I saw Ken Russell‘s The Music Lovers (’71) exactly once, but it’s one of my favorite Russell films, despite the tortured and sometimes grotesque tone of it. I’ve certainly never forgotten Richard Chamberlain‘s lead performance, or this performance scene of Peter Tchaikovsky‘s “Piano Concerto No. 1.” No one initially applauds at the end of the performance because they’re too moved, or so I recall.

Here, if you’re interested, is Van Cliburn performing the whole beautiful thing.

December 16, 2010by Jeffrey Wells4 Comments