It Has Been a Glittering Night of the Ball
Musical Director: Theo Mackeben Orchestra of the Berlin State Opera
Director: Carl Froelich
This movie has its origins in the immortal music of...
PETER TSCHAIKOWSKY
The action of this film is based freely on real events.
Moscow 1865
# The song our hearts sang
# ended and I was, silent, alone with my dreams.
# I'll look for you till the end of the world.
# I know, in the end you'll be with me.
# You'll return, when happiness and sorrow have flown away...
# Love will remain and eternally this song.
Love will remain...
Yes, Katja, he still loves you.
Was this your surprise for me, Professor?
Yes. This song is the only one he has written...
- ... since then. - Why are you telling me this?
Peter doesn't work anymore since you left him.
As if I was the guilty one!
Guilt... is a word for judges, but I am your teacher.
Sometimes I think I'm your father!
Katja...
You used to loved him so much...
Ah... a long time ago.
Now I must go back to Gattschina!
Goodbye Professor, come and visit us!
He's going to the dogs, Katja! Nobody knows him here in Moscow.
He lives in a miserable flat. He's lost all his courage.
You must talk to him, Katja!
You must tell him that you believe in him!
Like you used to... Will you do it? Today?
Today...
On the ball of the Nobility... They'll play one of his waltzes and he has promised to come.
Will you, Katja? We'll go, won't we?
No, it's impossible...
Nobody will recognize you, it's a masked ball!
Are you sure he's here?
Sure? Nothing is sure with him!
I don't see him!
Maybe he's hiding behind a column, as I know him!
Why is he so late? Do you think he'll be glad?
Ha, the guy ought to be grateful to you, Nastassja Petrowna...!
If you wouldn't dance his waltz, they'd never have performed it.
Oh, there he is!
Alright, get going with your dance...
Yes!
Please let me leave, Professor.
Even if I let you leave ...
... would you?
I'm so afraid! If my husband learns something...
Your husband is in Odessa, and Odessa is far away. Nobody knows you here!
Dimitri Pawlowitsch... Another beautiful woman of your acquaintance?
On the contrary, Princess, one of the few ladies I don't know.
Peter...!
What a face...! Didn't you like me?
Yes...
Be happy! It was a success!
Be careful! I'll make you famous!
An appetizing little creature!
A cabaret dancer, she's crazy about his art.
Only about his art?
Hardly, my little dove.
Be polite, Peter!
Hey! It wasn't easy...
to get your waltz accepted against these old bears in here!
But I told them:
Etither you play Piotr Iljitsch's waltz, gentlemen, or I won't dance at all!
Alright, Nastja, you arranged it very well.
Hm, Piotr Iljitsch, congratulations.
On your tailcoat, you look very handsome.
You've done an excellent job. I couldn't have done it better myself!
Katja. Box no. 3
What's the matter, Peter?
Peter!
- Peter! - Nastja, I admire you, I adore you!
You were magnificent. We were folling your dance like the tail after the comet ...
Katharina... you in Moscow?
Did you know I was here?
Yes.
Don't you want to sit down?
Are you well?
Yes... I'm well.
Have you written anything new?
You're listening to it right now!
The orchestra graciously consented to play two of my waltzes tonight.
No songs?
Yes!
For you!
How beautiful you are! More beautiful than at that time!
Ivan Cesarowitsch! You're his editor! Why you don't help him?
Publish him! Perform his works! He deserves it!
Yes, yes, yes. And what do I get? Not a single kopek!
Piotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky is a genius!
And to get a genius accepted in the world brings honor and fame!
You are a German, little brother!
Thank God I am! But I thought you were his friend!
A genius doesn't need friends but a patron.
Bring me money, Professor and I'll have his works
performed and published, as much as you like!
Money, always money...
Do you live in Moscow?
No, in Gattschina. On an estate about an hour from the city... we live.
We live...
Why are you silent?
Do you think I didn't know? Don't you know how people talk?
