    the music lovers is a 1970 british drama film directed by ken russell. the screenplay by melvyn bragg, based on beloved friend, a collection of personal correspondence edited by catherine drinker bowen and barbara von meck, focuses on the life and career of 19th century russian composer pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky. it was one of the director's biographical films about classical composers, which include elgar (1962), delius: song of summer (1968) and mahler (1974), made from an often idiosyncratic standpoint. ==synopsis== composer, conductor and teacher peter ilych tchaikovsky struggles against his homosexual tendencies by marrying, but unfortunately he chooses a wonky, nymphomaniac girl whom he cannot satisfy. ==production notes== the film's title card reads ken russell's film on tchaikovsky and the music lovers to differentiate it from tchaikovsky, a russian film released the previous year. rafael orozco recorded the piano pieces played by tchaikovsky in the film. director russell hired his wife shirley as costume designer and cast four of their children â alexander, victoria, james, and xavier â in small roles. the film includes at least two major factual errors. in one sequence, tchaikovsky and his patron see each other on the road; the two never spoke, although their paths crossed once by happenstance in a park in italy. later, his wife nina goes mad and is placed in an insane asylum, prompting the composer to call his sixth symphony the pathÃ©tique, when in reality she wasn't institutionalised until after his death. glenda jackson and andrew faulds were later labour party mps in the british house of commons. ==cast== *richard chamberlain... pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky *glenda jackson... antonina miliukova *max adrian... nikolai rubinstein *christopher gable... count anton chiluvsky *[[k
1970_films 1970s_drama_films 1970s_historical_films British_LGBT-related_films British_drama_films British_historical_films English-language_films Films_about_classical_music_and_musicians Films_directed_by_Ken_Russell Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky United_Artists_films