![]() The film also makes a good point about the problematic nature of difference, particularly in the world of classical music, which isn’t exactly celebrated by the culture at large–a lot of times classical music is the stuff of longhairs, nerds, older people, and music students. It gets the dynamic of performance, particularly piano performance, and the questions that often swirl around before a show starts: Will I mess up? What if I forget something? What if I chose the wrong piece? Are my clothes on backwards? It also understands what a musician usually has to say to the demon those questions rode in on: Kindly step off. When I was on tour with the Continentals, there were times I would hop into a show all bright and cheerful even though I was wilting backstage not two seconds before. Just getting up on a stage and performing at all can be a huge accomplishment, and oftentimes only the performer really knows what it took to walk out there. Performers can be extremely adept at hiding their real feelings, but life events do get in the way and it can throw everything off. It’s not just a matter of skill emotion is a major part of putting over a song. There’s nothing like a good sforzando to relieve the feelings. I started playing piano at eleven, and while I don’t get as much practice time as I would like, I still enjoy messing around with various pieces, especially classical music. I really relate to this movie, except for the concert pianist part. As he tells Helen, dead German composers have been his constant companions, one advantage being that they don’t suddenly disappear. Henry seems caught between wanting to leave his life as a performer behind and embracing that identity. He’s also periodically tortured by dreams of walking out onstage only to find that some of the keys of his piano have disappeared. Henry can’t outrun his formidable presence in the music world, and flinches when he sees his hotel night manager, Felix (Christopher Gaugler) has one of his CDs propped up on a shelf in his office. It’s not a romance, although Helen seems to want it to be on a certain level, but she does become Henry’s muse.Īll of this is interspersed with shots of Henry hiking around the Swiss Alps and dining alone in his fancy hotel where people stare at him. Just before things get awkward, Helen sits down next to him, strikes up the baseline of Bizet’s Habañera, and the two of them play a sprightly duet.Īfter Helen pep talks Henry into performing one night, Henry’s manager, Paul (Giancarlo Esposito) sets up an interview for her, and the two of them start hanging out. Helen is among the members of the press who are around to cover Henry buying a new concert grand, and when Henry sits in front of the gorgeous, gleaming Steinway, he freezes. He’s not really into that and politely begs off, but that’s not the end of things. Once Henry collects himself, he meets with the press, and among them is New Yorker music critic Helen Morrison (Katie Holmes), who is doing an article about Henry and would like an interview. Afterwards, Henry lurches out into an alleyway, where a security guard lights a cigarette for him even though Henry doesn’t smoke. ![]() The movie opens with Henry playing a triumphant comeback concert to a sold-out New York crowd. ![]() Once upon a time I knew what that was like, which is why I was eager to see the 2019 film, Coda. Not to be confused with the 2021 Coda starring Marlee Matlin, this Coda follows the story of Henry Cole (Patrick Stewart), a famous concert pianist crippled by stage fright after the sudden death of his wife.
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