They even told me the day of your wedding.
Who might she be?
What is the lady to you who's chatting with Tschaikowsky?
- So what! - But Nastja!
Come, Katja, dance with me once more...
And then... please... let me leave...
Who is the lady in the box?
A lady? How?
I don't see anyone... Do you?
Ah, now she's gone...
Why do you bother about this Tschaikowsky, who can't even compose.
I can only dance to his music!
If he were any good, he wouldn't look like a plucked bird!
You see! She's not ashamed to dance with him. She knows who he is.
And who am I? Moscow's foremost music critic!
I'd like to know who that woman is...
who's dancing with Tschaikowsky.
So would I!
People are staring at us!
Why doesn't she take off the mask!
I can tell you that even before midnight:
because she has a red nose.
I shouldn't have come here...
You had to, one day you had to.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
There's only five minutes left to the original sin.
All the masks will fall at midnight.
And finally we'll be able to admire the hidden beauty of the daughters of Eve!
My God, I must go before that happens!
- Nastja...! - Did you see that?
Leave them! Come on... Let's drink champagne!
Yes, let's have fun too!
Ladies and Gentlemen! The big moment has come!
The clock strikes twelve!
Come to my place!
# Without joy and happiness...
# are the hours of the life
# Darkness surrounds me
# since you left.
# Deep in my heart...
# I call your name
# but only a dark power watches over my life,
# All who once came to me,
# fled into the night.
# Darkness surrounds me
# since you left me.
# Without joy and happiness...
# are the feared hours...
Petja, I want to relieve you of all that oppresses you.
Only, you don't have courage for it.
No. But I remember how we loved each other
and how we tortured each other five years ago. We were both poor.
I didn't mind going hungry, but you couldn't bear it happening to you.
I was happy, but you didn't want to understand.
But now, at least, you're rich!
Rich...! If you only knew how poor I am!
Do you love your husband?
Peter...
Katja...
Are you drunk, my little girl?
Yes!
That happens! Sit down a little!
- Haven't you seen Peter yet? - No...
No, but I'm seeing someone else...
I can hear the music I'll be writing for you...
Songs, symphonies, choral music... All this for you, Katja!
For you! Everything which will be beautiful in those works, will be your beauty!
And every song will thank you that you're alive...
Please, never forget this hour...
I'll never forget it, Katja, but...
Drive me home, to Gattschina!
Please, call Professor Hunsinger!
Imagine, Katja, your husband was here!
My husband?
He drove home half an hour ago!
Drive on, to Gattschina, the Murakin estate!
A clear night, but cold!
Cold?
I got scared to death when he suddenly appeared in the ballroom!
Who? Oh, my husband...
What are you thinking of?
A sad song ...
Sad? Yes, but beautiful!
A beauty neither his publisher nor his esteemed concert agent will believe in unless they touch some money first!
And we're drowning in riches.
I'm going to help him, Professor. I'll give you the money.
You're coming back. A romance by P.I. Tschaikovsky
One day his songs will be sung in the whole world.
And you will have helped to bring it about.
But Peter must never find out!
Not one word!
As long I stay with my husband, I have more money than I need,
he never asks me how I'm spending it.
Wonderful! Your bank will transfer it and his editor
will never know where that blessing comes from!
Out of pure vanity, he'll swear that it's his own money.
I'm so happy!
Good evening, Michael. You've been waiting for me?
How cold it is! If I had known that you were here, I would have come home earlier.
I met some acquaintances! We've been dancing... it was so funny!
Why don't you say anything?
They told me you were also there, I had just gone out for a moment...
and when I returned you were gone.
I was with friends from Petersburg, I hadn't seen them for a long time.
Will you see each other again...?
- Ah, Professor...! - Good evening!
Good evening, Professor!
What a polar cold out there!
There's hot tea. Maybe you'd like a cup.
Hot tea! Not bad!
Katja, give him a cup of tea. He's cold!
You're not going to see him again!
