Lisztomania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lisztomania | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Lisztomania |
|
| Directed by | Ken Russell |
| Produced by | Roy Baird David Puttnam |
| Written by | Ken Russell |
| Starring | Roger Daltrey Sara Kestelman Paul Nicholas Ringo Starr |
| Music by | Rick Wakeman Franz Liszt Richard Wagner |
| Cinematography | Peter Suschitzky |
| Editing by | Stuart Baird |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | 10 October 1975 |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Country | U.K. |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Lisztomania is a 1975 film by Ken Russell, drawn from a biography of Franz Liszt.
Depicting the flamboyant Liszt as the first classical pop star, Lisztomania features then-contemporary rock star Roger Daltrey in the leading role. The film was released the same year as Tommy, also starring Daltrey and directed by Russell. The film is derived in part from an actual "kiss-and-tell" book, Nélida, by Marie d'Agoult, about her affair with Liszt.
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. There were screaming women and concerts were often standing room only.
Rick Wakeman, from the progressive rock band Yes, composed the Lisztomania album soundtrack for the movie, making synthesizer arrangements of Liszt and Wagner. He also appears in the movie as the comic book superhero Thor. Daltrey and Wakeman wrote the lyrics for the songs, and Daltrey sang on the soundtrack.
Other rock celebrities appear in the movie such as The Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr, who appears as the Pope.
This movie was first to use the relatively new Dolby Stereo noise reduction sound system.
As of yet, Lisztomania has still not been released on DVD format, in any region (there was a 1990's laserdisc release in letterbox format and Dolby Surround sound).
