Elgars Tenth Muse

Star Review

Unlike Ken Russell's better-known Elgar, which tried to encapsulate the composer's entire life, this Nigel Gearing-scripted TV film from 1996 focuses on a single brief but crucial period from 1919. A weary Sir Edward Elgar (James Fox), triply shattered by war, the strain of caring for his dying wife Alice (Faith Brook) and the feeling that his music has become an increasing irrelevance in the age of Schoenberg and Bartók, potters around his country home and its fog-soaked grounds. His thoughts are constantly interrupted by daydreams of the great Cello Concerto, but he can't find the energy to write it down. But then he becomes besotted twice over by what calls his "tenth muse": not just the Hungarian violinist Jelly d'Aranyi's uniquely empathetic interpretation of his work, but also, increasingly, the woman herself (Selma Alispahic). However, it's a romance that's doomed from the start, the age and cultural gaps unbridgable except through music, the latter given superb performances by Maxim Vengerov (violin), Natalie Clein (cello), and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis.

Michael Brooke on 7th February 2008

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Film Description

Set in 1919 and shot on location in London and Sussex, this moving film portrays the poignant relationship between the English composer Sir Edward Elgar and the beautiful young, Hungarian violinist Jelly d'Aranyi, his 'tenth muse'. The soundtrack includes a performance of Elgar's Violin Sonata, Op. 82, by Maxim Vengerov.

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Film Details

Cast

James Fox, Faith Brook, Rupert Frazer, Selma Alispahic

Technical Details