The Music Lovers

Cultural impact

The film was one of a series of Russell's films delineating the lives of classical composers from an often idiosyncratic standpoint. Other notable ones include: Elgar (1962, TV), Mahler (1974) and Lisztomania (1975).

Related Topics:
Elgar - 1962 - TV - Mahler - 1974 - Lisztomania - 1975

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Focusing on Tchaikovsky's reputed homosexuality, it tells the story of his musical life refracted through his childhood memories of the violent death of his mother, under treatment for cholera by quack physicians, and through his frustrated marriage to Antonina Milyukova. The film employs scenes of cruelty, violence and sexuality in a way that is simultaneously graphic, camp and arch, in order to represent Tchaikovsky's supposed mental anguish and instability. Critical reception in the 1970s was cool and it is unlikely that the film will get any warmer appreciation while contemporary styles and tastes remain out of vogue. The film has been much criticised as an inaccurate depiction of the life of the composer.

Related Topics:
Cholera - Antonina Milyukova - 1970s

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Remarkably, actor Andrew Faulds had been a Labour Member of Parliament in the UK since 1966 and Glenda Jackson went on to become a Labour MP in 1997.

Related Topics:
Andrew Faulds - Labour - Member of Parliament - UK - 1966 - Glenda Jackson - 1997

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