The Music Lovers is a 1971 biopic of the 19th century Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, as conceived by maverick director Ken Russell.

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).

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.

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.

Plot summary

The young Tchaikovsky (Chamberlain) sees his mother die horribly, being forcibly immersed in scalding water as a supposed cure for cholera. He is haunted by the scene throughout his musical career. Despite his difficulty in establishing his musical reputation, Madame Nadedja von Meck (Telezynka) becomes his patron. He weds Antonina Milyukova (Jackson) but is unable to consummate the marriage because of his homosexuality. The dynamics of his life lead to deteriorating mental health and the loss of von Meck's patronage. He dies of cholera after drinking polluted water, perhaps deliberately.