Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 19

[cahn]

Yuletide nominations:

18th Century CE Federician RPF
Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria
Voltaire
Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Ernst Ahasverus von Lehndorff
Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758)
Anna Amalie von Preußen | Anna Amalia of Prussia (1723-1787)
Catherine II of Russia
Hans Hermann von Katte
Peter Karl Christoph von Keith
Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf
August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758)

Circle of Voltaire RPF
Emilie du Chatelet
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (Madame de Pompadour)
John Hervey (1696-1743)
Marie Louise Mignot Denis
Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu
Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu (1696-1788)
Francesco Algarotti

Comments

Re: Friedrich: Triumph und Tragödie

[prinzsorgenfrei]

Yay, someone watched it!

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

[selenak]

I haven't watched or heard anything from Ludwig 2 yet, though I'm vaguely curious, between Konstantin Wecker's involvement and me living in Munich. But if you want to read a spoof on how a Frederician themed musical NOT censoring the gay would go, I offer you Lehndorff! The Musical.

"Forget my sister and run away with me

You'll laugh, but rl Fritz did show such a reaction, though not to imaginary Wilhelmine/Katte, but to actual Voltaire-flirts-with-Ulrike. More here.

Being somewhat more invested in the siblings than in the boyfriends, I have to say that when Fritz replied to Musical!Katte's "but what about Wilhelmine, are we just leaving her behind?" objections with "I'll write her a letter, she'll understand", I thought, yeah, no. I mean, we'll never know how much or little Wilhelmine knew in advance about this particular escape plot, but she definitely knew about the general idea, wasn't happy about it, and Fritz wasn't happy hat she wasn't happy. Also, he did say goodbye, of sorts.

(I'm with Mildred that while neither Fritz nor Wilhelmine would have admitted this to themselves, there must have been some mutual resentment festering beneath all the other stuff, on his part that she kept trying to dissuade him from escaping an inreasingly horrible situation, and on her part that he was willing to leave her in said situation.)

Back to the musical, and speaking of singing abilities, considering that Katte is largely a speaking role (since he only sings as part of the "This is our time" trio which is largely carried by Fritz and Wilhelmine, and then a bit with Wilhelmine later), I wonder whether this is because they didn't want to have too many tenors?