The Music Lovers (1971)

Piano teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky struggles against his homosexuality by marrying, but unfortunately he chooses a nymphomaniac whom he cannot satisfy.

Director:

Ken Russell

Writers:

Melvyn Bragg (screenplay), Catherine Drinker Bowen (book)

Stars:

Richard Chamberlain, Glenda Jackson, Max Adrian

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Chamberlain	...	Tchaikovsky
Glenda Jackson	...	Nina (Antonina Milyukova)
Max Adrian	...	Nicholas Rubinstein
Christopher Gable	...	Count Anton Chiluvsky
Kenneth Colley	...	Modeste Tchaikovsky
Izabella Telezynska	...	Madame Nadedja von Meck
Maureen Pryor	...	Nina's Mother
Sabina Maydelle	...	Sasha Tchaikovsky
Andrew Faulds	...	Davidov
Bruce Robinson	...	Alexei Sofronov
Ben Aris	...	Young Lieutenant
Xavier Russell	...	Koyola
Dennis Myers	...	Von Meck, twin
John Myers	...	Von Meck, twin
Joanne Brown	...	Olga Bredska

Storyline

The compelling and bizarre story of Tchaikovsky's life and music. In Ken Russell's own words: "It's the story of the marriage between a homosexual and a nymphomaniac."

---

Plot Keywords:

nymphomaniac | piano | homosexuality | piano teacher | homosexual | 

---

Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Music

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

12 February 1971 (France)

Also Known As:

The Lonely Heart

Filming Locations:

Pump Room, Roman Baths, Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£1,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Russ-Arts, Russ Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Glenda Jackson (Nina) and Andrew Faulds (Davidov) would later serve together as Labour Party MPs in the British House of Commons from 1992 to 1997. Jackson was the MP for Hampstead & Highgate from 1992 to 2010 and for Hampstead & Kilburn from 2010 to 2015 whereas Faulds was the MP for Smetwick from 1966 to February 1974 and for Warley East from February 1974 to 1997.

---

Quotes

Antonina Milyukova: He's never loved another woman, has he, mother? No one else. But I, but I have so *many* lovers, so many lovers, so many, so many! See how many lovers, mother! See how many, how many, how many . . .

---

Connections

Referenced in Mahler (1974)

---

Soundtracks

SCHERZO BURLESQUE
Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conducted by André Previn with London Symphony Orchestra

User Reviews

Over blown romanticism, fantastic.

The music lovers brims with Overblown romantic sun blessed cliches. But this film is as self indulgent, decadent and dramatic as Tchaikovsky's music itself. The camera swoops and glides with the music, history is artisticly crafted and the torture and pain felt in his music can bring compassion to the coldest of souls. Lyrical images accompany his concertos carrying the audience through various characters fantasies, personifying dreams and giving life to hidden secrets.Tchaikovsky is driven to insanity not only by his unquenching desire to write music, but also by his surpressed, socailly unacceptable homosexuality, his rejected wife and the horrific death of his mother. Russell presents the characters not as individuals but as an ensemble, always wanting what the other cannot give. Together they represent the flamboyant and fatalistic life of the Nineteenth Century.