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ANTONINA MILYUKOVA became the composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s wife in 1877 at the age of 29, and, after 1893, was his widow. After her marriage in Moscow she was known as Antonina Tchaikovskaya. She gave up work as a professional seamstress to study music at the Moscow Music Conservatory where Tchaikovsky was one of her professors.

The marriage was disastrous. A permanent separation followed after only six weeks of them being together, but they never divorced. Although she outlived Tchaikovsky by 24 years, she spent the last 20 of them in an insane asylum.

The role, although modest, will require two or three days’ filming spread over possibly a three-week period due to the locations being in different, distant places.

AS MANY OF THE ROLES ARE DIALOGUE FREE, ENACTED BOTH TO THE VOICE-OVER AND THE MUSIC OF TCHAIKOVSKY, GIFTED DANCERS WITH A TALENT FOR DRAMA – ESPECIALLY THOSE FROM THE WORLD OF CLASSICAL BALLET – MAY ALSO APPLY.

LOVE SONG: The Triumph and Tragedy of Tchaikovsky is a never-before-told biopic drama behind one of Tchaikovsky’s most popular compositions, the fantasy overture Romeo and Juliet – which spawned one of the most famous and instantly recognisable love themes ever written.

The film’s story is told through the voice of Tchaikovsky as he looks back on his life. The scenes are enacted against the voice-over of Tchaikovsky, combined with lip-synch spoken dialogue (usually to camera), and accompanying music by the composer that underscores a scene’s atmosphere. The voice-over for Tchaikovsky and other characters have already been recorded.

In the 28-minute film short, Tchaikovsky is depicted in two crucial periods: aged 29 at the start of his relationship with Edward Zak; and at 53 (the age when he died) as he looks back on his life – a music star whose greatest admirer was Tsar Alexander III.

Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression. His same-sex orientation, which he kept private, has traditionally been considered a major factor behind these crises. His sudden death at the age of 53 is generally ascribed to cholera; there is an ongoing debate as to whether it was accidental or self-inflicted.


Some of the composer's closest relationships were with men. He sought out the company of other same-sex attracted men in his circle for extended periods, associating openly and establishing professional connections with them. Even so, the composer of The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Queen of Spades, Eugene Onegin, the “1812” Overture and six symphonies was torn by ambivalent feelings on the subject of sexuality and marriage.

He married former music student Antonina Milyukova after receiving a series of impassioned letters from her. Almost as soon as the wedding ended, Tchaikovsky felt he had made a mistake and soon afterwards found that he and Antonina were incompatible psychologically and sexually: she was a nymphomaniac.

Stories of doomed love always resonated deeply with the composer. Romeo and Juliet was no exception. When, aged 29 and a Professor at the Moscow Conservatory, Tchaikovsky took up Shakespeare’s play as a musical subject, he was deeply in love with Eduard Zak, a 15-year-old student at the conservatory. At the end of his life he was still dreaming – and having nightmares – about Edward.

The music of Tchaikovsky and Tchaikovsky only, will feature throughout the film.

LOVE SONG: The Triumph and Tragedy of Tchaikovsky will be filmed in a variety of stunning locations, both inside and outside, mainly in Hertfordshire. The centre of operations will be the filmmaker’s home in Kings Langley which is just 25 minutes by train from Euston.

Filmmaker Ian Woodward was formerly a show-business writer for Britain’s national newspapers and magazines. He appeared regularly on the BBC as presenter (among others) of Radio 2’s Jazz in Britain and as an entertainment contributor to Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

He is the author of more than 30 books (including volumes of verse), among them Audrey Hepburn: Fair Lady of the Screen (a worldwide best-seller and never out of print since first published in 1984 and issued as an eBook in 2012 and available worldwide on Amazon); The Werewolf Delusion; Glenda Jackson: A Study in Fire and Ice; The Story of Clowns; Dance; Birds in the Garden; and (poetry) Ring Out Wild Bells and the best-seller Poems for Christmas.

Audrey Hepburn: Fair Lady of the Screen spawned the musical Fair Lady of the Screen, composed by Bee Gees keyboardist Rudi Dobson. The musical was released on CD by President Records.

His last four films – The Red Rose, Too Many Ghosts, Silly Robin, From Bohemia’s Woods and Fields - have won 22 international awards and been screened on TV, in theatres and open-air cinemas across the United States and the United Kingdom, as far afield as Armenia, Australia and South Korea, and right across Europe, taking in Russia, Hungary, Poland, the Ukraine, Italy, Estonia, Malta and the Czech Republic. Too Many Ghosts will be screened in Moscow in September and in Los Angeles in December.

Website: http://encorefilms.co.uk/

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