I'm not the largest Wicked fan, but I did come across these sound clips of the German Wicked cast (opening next month). They sound great! And Willemijn Verkaik blows Idina Menzel out of the water (also not a large Idina fan, sorry guys).
Here's the link! Scroll down and click the arrows for clips of "One Short Day," "For Good," and "Defying Gravity."
I find it interesting that they used the original Broadway cast recording background tracks/orchestra instead of recording a real German orchestra for their own version. One thing that I've always admired about European cast recordings is that they always have such excellent musicality, especially the orchestras. One of my favorite recordings is the German "Beauty and the Beast" - amazing orchestra, and not the Broadway players, either.
WOW! I can't imagine what it must be like to sit in that audience, listening and watching and KNOWING what they're saying! So entertaining to hear them squeeze in syllables. And to hear an "ooo" sound where your ear has been trained to hear and "aah"
It's also really nice to hear a healthy sound coming from the Elphaba, instead of a strained "I'm dying" sound that can often come from American singers. No human being should ever have to sit up there and sing those notes, anyway, but it sounds very clean and healthy to me, which I really appreciate. (Of course, we all know that singing in the recording studio, and doing it in a heavy costume while being nervous 15 feet above the stage are two very different things!)
German musical theatre is incredible. It sounds wonderful.
Ja, Willemijn ist besser! :) I thought Idina was a good actress in the role, but she screamed her way through the show. It's nice to hear someone singing the role.
How to properly use its/it's:
Its is the possessive. It's is the contraction for it is...
is it just me, or did it sound like they were speaking english at the end of one short day? when it is supposed to be "just 2 friends, 2 good friends..." it sounded like they were saying, "hand in hand, arm in arm"
is it just me, or did it sound like they were speaking english at the end of one short day? when it is supposed to be "just 2 friends, 2 good friends..." it sounded like they were saying, "hand in hand, arm in arm"
That's because that's what they were saying. German and English are more similar than you might think.
Concerning the orchestrations: Those clips are for promotional use only... they were recorded shortly after the cast was announced. For the cast recording they'll probably make a new version!
In the real world the only people who burst into song are the hopelessly deranged...