{"id":718,"date":"2013-03-16T13:26:58","date_gmt":"2013-03-16T17:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tr10023.com\/?p=718"},"modified":"2013-10-18T09:19:24","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T13:19:24","slug":"the-greatest-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.tr10023.com\/?p=718","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest (Part II)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Christopher<\/a>

Christopher Plummer as Henry V in Stratford, Ontario, 1956: A little touch of Harry in the night.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

The last time I saw Christopher Plummer<\/a> onstage, it was in a performance with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall in 2011. \u00a0The music was William Walton’s score to the 1944 movie version of “Henry V” directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. \u00a0Plummer performed the monologues and soliloquys for which Walton had written musical prologues or underscoring. \u00a0The audio clip below is from a performance of the same piece that he gave in London back in 1990. \u00a0 It is the famous prologue to the play (“O, for a muse of fire!”). \u00a0Twenty-one years had not diminished his magnificent voice or his interpretation one jot. \u00a0It was a thrilling evening. \u00a0Plummer was 81 at the time, and he performed the speeches from memory. \u00a0Ralph Richardson once said it was the actor’s job to “terrify” the audience a bit, so they’d know who was master; Ethel Barrymore was once asked if anyone coughed while she was onstage: \u00a0“They wouldn’t dare<\/em>,” she replied. \u00a0So it is with Plummer. \u00a0At the “Henry V” performance at Avery Fisher, from the moment he strode out on stage in his plum colored velvet jacket, he was in absolute command. \u00a0He took a seat in front of the violin section, crossed his legs and listened to the overture. \u00a0When his first cue came, he stood, took a few steps downstage and delivered the prologue with spectacular clarity, energy and intelligence.<\/p>\n