I think der Tod really needs. I actually haven't listened much to the more recent recordings of him, but I remember wincing through a Berlin recording of him with Annemieke, which was a damn shame because Annemieke was amazing and the audio quality was phenomenal. I could certainly hear note he mangled crystal clear. I'm a little nervous about him playing Taafe. I'm not sure he's up to the vocal acrobatics that'll take. :(

(I've actually only seen and heard a tiny bit of Olegg, mostly in a really poor quality of him with Annemieke in Stuttgart. I've no opinion of the guy, but it seems like everyone I talk to does, and the opinion is universally negative. Sometimes I'm almost curious enough to go trading for that DVD of Stuttgart's final performance. :P)

Doesn't he, though? Those two are my favourites by a long shot. *loves*

The funny thing was that I totally didn't expect to like Szabó Dávid because I'm not a fan of Dolhai Attila's Rudolf, and I figured they'd try to cast someone roughly similar. When I first heard him singing Die Schatten Werden Länger (whatever it's called in Hungarian) with Máté, it was such a lovely surprise.

(I think there still isn't a fandom consensus on the second line of The Final Dance.)

I think it's tragedy myself. Given Felix's "Der letzte tjanz", I don't think he'd have any trouble with the ch sound in treachery. Then again... I don't see how he could turn "tragedy" into "treasury" either. I guess it'll forever be a mystery to fandom. *sigh*

Well, yeah, Carsten is much less annoying on the CD than on DVDs. His Milch is actually not too bad, though I like other Luchenis better.

I have trouble deciding if I like Uwe more in Vienna or in Essen. In Essen he doesn't have the stupid hair and catwalk, but there I find he poses a bit too much instead of acting. But he has a wonderful way with Jesper's Rudolf there.

Oh, and I love Annemieke, by the way. I haven't seen and heard much with her, but I've been very impressed by her. Yay for getting someone new who's good.

I'm a little nervous about him playing Taafe. I'm not sure he's up to the vocal acrobatics that'll take. :(

Let's say that when I heard Uwe was going to be Taaffe, I spent several days raging about that at every opportunity, then I wrote this and found peace. Now I mostly treat the idea with mere scorn instead of rage. :P But I'm determined to see Rudolf in Budapest before Vienna so that the first thing I hear live of Taaffe's songs won't be the disaster Uwe's voice will make of them.

I've only listened to Olegg on the Stuttgart CD and watched a few video clips, but that's been enough to make him the only Death I ever hated. There's just something incredibly off-putting about his performance and I absolutely can't stand him. On video, live and on recordings, I've experienced around 20 different Deaths, and I like all of them in one way or another, except Olegg. That's something of an achievement. :P Him and Maike deserve each other, though...

I had the fortune of seeing Dávid as Rudolf twice. I walked in theatre knowing nothing of him, and came out with him as my favourite Rudolf. And I'm very picky about Rudolfs. He has that right mixture of fragility and mental imbalance with enough intelligence and spine that you can see what he's talking about with him and Sisi being similar. And he has ever so delicious chemistry with Death. I've only seen him with Szilveszter, not with Máté, but I was very impressed by their chemistry together. I'm a bit of a fangirl of Dávid's now. Though I wonder how it will be to see him as Mercutio, because nobody can compare to Zoli.

I think I've never managed to decide if it's "treachery" or "tragedy" but it sounds like "treasury" or possibly "tragédie" à la francaise. :P I'm not positive it's a good idea to give English texts for Felix to sing. I like him, but he should stick to German. But well, at least it's entertaining!

Annemieke is just lovely. I adore her Elisabeth, though I do think she's missing a little something in Act II, but I think she's definitely gotten better. My earliest recording of her Elisabeth is really poor quality, but I wasn't too impressed then (though I mostly listened to Wenn Ich Tanzen Will and Die Schleier Fällt, so it might've been Olegg dragging her down), but she was great at Berlin, and as far as I can tell from recordings, she's doing even better now on tour.

