I did not want to tell anyone about SD/Grumbkow, I feel like everyone needs to experience that wtf moment for themselves :'D I agree with your whole review, you put it in words way better than I ever could have!
I did get the impression the script wanted to have his cake and eat it in terms of Fritz and Katte, i.e., on the one hand, there's the invented romance with Wilhelmine for the no-homo-crowd, on the other, the way Fritz reacts throughout does get across, imo, that he's having feelings for Katte himself.
T h i s! So much this! I mean... "you'll lose your pretty head", the kiss, the reaction to Katte's "oh, we have a weird friendship" after their super long hug, the fact that he's hallucinating him 56 years later after barely interacting, that "Forget my sister and run away with me, let me tenderly embrace you from behind"-scene... Someone in that production shipped it and didn't tell the main writers.
The award for most cringeworthy lyrics goes to: the Orzelska-seduces-Fritz number in Dresden
Another thing that I think should be mentioned are the random ladies in cheap wigs clinging to the bed posts in that scene, because... yeah.
I do honestly feel sorry for Tobias Bieri. There are other recordings where his singing is better, so maybe they just picked a bad day to record...? I do vaguely recall there being some form of pre-premiere thing where he had to sing with an inflamed throat, not sure how close that was to the actual stage show, time wise. Recording the premiere and only the premiere may not have been the smartest move on Spotlight's part.
FMuT is certainly no Elisabeth, quality wise, that is for sure... Maybe more along the lines of Ludwig 2. Although I might get that association because Ludwig 2 also had a lot of het stuff where there shouldn't be het stuff (and even a tender dramatic embrace with Ludwig and his Totally Straight Buddy. I sense a pattern).
Re: Friedrich: Triumph und Tragödie
I did not want to tell anyone about SD/Grumbkow, I feel like everyone needs to experience that wtf moment for themselves :'D I agree with your whole review, you put it in words way better than I ever could have!
I did get the impression the script wanted to have his cake and eat it in terms of Fritz and Katte, i.e., on the one hand, there's the invented romance with Wilhelmine for the no-homo-crowd, on the other, the way Fritz reacts throughout does get across, imo, that he's having feelings for Katte himself.
T h i s! So much this! I mean... "you'll lose your pretty head", the kiss, the reaction to Katte's "oh, we have a weird friendship" after their super long hug, the fact that he's hallucinating him 56 years later after barely interacting, that "Forget my sister and run away with me, let me tenderly embrace you from behind"-scene... Someone in that production shipped it and didn't tell the main writers.
The award for most cringeworthy lyrics goes to: the Orzelska-seduces-Fritz number in Dresden
Another thing that I think should be mentioned are the random ladies in cheap wigs clinging to the bed posts in that scene, because... yeah.
I do honestly feel sorry for Tobias Bieri. There are other recordings where his singing is better, so maybe they just picked a bad day to record...? I do vaguely recall there being some form of pre-premiere thing where he had to sing with an inflamed throat, not sure how close that was to the actual stage show, time wise. Recording the premiere and only the premiere may not have been the smartest move on Spotlight's part.
FMuT is certainly no Elisabeth, quality wise, that is for sure... Maybe more along the lines of Ludwig 2. Although I might get that association because Ludwig 2 also had a lot of het stuff where there shouldn't be het stuff (and even a tender dramatic embrace with Ludwig and his Totally Straight Buddy. I sense a pattern).