Peter, it's noon already!
Come on, get up!
This is what happens when one spends the whole night partying!
How mean you were!
You didn't dance with me even once!
But running off with another woman... That's so easy for you!
Where were you?
Let me... I'm tired!
You didn't even look at me!
But that Kruglikow, hey, he's madly in love with me, if I consented...
Someone rang... Open the door!
What if it's someone who wants money...
- Then throw him out... - Yessir.
"Nastassja Petrowna", he said: "You are a dew drop on my thirsting tongue!"
- Two gentlemen here for you. - Throw them out, both of them!
What! You want to throw out your good fortune, Piotr Iljitsch!
I kiss your hand, Nastassja Petrowna...
Stepan, you smell of vodka! Did you drink?
But Your Excellency, one must drink the vodka the way the Lord provided it to you...
But not home-distilled poison! He's still asleep!
He'll wake up soon! Piotr Iljitsch, I've decided to make you famous!
He won't believe you!
This time, we really bring you good news!
- I'm bringing it. Stepan, leave us alone. - Yes Sir.
Piotr Iljitsch, listen carefully. What happened yesterday?
A wonderful night...
Exactly! A wonderful night...
The night you laid the foundation stone for your fame!
One waltz, another waltz, that was enough for everbody asking:
Who is the master who created this?
Rubbish!
Why? It's the truth! They shouted: Tschaikowsky!
But he whom they called had disappeared!
You're drunk...!
Tell me in three words!
Stop, stop, stop! Piotr Iljitsch, what did you compose lately?
Piano concerto in G major, a masterpiece, I'll publish it!
Finally!
- Capriccio Italiano... - I'm dancing to it every night!
I'll publish it immediately!
Do you hear, Peter? He'll publish it!
Eeh... what about your 4th symphony? When will you finish it?
Are you possessed by the devil?
What devil! On the contrary!
I feel my wings growing!
And all of this here, the chair, the table, this noble piece of furniture on which you sleep...
into the Orcus, passé, finished! My dear friend!
He's gone mad!
I always suspected it!
So did I! But this time you may believe him!
Believe me, Piotr Iljitsch, you keep on composing!
And what will I live on?
On my money! I'll pay you a thousand roubles per month!
Thousand roubles!
Stepan, one vodka... I'm going to faint!
There's no more vodka...
And what do you what from me?
That you have yourself made a new tailcoat! Which doesn't smell as funny as the one you wore last night!
And to give a concert in that tailcoat!
Finally to show to all those lazy bugs of
of Moscow who is Tschaikowsky!
Who will pay for the concert and the tailcoat?
I will!
Iwan Cesarowitsch Glykow!
Your creditor... I mean your faithful devotee, your...
benefactor, your admirer, your sincere admirer, Piotr Iljitsch...
and your friend, also your friend... please let me address you with "Du"!
Well, Peter, we can be happy now, can't we?
Good God, how can I be happy if I don't know what's going on!
Peter, you're going to give a concert! I'm going to applaud with my hands and feet!
GREAT CONCERT HALL OF MOSCOW Municipal Conservatory
THIRD ORCHESTRA CONCERT of the Moscow Philharmonic Society
Who brought these tickets?
I did.
You bought them?
Why not?
I thought it would make you happy.
I heard the entire concert hall is sold out already.
Third orchestra concert of the Moscow Philharmonic Society...
Are you interested in those things?
Perhaps you're interested!
The program is on the grand piano...
Do you like the program?
I don't know those works!
Then we shall get to know them together!
Yes.
This music is slimy with feeling.
This heat! Will it last long?
What's the matter with him?
There's that woman again!
I heard that His Imperial Highness the Grand-Duke Konstantin Konstantinowitsch
was here? Is it true? - Indeed, Your Excellency.
So let's go...
I'm sorry, Your Excellence, but without tickets...
Don't bother about the tickets...! Here's a rouble for you, some vodka money!
Shh, Your Excellency! The hall is sold out!