Let's say that when I heard Uwe was going to be Taaffe, I spent several days raging about that at every opportunity, then I wrote this and found peace.

I read that, and I cackled with glee. The Roseanne bit did it for me. I thought he sounded fine as Van Hellsing, but his awkward gestures still leave me a bit confused. I'm trying to keep an open mind about him in Rudolf myself. He probably could've done the part alright about 10 years ago, but I think his golden era's come and gone. ...And he really needs to stop showing up every other musical ever. I'd like to hear someone else in my cast recordings. >.>

Though I wonder how it will be to see him as Mercutio, because nobody can compare to Zoli.

That I'd love to see. I haven't ever seen RésJ live, and I think it'd blow my mind if I ever did--in a good way, of course. Sadly, I'm not sure if I've got time for a trip to Budapest over the summer anymore. It looks like I'll be going back to China in May and then spending most of August in England, so I'm not sure I'll have the money for another trip.

I'm not positive it's a good idea to give English texts for Felix to sing.

Someone may need to tell Felix himself that. :P

I found Uwe's singing rather painful as Van Helsing as well. Though on the recording they managed to mix him so that he sounded tolerable. But on a whole, his voice has gone to hell in the past few years. A while ago I listened to some older stuff with him and remembered why I used to like him; he did use to be nice to listen to, even if he never had much of a singing technique. But he's just awful nowadays, he can't hit his notes right and sounds really harsh and shrill most of the time. I just can't fathom how he's going to sound tolerable as Taaffe. He's bad enough in the press conference clip, and the way he's singing it, you can tell he's forcing out his voice because that's the only way he can try to project the required power, and that's going to destroy his voice. I mean, if it doesn't go like this I'll be glad, but having watched how he's been over the past few years, I don't see how it's going to be anything else.

Of course, it doesn't help that the first time I actually heard Uwe live in anything was the infamous Musical Forever concert where he was so bad the CD production company had to take a couple of extra months to remove any trace of him on the CD before it could be released.

A pity if you can't come to Budapest in the near future, that'd be fun. Though I guess Rómeó és Júlia will play there for quite some time yet. I wonder for how much longer Attila is going to play Romeo. His fans will riot if he doesn't, of course, but at some point he might start to seem too old for the part?

Elisabeth Essen is brilliant. I fell in love with Eli through that recording. I think Uwe sounds great there, I have no problems with Carsten, Jesper is awesome and Pia is.. well, being Pialy Amazing. Damn I love that woman.

I sneakily read your your conversation about Olegg!Death and the Stuttgart DVD.. well, I have it.. and Pia's performance is WOW. She's really on fire! And then you have this Death as Olegg and you mourn that Pia will have to kiss the guy! It's awful. I do think Pia and Olegg realize Pia is the best thing about this combination. This proves it.
Olegg has this interpretation in which he thinks he's awesome and that everyone will throw themselves at his feet anyway. It makes me cringe. He isn't even that handsome and he definitely can't sing! (The last note in Der Letzte Tanz on the DVD? Way off.)
The only good thing about the Stuttgart cast is (obviously) Pia, though I liked Wietske!Elisabeth too and the song Karin Seyfried & Maike Boerdam did together, "Zwischen Traum Und Wirklichkeit".

Felix Martin's Unstillbare Gier is a lot of love. Lol, it was the first thing I heard by him after coming back totally enchanted from Berlin. I fell in love with it at once. XD I love him as Krolock! (Sad to say, that I just can't get into Tanz except for Krolock's songs..) But yeah. His English. =P

I agree with you on Elisabeth Essen. The recording's probably the best out of the official German recordings (the Wien revival might edge it out because Serkan Kaya's Lucheni is just that amazing, but Máté just sounds awful in it). I don't know how you can stand Carsten though. That'll always be a mystery to me. :P

...That picture of Olegg and Pia will give me nightmares. Is that during Die Schleier Fällt? Because that expression on his face is creepy. But Pia looks wonderful, as always. I've heard Olegg as ValJean in Les Miserables, and he sounded fine to me there, so I'd say he can sing fine, though a ValJean voice is not the sort of voice I'd ever cast for der Tod.

