The Music Lovers

Much of the film is without dialogue and the story is presented in flashbacks, nightmares, and fantasy sequences set to Tchaikovsky's (Richard Chamberlain) music. As a child, the composer sees his mother die horribly, forcibly immersed in scalding water as a supposed cure for cholera, and is haunted by the scene throughout his musical career. Despite his difficulty in establishing his reputation, he attracts Madame Nadezhda von Meck (Izabella Telezynska) as his patron. His marriage to the allegedly nymphomaniacal Antonina Miliukova (Glenda Jackson) is plagued by his homosexual urges and lustful desire for Count Anton Chiluvsky (Christopher Gable). The dynamics of his life lead to deteriorating mental health and the loss of von Meck's patronage, and he dies of cholera after deliberately drinking contaminated water while his wife ends up in an insane asylum.