Merchant of Venice (Excerpt), The

Synopsis

Ellen Terry reciting Portia’s speech from Act IV i beginning ‘The quality of mercy is not strain’d...' The speech is included in GREAT HISTORICAL SHAKESPEARE RECORDINGS issued by Naxos and catalogued separately.

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Audio

Recording date

28 Feb 1911

Credits

Cast

Ellen Terry

Portia

Additional Details

Production type

Other

Plays

Merchant of Venice, The

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Shakespeare, William

Notes

Notes

Original issue number Victor 64194

General

In the autumn of 1883, during Henry Irving’s fist engagement in New York, Ellen Terry played a round of characters as his leading lady. In the Tribune, Mr. William Winter said: "Miss Ellen Terry’s Portia is delicious. Her voice is perfect music. Her clear, bell-like elocution is more than a refreshment, it is a luxury. Her simple manner, always large and adequate, is a great beauty of the art which it so deftly conceals. Her embodiment of a woman’s loveliness, such as, in Portia, should he at once stately and fascinating and inspire at once respect and passion, was felicitous beyond the reach of descriptive phrases."

Production Company

Name

Victor

Archive

Name

British Library Sound Archive

Email

listening@bl.uk

Web

http://www.bl.uk/nsa External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7412 7676

Fax

020 7412 7441

Address

96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB

Name

Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division

Web

http://loc.gov/rr/record External site opens in new window

Phone

(202) 707-7833

Address

Recorded Sound Reference Centre
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.
Room LM-113
Washington, DC 20540