This sand flea doesn't want to let me in! Me! Who defended ??? under Gottleben!
Your Excellency, it would be a pleasure to let in a man like you without a ticket,
but there are no seats! See for yourself.
- If you please, Your Excellency! - Thank you, thank you! You see?
- Did you like it? - Yes, very much.
It seems they don't share your opinion...
Maybe you should go and see him in his dressing room.
In these circumstances friendship is appreciated, isn't it?
I'll have a smoke in the meantime.
Why you don't applaude? I thought you knew him!
- Please, my coat. - But this is only the interval...
I know, but I must go.
Must you really leave?
I have to perform in twenty minutes.
Do you want me to take you?
No, no, you must stay here.
I've had enough of Tschaikowsky. I don't want to miss your dance.
You stay here! Do you understand?
If you don't write something good about him, you'll get to know me!
This is just what I have been longing for!
Katja! How nice of you!
It was so beautiful! And the people are so stupid!
Ah, forget about the people!
They'll wake up one day and let themselves be bewitched.
By you, Petja. Are you happy now?
Ah, you don't now what it means to hear
with your own ears what you have always been dreaming of!
This concert came to me... like a gift from heaven!
But that's not all! ¡Glykow has promised me that this will continue!
It's just the beginning, with tours, journeys, success, work...
I'm so happy for you, Petja!
You're happy?
That's all?
Ah, Professor...
A wonderful evening! No one understands what they're playing!
Fantastic! A genius cannot wish for more!
Do you think?
Yes, I even know it. He's a genius.
And once you're captured by his music, it never lets go of you!
So it seems. Good evening!
You must understand, Katja. Now everything is different.
Glykow pays me a thousand roubles per month, with this I can create, work...
We finally made it!
We...
Yes, we, Katja, now you must live with me, forever, Katja. With me.
It's horrible!
What, that you're married?
Your husband will set you free when you tell him that you love me!
I'll ask him for your freedom!
No, Peter!
It's impossible!
Why?
Why don't you answer?
He's waiting for me.
Who?
My husband.
Your husband...
Go to him. Go.
Go!
Don't forget me... Peter!
Katharina, was he happy?
- He threw me out! - What!
He asked me to stay with him, forever.
Since he has lots of money now, thousands of roubles!
So...?
Should I have told him that it's my money? And that I wouldn't be able to help him if I left my husband?
No, certainly not, but...
Not so loud, he mustn't hear anything!
Nonsense! I'll tell him how things really are!
No! You mustn't, Professor. He wouldn't accept one kopek from me, he wouldn't be able to work
and lose his faith in himself again. Forever! And that mustn't happen!
Is there no other way?
There is.
I mustn't see him again. Never again.
Adieu, Professor!
Did you have a vision?
That lady isn't a vision... Where did I see her before...?
At the ball! The mysterious beauty! Don't you remember?
Of course!
Who is the mysterious beauty?
If I'm not mistaken, Murakin's wife. She's sitting in the first row...
Murakin?
Michael, I want to leave!
You'll stay here!
What? You're leaving?
Don't you want to listen to your symphony?
I don't want to stay here.
But...what happened...?
Nothing! Nothing new...
Katja was here. It's over!
Oh, Peter...
Everything was a lie, Professor!
I asked her to come and live with me, but no...
It's so comfortable to love one man and stay with another...
It seems to be so hard to abandon a rich life!
Very well! I'll make it, even without Katja!
I don't want to see her anymore...
Nevermore!
Nastassia Petrovna
You here, great master?
So, you too left before the end?
If you're running away from your own music,
wouldn't a critic have the same right?
Of course, you can always write something negative about it without having heard it!
The girl dances like... The music was good too!
I'm glad to hear. I've written it.
I'm sorry! It's really good!
Allow me to empty the glass to the health of the mysterious beauty,
who, incidentally, isn't mysterious any longer.
What exactly do you mean?
A pretty mask, which disappeared with you from the ball without a trace!
