(no subject)
Jan. 19th, 2009 02:33 amThe first time after Christmas that I've actually felt the - albeit not very urgent, but I guess it still counts - urge to venture out of the house on a day off, so I packed my camera and went on a two hour walk through depressingly foggy, no-sun-in-sight-anywhere Vienna, at the end of which I was tired, depressed and cold, so I took the underground home, made myself hot tea and watched the Elisabeth DVD while typing up Russian vocabulary (yay for multitasking and having bought the bigger iMac). And while I still think that the later additions are uniformly inferior - repetitive, superfluous, or both, even the blatantly fanservice-ish Wenn ich tanzen will -, upset the flow and tip the balance too much in favour of the Elisabeth/Death love-story, not to mention the embarrassing infodump narrator passages that make me go all *headdesk* & *cringe* & *fastforward*, the original was quite brilliant and deserved every bit of the success it got; great score, so many wonderful songs, a good deal of complexity, visually stunning, but never overshadowing the music, and a wonderful mood with all the Viennese love of morbidity, which I think came out stronger before Elisabeth was sold all over the world, and not as lightweight as one might assume, cf. the chilling Hass! [*] that always left a resounding silence.
Gratuitious linkage as a result of browsing videos on youtube; most are from the 2005 Vienna Cast DVD, so the quality is actually quite decent.
Der letzte Tanz: Not bad, but not my faourite death either.
Ich gehör nur mir: Maya Hakvoort being brilliant as always, although the close-ups in the beginning aren't doing her any favours considering she's supposed to play 17 year old Elisabeth here.
Nichts, nichts, gar nichts: One of the best tracks, IMO, once again fabulous Maya. Go watch.
Die Schatten werden länger and Mayerling, both of which I've seen done sexier (possibly because at least in one of the Rudolf/Death cast variations the actors were actually a couple), but still not bad at all. (Blurry illegal video from 1994ish with Uwe Kröger and Andreas Bieber putting a bit more effort into the kiss. Not these two, though. I think. Although I do seem to recall there were rumours. )
Boote in der Nacht (Elisabeth and Franz Joseph)
Der Schleier fällt (Finale) (Elsiabeth and Death)
[*] Video, which I seriously don't recommend watching at work or anywhere public, since it's about the rise of nationalism and anti-semitism in the late 19th century and you probably don't want to explain the slurs or the Sieg-Heil-ing at the end to the random person passing by.
2:15. Completely awake. *sigh*
Gratuitious linkage as a result of browsing videos on youtube; most are from the 2005 Vienna Cast DVD, so the quality is actually quite decent.
Der letzte Tanz: Not bad, but not my faourite death either.
Ich gehör nur mir: Maya Hakvoort being brilliant as always, although the close-ups in the beginning aren't doing her any favours considering she's supposed to play 17 year old Elisabeth here.
Nichts, nichts, gar nichts: One of the best tracks, IMO, once again fabulous Maya. Go watch.
Die Schatten werden länger and Mayerling, both of which I've seen done sexier (possibly because at least in one of the Rudolf/Death cast variations the actors were actually a couple), but still not bad at all. (Blurry illegal video from 1994ish with Uwe Kröger and Andreas Bieber putting a bit more effort into the kiss. Not these two, though. I think. Although I do seem to recall there were rumours. )
Boote in der Nacht (Elisabeth and Franz Joseph)
Der Schleier fällt (Finale) (Elsiabeth and Death)
[*] Video, which I seriously don't recommend watching at work or anywhere public, since it's about the rise of nationalism and anti-semitism in the late 19th century and you probably don't want to explain the slurs or the Sieg-Heil-ing at the end to the random person passing by.
2:15. Completely awake. *sigh*