- Marie. - Hmm?
Do you think you could stop that long enough to listen to this?
Yes, darling.
Marie?
Hmm?
I'm listening.
(Playing Consolation No. 3 in D-flat major)
It has a religious quality...
Therefore, no good!
Well, you know my feelings on that subject.
Yes, I know your feelings on that subject.
Is it the music you object to or the church?
Oh, Franz...
Let's not play angel and devil with each other.
You have your beliefs, I have mine.
What about the children's beliefs?
- Do you really care? - Yes, I do care.
I care very much.
I want them to have the consolation of the faith.
What consolation has it ever brought you?
Well, I'll... I'll try to make them understand, Franz,
that while they must believe in all the virtues,
you and I find it easy to live in adultery.
Oh... I'm sorry, Franz.
I know you're concerned with your work,
but it will come, darling. It will.
Yeah, I know. You've said that before.
Liszt, where are you?
Franz?
Who's there?
Ha-ha!
George! Chopin!
And I seem to recognise that fat shadow behind you, Potin.
Maestro, your devoted manager.
My ex-manager.
Well, come up, come up. All of you.
Did you invite these people, Franz?
These people are Chopin, George Sand. They're my friends.
What do you expect me to do, close the door in their faces?
I don't see why not.
Please, be reasonable!
But I am. It's my vice.
It seems reasonable to me that since we left Paris
- to get away from your friends... - Not entirely my friends.
Your husband had something to do with it, too.
Is everything out of the coach?
Yes, I have everything. Yes, everything.
- George! - Franz! Franz!
Oh, it's so good to see you.
Where have you been hiding?
In the mountains, my dear.
I'll take your coat. Go in there, Marie will be delighted to see you.
- Maestro. - Oh, dear.
- Not you, Potin. Not you. - Oh, the same jokes, eh, Maestro?
Oh, welcome to Chamonix, monsieur.
- Madame. - Ah, Countess, I'm enchanted.
Positively enchanted.
My dear, I'm so happy to see you.
You've no idea what a sensation you caused when you left Paris.
For a whole month you monopolised newspapers.
Oh, really?
"Liszt runs off with a countess."
I told myself, I must see this Marie d'Agoult close up.
You're lovely.
Thank you, madame.
It seems to be the only virtue Paris has left me.
Sit down, sit down.
We look like a scene from a bad opera.
Potin, George. Frederic, you sit here.
Frederic, tell me the news. Tell me the news.
The only chatter I've heard in the last 18 months has been from the squirrels.
Maestro, Paris has a new idol, Thalberg.
- What? - A lion of the concert stage.
All winter he's roared. Isn't it true, Chopin?
The greatest pianist, they say, since Liszt.
"Since Liszt." That's very funny, Potin.
When did they bury me?
Ah, Maestro, you've buried yourself.
That is my son, Daniel. He is a great critic of my music.
He is right, too.
His nurse is with him.
Frederic.
(Playing Waltz No. 2 in A-flat major)
You see? Your music enchants him, Frederic.
I've been looking at this beautiful countryside
and trying to imagine your life here.
We live simply, madame.
Life anywhere can never be simple with Franz Liszt.
God didn't make him simple.
I shall alter that.
I see.
And what will you do, Countess, if Liszt goes on tour again?
I don't think Franz will make any more tours, madame.
Liszt is the finest pianist of our time.
He can't retire at this stage of his career.
He has a greater career awaiting him.
As what?
A composer.
Let me give you a small piece of advice.
We are what we are.
It's disastrous to try to make a man what he was never intended to be.
Do you think, madame,
that I left the security of marriage, my life in Paris,
damaged my reputation, my children's future,
for the sake of a piano player?
A piano player?
Since we've been here,
he's written his first serious compositions.
Can Paris say as much for the time he spent there?
Well, he certainly enjoyed himself.
We're not here, madame, to enjoy ourselves.
I wish I could play my music that well.
No doubt Liszt wishes he could compose that well.
Yes, indeed. Potin, Potin. Tell me...
How... How good is this fellow, Thalberg?
Magnificent! According to the critics.
Hmm.
When, um... When is his next concert?
On the 15th, in Paris.
He's taking the Salle Pleyel.
Maestro, if you would return...
I want some more to drink. Let's all go out somewhere and drink.
Let's drink until the angels sing.
That's a wonderful idea!
Potin! Potin! What would you say...
What would you say if I said that
I would give a recital on the same night, the same night
as Thalberg, at the Conservatoire across the street?
I'd say you were drunk.
I'd say you were right, my fat friend.
Hey, let's go for some more wine.
Franz, Franz!
Work the bellows, Potin.
(Playing Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor)
Franz!
Stop it!
Franz!
It's past 4:00. You're waking the whole village.
I hope you've found this very entertaining.
Perhaps you'll now leave us alone.
Are you coming home, Franz?
Potin,
arrange that recital for me.
- Certainly, Maestro, certainly! - Franz!
And make it on the same night as Thalberg.
The same night?
We'll discuss this tomorrow. Monsieur Franz Liszt is not himself.
On the contrary, Marie, I am very much myself.
The same night.
What's happening?
Mutiny.
I don't give up so easily, madame.
Packed, Maestro, packed. Just like in the old days.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I can only say
Franz Liszt has returned to Paris.
My concert is cancelled.
Your money will be refunded.
I find myself unable to resist saying it...
- I told you so. - This is absurd.
I think we should hear this Monsieur Liszt, as Felix suggested.
(Playing Paganini's La Campanella)
Maestro. Still the giant. Still the conqueror.
Still the most magnificent.
- Naturally, Potin. - Naturally.
Maestro, your friend Prince Lichnowsky
wishes to present you to his distinguished guests.
Delighted. Have my mother brought to my dressing room.
At once, Maestro.
Felix, I'm so glad to see you again.
And I'm so glad to see you back among the living.
Franz Liszt,
two friends who wish to add their congratulations to mine.
Their Highnesses, Prince Nicholas and Princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein.
Extraordinary performance, Liszt.
You must come play for the Czar someday.
I should be honoured, Your Highness.
Uh, Prince Nicholas is the Czar's aide-de-camp.
I'll have to arrange it.
You... You're Hungarian, I believe?
Yes, I am.
We're so sorry for your people. They suffered so much this winter.
Such disaster.
Yes, madame, indeed. I feel very deeply for my countrymen.
Monsieur Liszt is anxious to give a charity concert
on their behalf, Your Highness.
- In Vienna, perhaps. - Well, you played quite well, Liszt.
I'm sure the Czar will enjoy hearing you.
Monsieur Liszt, perhaps we shall see you in Vienna.
We are on our way there for the opera season.
It will give me the greatest pleasure, madame.
Remember me to your countess, Franz.
What is this disaster she is talking about?
The Danube flood. Oh, a catastrophe!
An opera share from a nice, little charity recital
or two in Vienna could be...
- Where is my mother? - I was told she left, Maestro.
We must consider the possibility of an Austrian tour.
All the nobility will be there.
- Mother! Mother! Where are you? - Franz! There he is. Franz.
Why didn't you come back? I waited for you.
You were with all those people.
That was a prince, Mother. A Russian prince.
He asked me to play for the Czar.
That's a great honour!
For the Czar.
Franz.
Was I good tonight?
- You are always good. - Yes, but I had to show them.
I had to show them tonight!
I've been away too long.
Who else were you showing?
You know me better than anyone, don't you?
It was the Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein.
Oh, I was being polite.
She is a beautiful woman with a great knowledge of classical music.
She's married to the Prince.
So is Marie. She was married, too.
The children send their love to you.
They keep asking when their grandmother is going to see them.
I thought I'd go to see them next week.
Oh, wonderful.
Will you be there?
I may have to play in Vienna, a charity concert.
They've had terrible floods in Hungary.
Will she be in Vienna, that princess?
I'm going to Vienna to help our people.
They're starving. Whole villages have been washed away.
If I can help, I must.
And then where will you go?
Well, there's talk of an Austrian tour.
And who will you help on that?
Myself. And Marie, and my children.
I'm always going away on tours like this.
I always come back to Marie and the children.
You know that. You know I'd never hurt them.
With Marie, at least your life was orderly.
But not enough.
What can be enough for you?
You could tell me that.
You'll end by wasting yourself, Franz, and mocking God.
No, I'd never do that. I'd never do that.
I know you, Franz.
At the concert
I told the people next to me you were my son.
Well, I was boasting, too.
I told the people next to me that you were my mother.
I try. I try. I try!
But it's difficult to be either good or bad.
I am part gypsy, part priest.
When I'm alone, I want the world.
When I have the world,
I want the peace and seclusion of a monastery.
I'm at war. I'm at war with myself.
Mother.
Pray tonight.
What shall I pray for, Franz?
Pray for your son.
The suffering which the disastrous Danube floods
has caused my people
has touched me deeply, Marie.
Touched me deeply.
Potin, my eternally devoted manager,
has arranged a charity concert.
No, no, no, no. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
The Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein, who attended my recital...
No. No. Say...
Um, the Prince and Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein,
who attended my recital,
have persuaded me to give
a charity concert in Vienna
on behalf of the flood victims,
and I feel I cannot do less for my unhappy people.
Please believe me, Marie,
I think often of you and the children.
(Liszt playing Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor)
Maestro, we took in 15,576 kronen.
Send my share to the Countess.
Herr Liszt, I'm interrupting,
but they've tried to stop me from seeing you.
My music frightens them. No one will listen.
I go from door to door, like a beggar.
- I'm very sorry... - You have never heard music like mine.
- I have created a form. - Yes, I'm certain you have.
Look, here is my latest score. An opera.
I ask you to produce it.
You have power, influence.
I also have an important engagement, Herr...
Wagner, Richard Wagner.
Nothing is more important.
Well, why don't you see my manager. He is a nice man.
He is over there. Tell him I sent you.
Sire, Franz Liszt.
You have a great gift, Herr Liszt.
Your Majesties are most kind.
The unhappy victims of the flood will bless you for this.
I'm deeply grateful to Your Majesties for your presence here tonight.
I am still spellbound, monsieur.
Perhaps that's because your gracious heart is open to my music, madame.
You must play for us at Saint Petersburg.
I cannot permit you to deprive the Imperial Court
of the chance to see what a magician you are.
You will get an official invitation.
- I regret that I... - That is a command, Monsieur Liszt.
Since it is your command, madame,
I'm delighted to obey.
Be careful, Franz.
Don't forget, Russia defeated even the great Napoleon.
Napoleon couldn't play the piano.
Beautiful. Beautiful.
I can hear every note.
The Russians will love you.
The Czar may bestow a decoration on you.
The Order of the White Eagle. The Cross of Saint Andrew.
The garter of Lady Carolyne.
Kindly await His Imperial Majesty.
Where is that impossible man?
My brother will never learn that an artist has
as much right to consideration as a king.
For goodness' sake, order the music to begin.
(Playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata)
Less leniency and more discipline, Wittgenstein.
There is no other answer.
It is our wish that both students and teachers wear uniforms.
Before promulgating this decree, sire, would it not be good to wait until...
We don't wish to wait one day more, Wittgenstein.
Is this the Hungarian?
Franz Liszt.
Your Highness will forgive me for interrupting the royal conversation.
What airs, the man!
Get my manager! Get my cloak! Get my cloak!
Monsieur Liszt.
Even the Czar of Russia shouldn't be permitted to treat an artist like a lackey.
His behaviour was unpardonable,
but I am sure he did not mean it.
I suppose it must be quite difficult to be all-powerful and polite.
Obviously, His Imperial Majesty finds it quite beyond him.
Forgive me.
I'm the one who is being impolite. I have quite forgotten to tell you
how happy I am to see you again, madame.
How very happy.
Thank you, Monsieur Liszt.
And now, perhaps you will overlook the Czar's thoughtlessness.
I have been looking forward so to hearing you again.
I expect you have forgotten the first time I heard you play, in Paris.
I remember you very well, madame.
For me, it is a cherished memory.
And then Vienna.
Won't you please play for me once more?
It was the sole purpose in my journey to Russia.
And I would go further.
Will you be going to Kiev? I have my estate near there.
Liszt.
Do not construe that as an invitation.
His Imperial Majesty is waiting.
Your wish is still my command, madame.
Listen, Sister, I...
I would love to have a man like that in Weimar.
To direct the music at my court.
(Resumes playing Moonlight Sonata)
My tour of Russia...
My tour of Russia has been fabulous.
Fabulous!
And...
Potin, my eternally devoted manager,
has arranged a series of important recitals.
Which of necessity
will keep me away from you for some considerable time.
My tour begins in... Brussels, Berlin?
- Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, Rome... - Yes. I know, I know.
But where does it begin?
- In Dresden, Maestro. - In Dresden.
(Playing Fantasy on Verdi's Rigoletto)
Wave from the window. Keep them happy.
All right, all right.
They are like a dragon that comes every night for your blood,
and every night you have to kill it.
Then the next night it's back again, breathing fire.
And you have to kill it all over again.
But you also love them, don't you, Franz?
Or is it that you just can't live without them?
Marie, it's so good to see you again.
I'll... I'll be in my room, Maestro.
Some contracts to examine.
You don't seem very surprised to see me.
I half expected you,
but I am rather surprised the way you came.
Without telling me, in the middle of the night.
It's unlike you.
If I had told you I was coming, you would have managed not to see me.
Now that's not true.
You would have found an excuse.
Another piano recital. A command performance.
Nothing untrue.
Simply convenient.
I see, you've come to give me a list of my faults, hmm?
I came to ask you if you knew what you were doing.
I'm giving concerts and making money for you and the children.
- Is that all? - That's part of my life!
The part that sickens me.
The way you run to applause like a child runs to a sweet.
I cannot lie, I cannot lie... I like to perform.
You like what's easy for you.
- Easy! - For you!
Easy! You call it easy!
To sit at that piano!
To have that audience at your feet, waiting for you.
Waiting there. Testing you. Daring you.
Like a woman who wants you to make her feel,
and is ready to leave you if you can't.
You called it a dragon before. Are women dragons to you?
I don't know. Perhaps.
Am I?
That's enough, Marie.
How are the children? Are they well?
- They miss you. - Yes. I miss them, too.
Is Daniel's cold better?
Almost. He's still in bed.
He makes me read your letter to him every night.
I'll write him a new letter tomorrow.
Each time I look at him, I see you.
I see you in all of them.
And everywhere.
At the piano, playing...
Coming to me, exhausted.
And I hold you in my arms.
Franz, come back to me.
Have I ever... Have I ever left you, Marie?
There's an island in the Rhine, in the middle,
it's called Nonnenwerth.
There's a little half-ruined convent and some huts.
Next summer we'll... We'll lease it.
Oh, Franz, I gave up so much for you.
You always manage, don't you?
You always manage to remind me of that! Always!
It is remarkable how a woman will never let you forget, ever,
the sacrifice she's made for you.
The price she's going to make you pay for it.
Principal plus interest.
I never asked you to pay for anything.
But I'll pay! I'll pay!
Somehow I'll have to pay!
But it will be my debt. My debt, not yours.
And I shall pay it in guilt, in boredom
and self-disgust.
Franz! Franz, don't go.
I have to go out.
Will you be back?
Yes, I'll be back.
Soon?
Thank you, gentlemen.
We will resume in 10 minutes.
You must watch me in the multi-strata.
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Magnificent!
I've never heard music like that before in all my life.
It's revolutionary, especially your use of the horns.
My admiration, sir.
I'm Liszt.
I'm sorry, I'm being very rude.
I know exactly how difficult it is to be interrupted myself, but...
Haven't we met somewhere before?
We have. I once asked you to read this score
which you now find so magnificent.
You had no time, you were too drunk with applause.
I apologise. I apologise from my heart.
I'm always, always doing this.
But if there's anything ever I can do, in any way.
If I write some piano music,
something requiring great technical skill,
I may send it to you.
So you're finally home.
Where is the Countess?
She went back to Chamonix two hours ago.
That's what you wanted, wasn't it?
You know me too well.
- After all, we've been together for years. - Yeah.
Yes, and you're still the only person I don't hurt.
And do you know why?
Because our friendship is firm.
It's based on a solid foundation.
Money.
- I care about other things... - Well, then you will be hurt.
You will be hurt, Potin.
And probably by me.
You're depressed because the Countess came.
You'll feel better when we get to Weimar.
Here are the contracts.
You're playing for the Grand Duchess there,
the Czar's sister.
She likes you very much.
Well, I'm charming.
You tell her, the Grand Duchess, that I'm not performing for her.
Tell all the managements the same thing.
I'm not going on with this tour.
- You won't even be playing here? - I won't even play anywhere.
I'm tired of performing.
The Princess Wittgenstein will be very disappointed.
She's living in Kiev, you know. Ah!
I'm told the poor lady has little enough in her life.
She's very unhappy with her husband.
They haven't really lived together for years.
Oh, shut up.
She's a beautiful woman, the Princess.
Potin, you are an evil man.
You might even be the devil.
All right. All right. Make the arrangements.
We leave tomorrow.
- For Weimar? - No. For Kiev.
A triumph, Maestro.
Tremendous!
The Princess left before I'd even finished.
A windfall, Maestro.
Two hundred roubles in gold for you to play in the cathedral tomorrow.
You know perfectly well that I never accept money
for playing in a church.
Maestro, in the cathedral.
It will be a great advertisement.
It will be just as great an advertisement if I play for nothing.
Give it to a charity.
All of it, Potin.
♪ Hear all nations
♪ Sing of thy praises
♪ Proclaiming God before thee
♪ Forevermore
♪ Full of beauty
♪ Art thou
♪ Holy Lord God
♪ Let all nations and all people
♪ Give thanks Give thanks to thee
♪ Forevermore
♪ Give thanks forevermore
♪ Let all nations
♪ And all people
♪ Give thanks Give thanks to thee
♪ Forevermore
Oh, thank you for playing for my people today.
The money. It was you.
I wanted everyone to share my delight at hearing you.
Everyone except His Highness.
My husband left for Saint Petersburg.
When is your next concert?
At Your Highness' pleasure.
(Liszt playing Sonata No. 8 in C-minor on piano)
Now play me something of your own.
- After Beethoven? - Please.
Does your husband like music?
No. Nicholas prefers hunting.
The Prince is very sensible.
I think you commit the sin of pride, Monsieur Liszt.
Amongst the others I commit.
Have you no virtues?
Oh, I've never yet struck a woman or kicked a horse.
Do that again.
What, monsieur?
Laugh.
I imagine this house hasn't heard that sound too frequently.
Ah, my life is not important. Yours is.
You have a gift.
A divine gift.
Which I abuse.
Which you doubt.
Isn't that why you no longer write music?
I need the money.
- Money? - Yes, madame. Money.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to choose my parents.
They neglected to provide for me.
Now you're annoyed.
I normally discuss money matters with my manager
and music with my publisher.
And with women?
What they are best qualified to discuss.
Love?
Yes, love, madame.
I've travelled half across Europe in a most uncomfortable coach.
Now it's stopped.
At my destination.
I didn't play for the Czar of Russia,
nor for the victims of the Danube floods.
Ever since Vienna, I've played for one woman.
A woman alone in a great hall.
Every time I looked up from the keyboard,
all I could see was the light in her eyes.
Dim the chandeliers.
And when I'd finished playing,
the only applause I heard... was hers.
Carolyne. Carolyne.
Please.
I apologise, madame.
Why don't you ring your bell and have the servant show me out?
I don't want a Franz Liszt who dazzles women and bows from a platform.
I'm sorry, I must remember not to dazzle you next time I give a concert.
Franz.
What I believe in, I trust.
I've never seen the face of God, but I believe in him.
Your faith is commendable, madame.
And I believe in you, too.
In God and Franz Liszt?
Yes.
God won't fail you, madame. I shall.
I don't think so.
I... I play next in Odessa.
Can you be there?
If you want me to be.
You'll see a performer.
But if your faith is strong enough, you...
You might see something else.
(Playing Rondo Capriccioso)
Ladies and gentlemen of Odessa,
that last encore marked my final bow as a concert pianist.
My public career
ends tonight.
Tell the piano player we wish to speak to him.
At once, Your Highness.
Maestro, what have you done?
You'll survive, Potin.
There are other pianists.
There is only one Liszt.
And I must live as one Liszt. Not as two.
Monsieur, His Highness Prince Nicholas Sayn-Wittgenstein desires your presence.
He'll desire it less when I get there.
You have something to say to me?
I was curious to know what brings a man to give up a career
when he is still young enough to enjoy so many of its,
shall we say, advantages?
Oh, Nicholas.
If you are truly curious, Your Highness,
I will tell you.
But as the reason for your question is base and the way you put it contemptible,
I shall only say that it's no concern of yours!
We do not fight with gypsies, we have them whipped and sent to the mines.
Monsieur Liszt, will you pardon my husband's rudeness,
and accept my joy at your decision.
In my decision, you were heaven's instrument.
Please leave us.
I had no idea, Carolyne, that during my stay in Saint Petersburg,
you were the instrument of heaven.
I thought you were serving a rather more earthly cause.
I have something to tell you, Nicholas.
You're in love with that peasant!
Do you think I have no eyes?
Your face shines with it.
I intend to seek a divorce.
You can't be serious.
I suppose this sort of fellow can be attractive to women.
I can understand an infatuation.
But you still cannot understand me.
I want the divorce to marry him.
The Czar will never permit a divorce.
The Czar is not God, Nicholas.
The supreme sacrifice, Potin.
I've laid my career at the feet of a princess.
Last time it was the feet of a countess,
and what came of it?
Maestro, there is no shortage of composers, good composers.
Do you think I'll be bad?
Whatever you may become.
Maestro, there's Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin and the rest.
There are many great composers.
But there's one Liszt to play their work as it has never been played before.
Superlatively!
Bravo! Bravisimo!
Thank you, Potin.
There are your contracts.
You could've at least warned me of your intention.
I would have made out of your retirement a memorable occasion.
We could announce it in some great city.
In Paris, Maestro.
We could make a fortune every time you retire.
Think of Madame the Countess and your dear children, Maestro.
Potin, if you don't rob me in the final accounting as you usually do,
they will be well provided for.
Maestro,
this means my death.
- Franz Liszt. - Yes?
Will Franz Liszt be so good as to follow me?
Follow you?
Follow you where?
I cannot say, sir.
You're in Russia, Maestro. If he is Prince Wittgenstein's man...
Are you from His Highness, the Prince?
Her Highness, sir.
Of course he'd be told to say that, Maestro.
Potin, if I don't return, you'll know that I've met my fate.
A sublime fate!
Carolyne.
Franz, will you put your life in my hands?
It's in your hands now.
I've asked my husband to divorce me,
and I must go to Saint Petersburg to see the Czar.
Um, Franz, listen to me...
I want you to go to Weimar because the Grand Duchess...
The charming one?
...is a friend and admires you.
She was delighted when you insulted her brother.
She has a brother. How nice.
But the Czar is her brother.
- Oh, Franz, listen. - I am listening to you. I am.
The Grand Duchess has a brother whom I have insulted,
and you want me to go to Weimar.
Weimar?
The Duchess will offer you a post as musical director.
You will have an orchestra.
Yes, but, oh, of country fiddlers.
- An opera house. - Most undistinguished in Europe.
And as soon as I have the Czar's consent to my divorce,
I'll come to Weimar and be with you.
Your Highness,
Weimar has the most magnificent opera house
and the most brilliant orchestra.
And besides, the Grand Duchess will be our light.
Supposing...
Supposing the Czar doesn't grant your divorce?
If God wills it, he will not refuse.
I don't want to live under a cloud, Franz.
I want our marriage sanctified by the church.
Will you wait for me in Weimar?
I prefer Paris,
but in Weimar.
Ah, Monsieur Liszt.
Your Royal Highness.
I am delighted that you've decided to settle in Weimar.
I have appointed you my director of music
with full authority to do whatever you choose.
But I warn you that Monsieur Chelard, who is at
the head of all our artistic activities,
is a prickly little man.
Try not to tread on his toes,
but don't let him get in your way.
Monsieur Liszt,
I want you to make Weimar as important musically
as our noble Goethe made it poetically.
I want you to take our provincial little orchestra
and whip it into greatness.
I want you to bring us the finest music, old and new.
Perhaps some of your own.
I shall make every effort in that direction, madame.
Now, let us talk about Princess Carolyne.
You have a certain reputation, Franz Liszt,
and I'm not speaking of your virtuosity at the piano.
Do you seriously intend to marry the Princess if she is granted a divorce?
I do with all my heart.
You anticipate no opposition from any previous attachment?
I understand that you have children by a Countess d'Agoult.
Madame, that is a personal matter,
about which I have taken the necessary steps.
I only want it clearly understood that I want you to make Weimar
famous musically, not scandalously.
That was understood, naturally.
But if Your Highness has any hesitations, as appears you have,
we need be embarrassed no further.
Your Highness.
Come, come, come.
We must be friends, you know.
Your Highness is too kind.
And you are too spoiled and too impertinent.
But I like you,
and I'm going to trust you.
I will do whatever I can with my brother
to persuade him to grant Princess Carolyne's divorce.
Your Highness...
But I must remind you that he's not called the Iron Ruler for nothing.
What if he refuses?
That is for the Princess herself to decide.
So long as she does not decide to live here as your mistress.
Madame, I must protest.
We will see what the little father of all the Russias decrees.
Show Monsieur Chelard in.
Your Highness.
Monsieur Chelard, Monsieur Liszt.
My pleasure.
I have appointed Monsieur Liszt director of music at our court.
My pleasure.
You have my complete confidence, gentlemen,
and I look forward to a fruitful and a harmonious association.
Good day.
(Liszt playing Liebestraum No. 3 in A-flat)
So it's true.
What are you doing here?
How welcome you always make me, Franz.
I didn't expect you.
Nevertheless, I turned up. The bad penny.
I understand the lady's devout?
- She has her faith, yes. - Yes.
Rich, beautiful and religious.
What an irresistible trinity.
I don't intend to discuss this, Marie...
Why not? All Europe is.
Oh, you mustn't expect it to be our little secret, Franz.
A Princess
and a Russian.
Does she keep a tame bear?
The Russians love bears.
Flog their peasants, play the balalaika.
She does play the balalaika, doesn't she, Franz?
- I have no idea, I don't know. - Oh, she must.
It's such a seductive instrument.
Of course...
Of course she knows you're making a fool of her,
doesn't she?
That I exist? That the children exist?
Yes.
And it doesn't bother her?
It doesn't disturb her religious principle?
How marvellous!
I'm in love with her, Marie.
Oh!
Oh, my dear, Franz Liszt has never been in love with anything but his grand piano.
She has consented to be my wife.
No...
No, it's a lie.
Tell me it's a lie.
You're only saying that to torture me.
No, it's the simple truth, Marie.
The simple truth?
When has it become simple?
And when has it become the truth?
No, it's a lie.
She'll go like the others.
Like the little French governess. The actress.
She will vanish with her tamed bears, her peasants.
And you will come back to me.
Oh, Franz.
Franz, what will I be without you? Franz...
Don't, Marie. Don't, don't.
Please, tell me it's a lie.
She's not marrying you.
- Tell me it's... - Don't, please.
Come in.
Herr Liszt,
Her Highness, the Grand Duchess, presents her compliments,
and requests the presence of her musical director for a matter of importance.
All right. Thank you. Thank you.
Marie,
I... I have to go now.
I expected to see many things, Franz, when I left Paris to live with you.
But I don't think I expected to see you become
a petty figure in a petty ducal court.
I shall not be here when you come back.
As you wish.
And the children?
It may not be very easy to explain that you left them for a Russian princess.
- I've made provisions for the children. - Provisions?
Don't blackmail me with the children, Marie.
You know that I love them and that I will see them again.
Seeing them would be quite pointless, Franz.
What will you do,
give us a recital in the nursery?
Goodbye, Franz.
Someday you will regret what you've done.
Your Highness sent for me?
Your Highness.
I hope I have not interrupted anything important.
No, nothing important.
Your guest, the Countess d'Agoult, would not be flattered.
Are you surprised that we know everything that goes on in our little realm?
Then you'll know that the lady in question is leaving Weimar.
Fortunately.
One scandal is more than enough.
Princess Carolyne has fled from Russia in defiance of the Czar.
The divorce is refused?
My brother has also expressed the hope that I will not receive her at our court.
- Your Highness... - I have not said that I agreed.
I wish the Czar was as generous as you are, madame.
He has more sense.
Does Your Highness know when the Princess will be expected in Weimar?
She has taken refuge with the Lichnowskys in Vienna.
There's revolution in Vienna.
I don't think that even a revolution will delay Princess Carolyne for long.
Your Highness, I prefer not to wait.
Have I your permission to leave?
Wait here.
Liszt! Liszt!
Felix!
Franz, what are you doing here?
Where is she, Felix? Is she safe?
Perfectly.
Got her out of the city as soon as she arrived.
Vienna is no place for a visiting princess.
Or a resident prince for that matter.
- Where is she? - At my hunting lodge.
God bless you, Felix.
You are not going there tonight?
Don't be a fool. You'll never get across the city.
I'll go around it.
Oh, Franz.
Carolyne?
Franz, the Czar refuses consent to the divorce.
I knew about it last night.
The Grand Duchess told me before I left Weimar.
Carolyne. Carolyne.
The Czar cannot keep us apart.
Nothing on Earth...
Or in heaven?
Do you believe that it must be?
That our marriage is God's will, no matter what they do against us?
- Do you, Franz? - I believe in our love.
I want it to be blessed, not cursed.
I want it to be an acknowledged love.
I want your mother's blessing on it.
- My mother's? - Take me to her, Franz.
I not only want to go forward with you into the future,
I want to go backward, too, into the past.
All you have been. All you shall be. I want it to be mine forever.
Welcome to my mother's house.
- Mother. - Franz.
- This is Carolyne. - Madame.
I hope you'll call me daughter soon.
Oh, here it is.
The piano... The piano you practised on.
- Ten hours a day. - How charming.
Was he an obedient little boy, madame?
I can't imagine Franz being obedient.
I can see him practising,
but angry at the keyboard.
What's the matter? Is anything wrong?
I'm afraid you'll wake the children.
The children! Are they here?
Yes, Franz.
Our children are here and sound asleep.
Marie, I...
- I want to see them. - Oh, no, Franz.
They are very tired from the trip.
I wanted to tell you in Weimar that I was on my way here,
but then... But you had other things on your mind.
Countess d'Agoult, the Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein.
You're being serenaded, glorious one.
He will never marry you, madame.
You think so?
There is the woman he is married to.
The crowd, madame.
Liszt's wife.
He will never divorce them for you.
I intend to love him, madame, more than the crowd does.
Do you think, Princess,
I loved him less?
I met Franz at a musical party.
I remember he played a ballad in A-flat major by Chopin.
I thought I'd never seen anything else beautiful as Franz looked
when he sat at the piano.
I... I wanted to cry.
He watched me as he played.
Franz never fails to notice a pretty woman
in his audience.
Afterward, he followed me into the hall.
I remember he said, "May I escort you somewhere, madame?"
And I said, "Yes."
And he said, "Where?"
And I said,
"Paradise."
He didn't smile.
He said, "I'll call a carriage."
- Did he? - What?
Drive you there, to paradise?
He doesn't know the road, madame.
My dearest, you must be quite desperately in love
to imagine that you could prevail on the Czar.
I was relying on your influence, Maria Pavlovna.
The only thing that would influence my brother or your insufferable husband
in a matter of this kind is money.
A great deal of money.
I will give up everything.
Everything, in your case, is much too much, my dear.
Don't be too ready to trade half of the Ukraine for a handsome musician.
Maria Pavlovna,
I am so sure in my heart that he's been entrusted to me,
so sure I am God's instrument in this
that I will do anything, agree to anything, to get this divorce.
I believe you would.
Will you tell the Czar that I ask nothing of my husband but my freedom?
That I am willing to give up all my estates.
I will do this for you, my dear.
But you're sacrificing a great deal for a man whose reputation is...
Carolyne,
has it occurred to you that he might not want marriage,
even if you get a divorce?
I know his reputation, Maria Pavlovna.
Who does not?
But that is not the Liszt I love.
Not the man I'm going to make mine.
I beg your help.
Let us walk across the park to the theatre and listen to the great man.
Gentlemen,
this is treason.
You are betraying a man of genius!
Liszt must have a very high opinion of Richard Wagner's work
to take such infinite trouble.
Perhaps too much.
I want him to devote some of his energy to his own work.
This passage is meant to sound seductive.
Seductive!
Perhaps I'd better go before he gets really annoyed.
I don't want him to feel any constraint in my presence.
He's really quite patient.
So I see.
We'll commence again.
Wagner.
- Wagner, how good of you to come. - Not so loud!
I can't even stay to hear my own music.
- I am a fugitive. - A fugitive?
There's a warrant out for my arrest.
They forced me, Liszt.
That bass clarinet.
What's a bass clarinet got to do with it?
I needed the bass clarinet for Tannhauser.
Do you think that miserable Dresden Orchestra would give me one?
Wagner, what have you done?
I exposed them.
Now they want to put me in prison.
I must get away, Liszt, to Switzerland, before they shut the border.
I need money.
I haven't got very much money on me,
but take this, it will get you as far as Zurich.
If you need any more, let me know.
This is the score of my new opera, Lohengrin.
Will you produce it here?
No one else will touch it.
I shall be honoured.
But remember, no changes. Every note just as written.
Wagner, now listen. Take care of yourself, please.
- I hope he is safe. - He's a monster.
He's insufferable, but he writes music that touches the soul.
That is no reason why you should let yourself be used by him.
Yes. It's the only reason.
You must serve your own talent.
My talent is to serve music,
as I wish I could serve God.
With love, with devotion and with no vanity.
Whatever kind of man Richard Wagner is, his work enriches the human spirit.
If I could help him with that work.
If I could get his music to more and more and more people,
then I shall serve myself
and man.
And God, Carolyne.
(Orchestra playing Pilgrim's Chorus)
♪ The sinner's 'plaint
♪ On high was heard
♪ Answered by
♪ Christ the Lord
♪ The tears I laid
♪ Before His shrine
♪ Are turned to hope
♪ And joy divine
♪ O Lord eternal
♪ Praise be Thine
♪ The Lord himself
♪ Bow your...
♪ O render thee
♪ To the kingdom of heaven
♪ Of death and hell
♪ I have no fear
♪ My righteous Lord
♪ Of heaven
♪ Is ever near
♪ Hallelujah
What do they want from you?
Your beloved enters the room the way he plays the piano, always for effect.
What do they want of you?
It is not what I want from her.
What's he doing here?
I'm really disappointed in you, my dear.
Your first lapse in taste.
Franz!
You may speak of me as you will, sir,
I shall fight you or not.
But if you insult the Princess again,
I shall kill you.
I really believe he would.
- You have business here. - I had, it is not concluded.
Defeat is yours.
Madame, you will regret this decision of course.
I trust without too much pain.
What decision?
What did he mean?
I'm free.
The Czar has granted permission for the divorce.
That's why Nicholas came to see me.
He came all this way from Russia just to tell you that?
Oh, there were matters to discuss, papers to sign...
- What papers? - Of no importance.
- These, you signed these? - They mean nothing.
They give him everything you own, your land and your property.
But look what I have in exchange.
Is this the price you had to pay...
I can't.
I can't let you give everything away.
I gave away nothing.
I have everything.
And tomorrow we'll make arrangements for the wedding.
First, we'll see the Archbishop.
No.
No, Princess.
Married by the church, you're still married in the sight of God.
Notwithstanding any arrangements with an accommodating husband.
Eminence, the Czar gave his consent.
The Czar does not speak for God.
We're confident of God's blessing.
We ask only the Church's authorisation.
You ask the Church to cast her mantle of respectability
over a scandalous concubinage.
- Eminence, I protest. - Franz.
My office gives me the right,
nay the duty to oppose the licentious and the profligate.
You are a libertine, my son.
And your notorious conduct has given scandal throughout
the length and breadth of Europe.
You have abused your great gifts and the fame they brought you.
You have seduced married women,
got one with children and shamelessly abandoned her.
Your Eminence,
is there anything...
Anything I can say or do to prevail upon you?
Yes.
From this time on, it would be better if you never saw each other alone.
Your Highness.
Eminence.
Never to see each other.
What arrogance!
Am I a peasant girl who ran off with a soldier,
that he should talk to me this way?
I'm so cold, Franz.
Franz, hold me!
I belong to you.
It doesn't matter what this churchman says.
- His Eminence spoke for Rome. - No. He spoke for himself.
Franz, take me away, anywhere.
Europe is not the world.
I know, but it is our world.
- Besides, you'd only regret it. - No.
Society is the same everywhere.
Its laws are rigid.
But I love you, Franz.
I love you.
And my heart tells me that what I wish for is what heaven wishes.
Yes, perhaps.
But, Carolyne,
not what the Archbishop wishes.
I'll go to Rome.
I'll ask the Pope for an annulment.
An annulment?
An annulment requires grounds
and the recommendation of the Episcopal Court.
And time, Carolyne. Time.
We'll wait.
What? For months, years?
As long as need be.
I'll, uh...
I'll offer my resignation to the Grand Duchess.
And then we can take a house in Rome.
No. You must stay in Weimar and work.
It would only harm us, Franz. Prove they are wrong, all our enemies.
The months will pass.
I'll write every day.
And when you come to me in Rome,
bring me the most wonderful wedding gift,
the music of Franz Liszt.
Herr Liszt, I'm taking the liberty of bringing your tray for the fourth time.
Well, you can take it away.
Take it away.
Bring me some more brandy and some coffee.
And don't interrupt me unless there's a letter from Rome.
You haven't eaten, sir.
If I may take the liberty, sir, you're not taking care of yourself.
I know, I know. Go away, go away.
The mail from Rome, Herr Liszt.
You must give my congratulations to the Princess.
What an achievement to persuade the Vatican to change its mind.
Is the annulment really official?
The wedding takes place in Rome on the 22nd.
It goes without saying that we should be honoured by Your Highness' presence.
Ah. I'm afraid that will not be possible.
But you must tell the Princess
that Monsieur and Madame Liszt will always be welcome in Weimar.
It's been a long wait.
Yes, it has.
But I've not wasted it.
My wedding present to Carolyne will be a concert of my work.
I hope it will be a great success.
You know I've always admired your composition.
But I have been told that much of your work
is considered too difficult technically for others to play.
Even by my best and most brilliant friends.
You have been alone in championing new music,
and I commend you for it.
Wagner and others owe you a debt of gratitude.
But there is no Liszt to champion you.
I need only Carolyne.
She can drive you and inspire you to composition,
but she cannot force others to play your work.
I'll be blunt.
I wondered if as a composer you're not the victim of your own virtuosity
and the urge to display it.
Perhaps your heart is still on the concert stage.
This may surprise you, madame.
My heart has never been on the concert stage.
My tendency to vulgar exhibitionism,
which you were too polite to qualify by so many words,
is misleading.
I despise my career as a virtuoso.
A misunderstood genius?
Perhaps you are. But by no one more than yourself.
Good-bye, Franz Liszt.
You're marrying a remarkable woman.
I'm marrying an angel, madame.
And, Canon, I want a Franciscan choir for the nuptial mass.
Maestro Liszt, Canon Antongoni.
Am I intruding, Father?
We were discussing your wedding, signor.
We were just talking about the choir, Franz.
Perhaps the Maestro will honour us by selecting the music for the nuptial mass.
Thank you.
You've never heard the wedding march from Lohengrin?
That's a new opera by Richard Wagner.
And I do not wish to hear it at my wedding.
For the processional, I wish the organ to play a work of yours.
May I remind you, Father,
that tonight Monsieur Liszt is giving his concert.
I shall look forward eagerly to hearing it, Maestro.
I'm confident, Father,
this will be the first of many opportunities to hear the work of Franz Liszt.
We will discuss the arrangements further tomorrow.
With pleasure.
(Liszt playing Concerto No. 1 in E-flat and Hungarian Fantasy medley)
The Russian Ambassador has requested an audience
to discuss the annulment granted to Princess Carolyne Wittgenstein.
I thought that matter was closed. She's getting married tomorrow.
He says he has new information from her former husband.
Serious enough to reopen the case?
We shall have to see.
His Excellency, the Russian Ambassador.
This is very improper on the eve of our wedding.
In a few minutes I shall send you away.
For the last time.
- Monsignor. - Your Highness, Maestro,
I have been charged by the holy office to convey this document
into the hands of Her Highness Princess Wittgenstein.
This was my mission, Your Highness.
My regrets.
Open it.
Is it necessary?
Do you understand, Franz?
The annulment has been refused.
Why?
Why? Why?
God is not mocked.
What are you saying?
New elements and grave accusations?
Grave accusations?
- Against who? - Against me.
I am guilty, Franz.
Guilty?
Guilty of what?
Of lies against my husband.
I swore I had been forced to marry him as a minor.
I accused him of various acts.
It was the only way to get the annulment.
I thought it was justifiable.
That it was God's will that we should marry.
But it was only mine.
And mine. And mine, Carolyne. And mine.
But it doesn't matter. Nothing matters now.
We're together, now and forever.
No, Franz.
Forever does not exist for us.
I fought, I struggled,
as long as I was able to believe that God had joined our lives.
But he has! I am nothing without you!
But I was wrong, I misunderstood.
When the Canon rose from that chair,
everything became clear to me.
I saw that you were never meant to belong to me.
Carolyne...
You are God's. His instrument.
Put here for his glory.
Oh, Franz, how clear it is.
I was sent to you only to lead you back to him.
Good-bye, Franz.
Good-bye, my heart.
Carolyne...
All my earthly possessions, I leave to my beloved children,
as I'm about to go into retirement for a time.
Such a time to be spent in silence and spiritual exercises.
It's my most fervent desire to have forgiveness conveyed upon my soul,
to seek absolution, joined with contrition and confession.
And this I hope to attain in a monastery.
Amen.
(Playing Un Sospiro)