What do mean?
That she's more beautiful unmasked than masked!
Usually it's the other way round.
Anything else?
Oh yes, something that soon the whole world will know! But not her husband!
Mr. Murakin...
Have you finished?
To put it musically ... with the first movement, yes.
Then let me finish your symphony with a beat of the kettle drum!
You slapped me!
So it seems.
Will you apologize?
For what?
I demand satisfaction!
I'll give you the pleasure!
Where is Piotr Iljitsch?
I chased him away.
What happened?
I'm going to shoot him down!
Good Heavens! Why?
Because he offended you, my angel.
- Me? - He dragged your honor into the dirt.
Peter? It can't be, I don't believe it!
The day after tomorrow, he'll be dead!
What are you going to do?
Announce me to your master. My name is Kruglikow.
I've come in a very important affair.
Very important... you tell him that!
Porphyr Philippowitsch Kruglikow, music critic for the Moscow News.
Pleased to meet you, Philip Porphyrovvich.
Porphyr Philippowitsch, if you please.
He isn't called Ilya Petrowitsch Tschaikowsky...
...but Piotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky.
You wanted to talk to me?
No, to your husband, if you please.
The master asks you to come in.
Am I so honoured, Mr. Michael Iwanowitsch Murakin...?
You are honoured, Mr. Porphyr Philippowitsch.
Sit down please.
Yes? What is it you wanted to talk to me about?
Yes, talk to you ... it's not so easy...
May I ask you if you know a certain gentleman called Piotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky.
Not personally.
He's not worthy of the acquaintance of a person of your quality anyway.
On the other hand, the fact that you don't know him, has a certain charm...
I have to fight a duel with this Tschaikowsky!
And why are you telling me that?
Because I think that I'm not competent to fight a duel with him.
You should do it, Mr. Murakin... yessir!
I? Why?
Because I don't see why I must fight a duel because of a woman belonging to another!
Who is that woman?
Madame your wife.
Explain yourself or I'll have you thrown out!
Tschaikowsky, during the masked ball, he ... and Katharina Alexandrowna, well...
- ... they disappeared. - Anything else?
Please allow me to take my leave.
You mustn't fight a duel with him!
There are things you don't understand, Nastja.
What if he shoots and kills you...?
Don't be afraid.
Kruglikow never hit the bull's eye before!
You might lose an eye... or an ear!
And all this because of me!
Because of you? Why?
Kruglikow said you dragged my honour into the dirt!
This is so terrible... I can't believe it...
- Did you really...? - But Nastja... Did you believe that?
No, Peter, but even if you had spoken ill of me, I forgive you,
and once I've forgiven you, there's no need for you anymore to fight a duel.
What is this to Kruglikow, that ape?
I'm also wondering! What is it to Kruglikow?
There's a gentleman for you...
- What does he want? - He wants to speak to Your Excellency.
Well... what shall we do, Nastja?
Well, if he's a gentleman, you must receive him!
Come, go into the other room.
Let him come in...
My name is Michael Iwanowitsch Murakin.
And... what brings you here?
You know it very well.
I don't understand you...!
Don't you want to sit down?
Thank you. You're fighting a duel tomorrow with Mr. Kruglikow.
- Yes. - May I ask what is the cause of the duel?
No...
What right have you to ask me such a question?
I have a right to ask because Mr. Kruglikow
chose to concede his place in the duel to me.
To you?
Yes.
Why?
I'm doing the asking, not you!
I have no idea what nonsense that Kruglikow must have told you...
but you might as well hear the truth!
He offended a lady whom I respect and love.
And who is that lady whom you respect and love?
My fiancée!
Ah, and her name?
Nastassja Petrowna Jarowa.
Peter! Peter!
Darling, I always knew!
I won't allow it that he fights a duel because of me!
Ah, you know about it?
Kruglikow told me himself.
He's only jealous of Peter because he's in love with me.
That's perfectly understandable!
