You know, I really like Felix Martin

[liaku]

I was just listening to Felix Martin, and while I'm generally fond of his der Tod (in short, the only part I specifically don't like is his Wenn Ich Tanzen Will which is just godawful) and his Krolock just strikes me as... not right (I like him better than Mathias and Jan though), I really love his Colloredo.  And his voice in general.  His voice is just awesome.  Now, after listening to Martin Pasching's Taafe (and don't get me wrong, I like Martin Pasching a lot), I can't help but wonder what Felix Martin would sound like as Taafe. 

Plus, he's taller.

Comments

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

Oh, Felix as Taaffe, that would be interesting! It could work. I really like his Colloredo, too.

[liaku.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think his voice has the right power to it to do a good job with the role. He can really nail those higher notes without any strain to his voice when he switches registers, which strikes me as probably the most important thing for Taafe's voice.

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

Yeah. If Taaffe sounds like he has difficulties singing any part of the score, this is not good. Besides the obvious thing of it not being an enjoyment to the ears, it's bad for the characterisation. If Taaffe is to be a believable villain, everything he does has to seem easy for him. Nobody believes a villain who can't even sing his own score without strain.

[liaku.livejournal.com]

I know you haven't listened to Uwe's Master of the Strings, but just let me tell you that his Master of the Strings was probably the best part of his performance in that preview recording. It's like it was the one song where he knew he couldn't miss any notes--and he wavered and strained all over the place, but he only outright missed one note toward the end. Every other song was unbearably awful, and I say this as someone that doesn't usually mind Uwe at all.

I also think height/build matters. If Uwe were built slim like Jesper or somebody, his shortness would be alright, but since he's very heavily built in the torso, he just looks comically short in all the outrageous costumes they give him.

[solyndra.livejournal.com]

Felix as Taaffe sounds interesting. And the tallness is really important of course, so he won't have to wear heels. (Though they made him wear them in Berlin; for reasons beyond me because he was taller than his Elisabeth anyway.)
And personally, I adore his Krolock. Or well, the Tanz Der Vampire mini-cd. I'm really in love with that one..

[liaku.livejournal.com]

Even if they did make him wear heels, they'd probably be a couple inches shorter than Uwe's (his heels are just ridiculous) and it'd only be so he could tower over the entire ensemble.

As said, I love his voice, so I listen to all his mini-CD's too. He's very good in those (Wenn Ich Tanzen Will doesn't count), but in my life recordings of him as Krolock, he somehow sounds very angry to me. I think it's just the nature and power of his voice, he can hit the higher notes with such strength, which is really what makes me think his Die Fäden in der Hand would be awesome.

[solyndra.livejournal.com]

True, but he was one of the tallest in the ensemble too. Lol, it doesn't matter much.
Hehe, Wenn Ich Tanzen Will sounds horrible on Der Letzte Tanz. But besides, I love those mini cd's! I prefer them over the full-length ones, which is kinda sad.
I never got around listening to that Felix!Krolock audio I have, I probably should.. but even without listening to that, I'm sure his Die Fäden in der Hand would be awesome. Felix <3

[liaku.livejournal.com]

His Wenn Ich Tanzen Will sounds much better in the live recordings, but it's still pretty boring on his part (Annemieke sounds beautiful though). I really wish we had an actual recording of the later Berlin cast since I think Felix and Annemieke had a great chemistry together, and it's really about time we got another Elisabeth cast album. (I wouldn't say no to more mini-CDs from Felix either.)

His Unstillbare Gier live is what I found particularly angry. I think he's caught between singing at his full voice and trying to copy and/or age his voice so it's closer to Steve Barton's--which is just a really bad idea for him since he sounds best when he's all powerful and intense.

[solyndra.livejournal.com]

Agreed. It is much better live. (Though I had Alice as my Elisabeth, who didn't exactly do great during this song either.) I kinda like Annemieke in this song.
I'd love a cast album-thing with Annemieke and Felix! :D And it should include Die Schatten from the first act!

Oh dear :( That song sounds so great at the mini album, he should just perform it that way!

[nemo-de-la-meer.livejournal.com]

Hrm. I'm slowly getting into the world of Felix Martin (don't know if I really want to be a part of 'his' world, lol). And, I'm really enjoying him as Der Tod (but not Vienna Der Tod). But I did watch clips of him as Colloredo and I liked what I heard. Though I felt that he was kind of acting like Uwe? Hrmm. Ethan Freeman would be one kick ass Colloredo in my book! ;)

[liaku.livejournal.com]

Hasn't Ethan Freeman played Colloredo before? I can't say for sure since I'm not really a fan, but I could've sworn he did...

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

No, he played Leopold. At least I haven't heard that he would also have played Colloredo. He's got a good voice but he tends to be a bit half-asleep in his roles most of the time, and if he was like that as Colloredo, it wouldn't be good. Colloredo needs to be intense.

(I don't think Felix's Colloredo is like Uwe's. I'm basing this on the fact that I hate Uwe's Colloredo and like Felix's, therefore there must be a difference, though I don't remember enough details about Felix's to say what, I just remember I liked him.)

[liaku.livejournal.com]

Ah, right. He does make more sense as Leopold than Colloredo.

I think Felix's Colloredo gives much the same performance as Uwe's (his interpretation is pretty much the same as far as I can tell), but his voice is much smoother and effortless in the higher registers, whereas Uwe's gets a bit rough and nasal. It just makes his Colloredo a bit more intimidating and much more graceful, I think.

[valancystar.livejournal.com]

I suspect the reason I liked Felix's Colloredo was that something about him made the Uwe-style Colloredo work better than with Uwe. Possibly because he's got a better voice and is taller, so he doesn't have to try as hard as Uwe does. He also camped up the role more honestly whereas Uwe pretended to be impressive. :P