I believe Annemieke first performed as Elisabeth at Stuttgart too, so that might be another good thing about it. I don't know what "Zwischen Traum Und Wirklichkeit" is though, so I can't say anything about that.

Felix Martin is wonderful in general. I love his voice, though I think he moves kinda funny. I've only seen him in the Wien DVD with Maya and then that camera-crazy DVD of him in Berlin, so maybe he has a bit more grace live. :P As for Tanz, for the most part, I'm just an Unstillbare Gier fan, but I've recently starting obsessing over Carpe Noctum. It's catchy. :D (The only good thing about Broadway's Dance of the Vampires was Max von Essen's For Sarah. It's absolutely amazing.)

I saw Olegg as Valjean, and he was all right. He definitely actually has an amazing voice, but he absolutely can't sing Death's part. He has that more classical technique in his singing and apparently can't do the kind of rock singing that Death requires. Anyway, his singing as Valjean was good, but I didn't care much for his acting. His Bring Him Home sounded like "GOD ON HIGH HEAR HOW MIGHTILY I CAN BELT" rather than prayer. I know it's a hard song to sing right without sounding stupid, but it's maybe not the song just for showing how loud you can sing. Anyway, while he's an acceptable Valjean, he's my most loathed Death ever. His interpretation is indeed how Solyndra described it and it's extremely annoying. And I don't know why some people think he's good-looking. He doesn't look like anything to me.

It's funny, I used to obsess over the Essen recording of Elisabeth (barring Carsten) but nowadays I rarely listen to it. I guess it's just because I've listened to it so much. But it also bothers me that while the actors are great, the orchestrations somehow sound really thin and dull on that CD. I miss some depth and darkness from the music.

It definitely is. And you know, I really don't think he's that bad. Personally, I never got into Serkan Kaya much, maybe because I didn't listen to that recording a lot. Maya and Máté aren't my favourite cast for the cast albums.

He looks so scared. I find the picture totally amazing haha. :D
As for Olegg's singing.. I suppose he can sing just fine, he just sings the songs of Elisabeth in an odd way.. like he's singing staccato or something. It's awful. The interpretation is way off and that's why the singing sounds weird as well.

Zwischen Traum Und Wirklichkeit is a beautiful song. It's just in the Japanese version if I'm not mistaken. But they recorded a German version on the Stuttgart album. Together with Susan's Bellaria the only good songs on that disc!

I loooove him. I totally fell in love with him that evening lol. There's something about his performance that just takes you in.. even my dad agreed, and he's not too fond of any other Death but Uwe. Felix can be very entrancing.. when heard live. I usually don't like his studio voice. (The Die Unstillbare Gier album is an exception.)
Well, the other song I really love (besides the 4 on Felix' album) is Draussen Ist Freiheit. I just love that one. But the story on a whole is a tad too cheesy for me, I can't help it. :(
(Btw, is the DVD with Maya any good?)

You know, you need to watch the Vienna DVD. It's worth it for Serkan alone, even if you didn't end up liking anyone else. I've met maybe one person in my fandom years who didn't adore his Lucheni.

But the story on a whole is a tad too cheesy for me, I can't help it.

Hmm, but the thing is, Tanz der Vampire knows that the cheesy things in it are cheesy and deliberately makes fun of them. The story is deliberately built on clichés and intertextuality. I love it so much because (among other things) it manages to wonderfully balance between parody and seriousness so that it's totally hilarious at the same time as it has a serious side. I guess I have the right twisted sense of humour for it.

I've met maybe one person in my fandom years who didn't adore his Lucheni.

This is mind boggling. Serkan Kaya's basically some sort of god. I swear.

I'm close to getting that DVD, so I'll see it, sometime, whenever that may be haha.

And yes, you did tell me that before, so I listened again.. and while I do like the songs on their own, the whole story just doesn't impress me as much. Who knows, maybe it'll come. =P

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Merry Christmas

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