Isn't it? Petja, I must go home now.
Hey, when my father hears about it, he'll get so drunk he'll drop below the closet!
Allow me to congratulate you for... this unexpected engagement?
My wife will be happy too when she hears about it.
I gather you won't wish to delay this wedding for long.
Is this a threat?
You seem quite worried...
Not for myself...!
- You've been in town? - Yes.
And?
I've met Tschaikowsky.
- Ah! - He has a pretty apartment.
- Were you at his apartment? - Yes, I was.
He has a pretty apartment and a pretty fiancée!
- What are you saying...? - He's getting married, yes.
I think the fiancée is a cabaret dancer, a certain Nastassja Philipowna.
Nastassja Philipowna?
God, what am I saying, Nastassja Philipowna is a character out of Dostojewsky...!
Some other Nastassia!
I forget her name.
Iwan, do you know the novel "The idiot", by Dostojewsky?
No, Your Excellency.
You should read it.
That Prince Myshkin, that's the idiot,
he doesn't love this Nastassja at all...
but quite another woman ...
...a certain Aglaia.
And this Aglaia loves him too...
Aren't you listening, Katja...?
There's a pounding in this room, I can hear it clearly!
What do you mean?
Your heartbeats, Katja!
It's beating very loud. It's pounding in my ears!
Iwan!
If you say one word, I'll have you flogged to death!!
# ... drunk vodka ???
# drunk vodka
# after that the ??? got drowned in the snow
# got drowned in the snow
# and the Volga flows till the ???
# there all the girls are riding on a goat
Little brother... tell me, who is actually paying you the money?
I can't tell you...
Tell me... is it a woman?
Maybe!
If she's a woman, she'll stop paying as of today and I'll be ruined!
Maybe!
My dear relatives! Friends!
He mustn't speak!
Piotr Iljitsch, I have to tell you something...
Have a drink, father, sit down and drink!
Make my Nassja happy... by beating her!
It's alright, just sit down!
Children and beatings make a wife happy!
Katharina Alexandrowna, you're leaving tomorrow,
I shall have no opportunity to hear you sing anymore.
Katharina, don't be shy.
Sing us a song by Tschaikowsky, you love them so!
Tschaikowsky? À la bonheur! I heard he's going to get married soon!
Soon? Today, at this very hour!
Who's the fortunate girl?
Some little dancer.
Play us at least ??? then we could all join in singing!
You are a pianist! You told me so!
Play on!
I can't... I'm tired...
He's tired!
Oh... you are tired
Petruscha!
Enchant us with a song by Tschaikowsky, Katharina Alexandrowna!
This fashion for Tschaicowsky, all of a sudden. As if there was nothing else!
Each fashion is started by a woman, Katharina.
Maybe you know one that he dedicated to his Nastassja.
So that we too can contribute to his wedding!
Iwan, call Marfa, Alexander, Piotr and Gruda! I want them to play!
Katharina Alexandrowna is going to sing.
A song about love, isn't it, Katja?
Please!
Alright, since everybody wants to listen to a love song, but unfortunately it's not by Tschaikowsky.
But will it be gay?
In Russia, all the songs are sad,
Your Imperial Highness, but don't worry, you may laugh about it.
# It doesn't matter at all whom we love
# and who will break our heart one day.
# We are driven by destiny
# and in the end, we always have to renounce.
# We believe, and hope and think,
# that one day there'll be a miracle...
# but if we give ourselves away,
# it's again the same old song:
# Let's not cry because of love...
# there isn't only one man on earth...
# there are so many men in this world...
# I'll love anybody who pleases me!
# And that's why I want to be yours tonight,
# you must swear to be true and to love me
# even if I feel it's just lies...
# I'm telling lies too, and I'm yours!
# We came from the South and the North,
# our hearts were like strangers and so mute...
# I became yours like this...
# I can't tell you why.
# Because, when I gave myself to you...
# I tought of another.
# Thus a lie was born...
# even on the first night.
# Let's not cry because of love...
# there isn't only one man on earth...
# there are so many men in this world...
# I'll love anybody who pleases me!
# And that's why I want to be yours tonight,
# you must swear to be true and to love me
# even if I feel it's just lies...
# I'm telling lies too, and I'm yours!
# we put the girls on one pot ???
# on one pot ???
They were a bit loud, weren't they?
