Lisztomania (1975)

Directed by

Ken Russell

Genre

biographical film, musical film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1h 43m

Rated

R

Rating

5.8 of 10 from 38 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This film portrays 19th-century composer Franz Liszt as a flamboyant rock star. It follows his career and his affair with Marie d'Agoult, blending biographical events with surreal and comedic fantasy sequences.

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What happens

Lisztomania is a 1975 British surreal biographical musical comedy film written and directed by Ken Russell about the 19th-century composer Franz Liszt. The screenplay is derived, in part, from the book Nélida (1848) by Marie d'Agoult, about her affair with Liszt. Depicting the flamboyant Liszt as the first classical pop star, Lisztomania features contemporary rock star Roger Daltrey (of the Who) as Franz Liszt. The film was released the same year as Tommy, which also starred Daltrey and was also directed by Russell. Rick Wakeman, from the progressive rock band Yes, composed the Lisztomania soundtrack, which included synthesiser arrangements of works by Liszt and Richard Wagner. He also appears in the film as Thor, the Nordic god of thunder. Daltrey and Russell wrote the lyrics for the soundtrack, and Daltrey provided vocals. Of the other rock celebrities appearing in the film, Ringo Starr appears as the Pope. The term Lisztomania was coined by the German romantic literary figure Heinrich Heine to describe the massive public response to Liszt's virtuosic piano performances. At these performances, there were allegedly screaming women, and the audience sometimes was limited to standing room only. This film was first to use the new Dolby Stereo sound system. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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