Music Lovers Blu-ray

'The Music Lovers' Director: Ken Russell (1971) Screenplay by Melvyn Bragg| BFI Blu-ray 

Guided throughout by the swells and dips of Tchaikovsky's music, Ken Russell's film unfolds in opulent and fantastical musical sequences that portray scenes from the composer's life between 1875 and 1881. Touching on his disastrous marriage with Antonina Miliukova, his relationship with patroness Nadezhda von Meck and his repressed homosexuality, The Music Lovers is anchored by magnetic central performances from Richard Chamberlain and Glenda Jackson.

Special features include:
- Audio commentary by film historian Matthew Melia
- Interview with Alexander Verney-Elliott (2024, 20 mins): Ken Russell's son looks back upon his father's work, and remembers his own appearance in The Music Lovers
- Charlotte Bronte Enters the Big Brother House (2007, 16 mins): Ken Russell staged, directed and filmed this 'Radical Bronte' ballet for young people, illustrating Jane Eyre
- The Guardian Interview: Melvyn Bragg (1988, 76mins): ten years after the inception of The Southbank Show, Melvyn Bragg discusses his career in television and film writer Ronald Harwood, at the National Film Theatre in London.
- Galina Ulanova in "Swan Lake" (1940, 6 mins): one of the greatest ballerinas of all time is seen performing a dance from Swan Lake, in this rare film held by the BFI National Archive
- Musical Highlights from USSR Today (10 mins): edited highlights from three editions of the Soviet newsreel, gathering items about Tchaikovsky and Russian musical arts
- Costume designs (2024, 2 mins): original sketches by Shirley Russell
- Illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Matthew Melia, a new essay by Caroline Langhorst and contributions from Alexander Verney-Elliott and Lisi Russell