But... they are nice people.
One day you'll say to me:
Nastja, it was a good thing that we didn't throw them out that night...
When?
When we inherit from them!
And now... I'll leave you.
Peter! I'm not ready yet...
What's the matter with you?
Nastja, I must tell you something.
Yes? Something nice?
You've always been good to me, my girl!
- So? - I shouldn't have married!
Peter, what are you worried about!
I ought to be happy at this hour!
...but I'm not.
Oh, Petja... Believe me, I'll make you happy alright!
You mustn't be afraid!
You can work as much as you like!
Yes... and...
Come on ...
Play something for me...
Come on!
Petja? Are you coming?
I'm so tired.
Tomorrow I'll stay in bed the whole day!
I feel so gay, Petja!
Petja!
What's keeping you?
You don't say anything...
Stepan!
Where's the master?
Where is he... where's the master...
where might he be...
He's gone out, you ass! Run after him!
But Nastassja Petrowna, you can't go out in your shirt!
Get my clothes!
But everything's still in the suitcase!
Bring me the suitcase!
I forgot it.
It's still in your flat, Nastassja Petrowna!
You forgot my suitcase?
I ought to give you a beating!
- With a nagaika! - Do it, but not with a nagaika!
Where are you going, Nastassja Petrowna?
Where I belong!
Michael Iwanowitsch, I said...
I'm to fight a duel over your wife?
A Kruglikow, giving his li...
- li... - Life!
giving his life for a Kotschaisky?
Tschaikowsky!
Kotschaisky?
Tschaikowsky! And you say that Murakin is a rich man?
And how! Railways running on double tracks.
Locomotives as big as this!
Porphyr Philippowitsch...
You! If you think that Tschaikowsky had ... for her... you know what I mean ...
Why did he marry Nastassja then?
To annoy me!
You sang like an angel!
But the lyrics were written by the devil!
You must forgive me!
The world would be very boring if there were no devils!
Not even the devils could make the world more interesting!
But as long as there are beautiful women, it's worth living in it.
Katharina!
Where's Tschaikowsky?
I don't want to hear anything about him! I want to dance! Champagne!
And your husband?
I ran away from him!
Did you hear? She ran away from him!
Did you finally find out that he only married you...
...so that Murakin didn't find it out?
What?
That Tschaikowsky sleeps with his wife.
Murakin!
Yes. And Murakin was to shoot him too.
??? that miserable piece of dirt
And now my wedding begins!
Whom among you shall I marry?
You forgot to say good night!
- Good night! - Why? I'd love to stay with you for a moment...
I rarely have you all alone ...
...for myself.
I'm tired, please go!
You looked marvelous tonight!
The Grand Duke complimented me because of my wife!
I suppose you're still my wife...
Don't torture me!
You are so nervous... why?
I can't breathe when you're close to me!
Out of love?
I liked the song you sang tonight!
Was it for me?
Yes!
Thank you!
"I also lie and I'm yours." Bravo!
You dropped the mask!
You undressed! Everybody could see you naked!
Don't touch me!
Are you still my wife or that of another?
Let me!
You're still mine!
I'd rather die!
Forgive me, Katja!
Prof. Otto Hunsinger
Piotr Iljitsch!
I want to see the Professor...
- Well? - What was that?
A Handel concerto.
Well, I'm tired...
And Nastassja?
I guess she's sleeping!
How simple and how clear it is!
In such clear air the most difficult life seems easy to you ...
It is the air of the arts, Peter!
A cold and severe air...
Only the little men bake out of their happinesses the cakes they call art!
The great men must pay for their genius with suffering.
This is the divine justice.
And love doesn't count before God?
The genius knows only one mistress, Peter...
Art! Are you going to betray your art?
What shall I do?
Work!
That night began the rise of Peter Tschaikowsky.
From now on his life belonged only to his work.
Without his knowing,
Katharina had helped him...
to conquer the world with his music.
Tschaikowsky returned to Moscow, after unparalleled successes all over the world,
to conduct his 6th "Pathetic" Symphony: the culmination and conclusion of his work.
What a way to receive him...! He's arriving from Paris...
...and here in Moscow we're serving him the cholera!
My dear, you know it's strictly forbidden to speak ill of the cholera!
An atmosphere like a morgue!
And one has to give concerts!
If we don't give them, people will get infected by their own fears!
Look, there's Stepan!
Tschaikowsky sent him ahead.
À la bonheur...!
The great taveller casts his shadow ahead!
Tell me, my friend, did you recognized Moscow?
Are the rooms ready?
At Your Excellency's command.
Put it back on, my son, it's cold.
I don't know... I feel hot, Your Excellency... I feel so hot...
He already celebrated Tschaikowsky's return!
Glub, glub, glub...
Well, Stepan, Everything in order?
Batisky...!
Bon jour, Tschaikowsky!
Glykow...!
My dear old friend...
- Moscow awaits you full of joy. - Really?
Well... let's go.
Out of the way!
Get up!
I'm thirsty...
Why isn't there any doctor?
A doctor! When there are thousands sick?
I'll fetch one!
For God's sake, Piotr Iljitsch, don't get so close!
It got me, Your Excellency! I can feel it.
Don't talk so much, a doctor will be here and in a few days you'll be well again.
A doctor... for me? ... a sinner?
There he is! Lord, forgive me my sins!
It's over.
Piotr Iljitsch, you're careless.
No one can toy with the cholera!
I know.
Do you have free rooms?
Oh yes, all the rooms you like. 180 rooms!
Maybe a suite?
No.
115, 116.
Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowsky 6th symphony in b flat minor conductor: the composer
Katharina! Am I dreaming...?
No, professor, you are not dreaming. It is really I.
- Are you staying in the hotel? - Yes.
Where's your husband?
At home.
So it means that...
Yes! I left him.
You didn't!
Is Peter here?
He's at the rehearsal.
Come Katja, sit with me for a while.
Excuse me, sir, Professor Hunsinger is waiting for Your Excellency.
It's terrible! And all this is really my fault!
Your fault? No Professor, I was fortunate to be able to help Peter.
Professor?
Katharina Alexandrovna!
You are famous now, Peter.
Yes...
And you are well too, Katharina Alexandrowna?
Yes, I'm well... as always.
Is Michel Iwanowitsch in good health?
Good God! You'll be asking her next if she also has children!
Would that be uncalled for?
No, but ridiculous!
I can't understand you...!
But I can!
What is Katharina doing here? Is she visiting someone?
No, she lives here.
She lives here? Alone?
Are they separated, or divorced?
Doesn't anything dawn on you?
It would be a reason "to turn on all the dawns",
and to set everything clear between you two!
Your hands are hot! Aren't you feeling well?
Not at all! What do you mean... which dawns?
Do you remember the day when Glykow went to see you and when your career began?
Yes...
I was there too and Nastassja...
Yes...
But... Katharina Alexandrowna...
Sonja, don't unpack, I won't stay here...
Go now, please, leave me alone.
Don't tell anyone where I am.
Katja...
The Professor told me everything...
Forgive me, Katja...
I'm so happy, Peter, so happy...
Katja...
Oh God, I thank you!
Don't go near him, Katja, You can't help him anyway!
Petyoshka...
The strings... lower, the strings!
lower ...
Where are the trombones?
The trombones are calling...
God takes away from you the living man and returns him to you as immortal.
Yes... immortal...
THE END
subtitles: serdar202