...in the Japanese version of Jesus Christ Superstar.
If you know me at all, you're probably not surprised to learn I like this quite a lot. Okay, sure, I did wonder at the beginning why they decided to jack up the speed (maybe it's just the recording?). And unfortunately this Judas seems to equate "showing strong emotion" with "screaming." But I think the trouble is that he has a weak falsetto. I get the sense all these singers are well-trained, perhaps even representatives of Opera World. If that's the case, it would explain why Judas makes a poor showing--the dynamics of his role are way too rock'n'roll for a classically trained singer.
Jesus, on the other hand...oh my gosh. Love him. Exceptional delivery--I don't care that I don't know the language, he lets me know what he's feeling.
Pilate in this is a bass, or perhaps bass-baritone. Whatever he is, he's got this rich timbre to his voice that gives his part a lot of weight, a lot of authority.
Caiaphas & Co. are clearly playing their part for laughs--it comes through in the orchestration and also in their cartoonlike over-delivery of their lines.
I feel bad for whoever had to translate this--it sounds like "Crucify him!" takes about fifteen syllables to say in Japanese. Also apparently "Hey, JC, JC" needed to be "Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ" in Japan.
"Judas" is pronounced "Yu-da" (so really I should have said "Sayanora Yu-da" in the title of this post, but that would have been too obscure), but everyone says the "J" in Jesus. Confusing.
Also--the thirty-nine lashes are counted in English. It's an abrupt, chilling shift--like Pilate has turned to look me in the eye.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment