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Russell s purpose in writing these saucy tales is not merely to assemble a slush pile of tittle-tattle but also to establish a genealogy of inspiration and to demonstrate that sex is one of the pre-eminent spurs to creativity. Yet one can t entirely suppress the suspicion that Russell s art is a substitute for action and that these sex-crammed fictions are a displacement activity for a director who in his 80th year bears a powerful resemblance to Old Father Saturn and who himself may be just as randy as his priapic batonistas. --Spectator
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Ken Russell is one of the most original, vibrant and groundbreaking film and television directors of the recent era. His finest films such as Women in Love, The Music Lovers and The Devils are milestones in film history. A true visionary, Russell s work invariably involving a very liberal treatment of sexuality has always struggled with censorship and controversy. Although he is remembered for the rock opera Tommy and recently directed an innovative production of Madam Butterfly , Russell started out making drama documentaries on the lives of the great composers for the BBC series Monitor in the late 1950s and early 60s. Classical music remains a passion and for the first time in these novel-biographies he focuses a literary lens on the private lives of Beethoven, Brahms, Elgar and Delius with no holds barred! Admirers of Frederick Delius will be aware of Ken Russell's award-winning BBC dramatised documentary on the composer, A Song of Summer. Delius: A Moment with Venus offers a completely different approach in an attempt to convey something of the cantankerous composer's highly colourful life. Containing both real and speculative facts about Delius, the novel is also based on the private recollections of Russell's friend the late Eric Fenby. As Delius's loyal assistant Fenby sacrificed his composing career in order to further that of a talent he felt was far greater than his own. Much of this material may be new to readers, including the fact that Frederick Delius, a Yorkshireman, was actually baptised 'Fritz'. Ken Russell's drama-documentary for the BBC arts programme Monitor bought Edward Elgar to the attention of thousands of viewers who until then had been totally unaware of his genius. Before the great Elgar revival, most critics had contrived to belittle his unique spirit, compassion and ability to capture the notion of 'Great Britishness'. The BBC account was a straightforward cradle-to-grave affair. The director followed it forty years later with a South Bank Show film that incorporated music associated with his wife and their friends. By their nature, the television films were highly pictorial with little opportunity to explore below the surface of a complex man with the persona of a Colonel Blimp and the passion of a Don Juan. In Elgar: The Erotic Variations, Ken Russell takes the opportunity to examine more closely the private man, revealed here in his long-time relationship with his mistress and muse Rosa Burley.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Here the writing is as controlled and restrained as his best work for film and TV - say Women In Love and the Delius film.
He covers Elgar's life and the women in his life from his honeymoon to his death.
What is more he stays well within the bounds of what is possible from the known facts and anyone who saw the recent BBC 4 two hour documentary which made use of the most recently discovered facts will know that there is perhaps more material that Russell could also have made much of, but which when he wrote this we were unaware of. But Russell is aware of 'Windflower' and her identity and she is mentioned a couple of times as a mistress although she doesn't appear herself in any of the scenes. Russell is unequivocal also that Elgar had a long affair with Rosa Burleigh the schoolmistress of his daughter. Other women are also in the picture as it is made quite clear that Elgar was quite a lady's man.
It even seems that Russell has done his own research and got hold of some material that no one else has used. This is something that is not difficult to believe in view of his well known interest in these composers and anyone who might have anything that throws light on Elgar in their family papers might well have thought of contacting Russell first. There are two minor seemingly real life characters here who are in possession of knowledge of Elgar, one of them Elgar's odd-job man who got the sack, and a newspaper reporter who was trying to find something on Elgar's liasons.
He covers Elgar's life and the women in his life from his honeymoon to his death.
What is more he stays well within the bounds of what is possible from the known facts and anyone who saw the recent BBC 4 two hour documentary which made use of the most recently discovered facts will know that there is perhaps more material that Russell could also have made much of, but which when he wrote this we were unaware of. But Russell is aware of 'Windflower' and her identity and she is mentioned a couple of times as a mistress although she doesn't appear herself in any of the scenes. Russell is unequivocal also that Elgar had a long affair with Rosa Burleigh the schoolmistress of his daughter. Other women are also in the picture as it is made quite clear that Elgar was quite a lady's man.
It even seems that Russell has done his own research and got hold of some material that no one else has used. This is something that is not difficult to believe in view of his well known interest in these composers and anyone who might have anything that throws light on Elgar in their family papers might well have thought of contacting Russell first. There are two minor seemingly real life characters here who are in possession of knowledge of Elgar, one of them Elgar's odd-job man who got the sack, and a newspaper reporter who was trying to find something on Elgar's liasons.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is an enjoyable, playful romp through the partly imagined erotic lives of two of England's foremost composers. I can well imagine that some of Russell's imaginings are at odds with verifiable facts, but not being thoroughly versed in those facts I was untroubled by apparent inconsistencies. However, I am convinced that much published biographical data of revered people, particularly 'national treasures' is likely to be muted, if not neutered, when it comes to their erotic lives. If we are fortunate, those who partnered these mostly discreet lives left confidential memoirs to be discovered after all offendable personae have passed away. If this is not the case, or during the interval of waiting to see, I think it useful to have books such as this, providing credible reconstructions, to excite the imagination about these people in a way not possible with only the facts that are approved and available, and therefore somewhat lacking in humanity. Both of the composers treated in this volume wrote music that rejoices in the spirit, and even if Russell has been overly creative, I felt that he has created a wholly reasonable and credible picture of their lust for life. Great fun!
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a disgrace to publishing. I enjoyed every moment. . .
Ken Russell is rightly a national treasure, mainly, I think, because there is no artifice about him, no protective skin of sophisticated irony, and certainly no excess of scholarly reserve. He is refreshing and straightforward.
For what it's worth, I don't think he really "caught" Elgar in either of his two splendid films, and perhaps he doesn't think so either, for the first half of this book is devoted to saying out loud all the things about Elgar and his women friends that were either glossed over or merely hinted at on screen.
Unless and until a really full biography of Elgar appears, we won't know the truth about Elgar, and probably not even then. As far as I know, and the leading authority Michael Kennedy states, there is no conclusive evidence that Elgar had a string of mistresses before, during and after his marriage, but Ken doesn't let that stand in his way. And who knows, he may be right?
For the real enigma about Elgar is that his often wonderful music was produced by, frankly, an awful man with an even more awful wife. He was paranoid, a raving snob and social climber, convinced of his own worth and bitter that not everyone else was, a cutter-dead of his friends, and unpleasant to just about everyone. To the extent that those things come through in Ken Russell's narrative, his work is done.
Ken, it is true, can't write to save his life. His dialogue is hopeless -- anachronistic, embarrassing and wooden -- there are spelling mistakes everywhere, and you can see the joins where he strings together the few known facts he does employ. And yet . . . and yet, this is a good read!
The second section, about Frederick Delius, is less feverish, but one senses a real affection for the subject. It's no better as literature, but one hates to quibble. . .
Ken Russell is rightly a national treasure, mainly, I think, because there is no artifice about him, no protective skin of sophisticated irony, and certainly no excess of scholarly reserve. He is refreshing and straightforward.
For what it's worth, I don't think he really "caught" Elgar in either of his two splendid films, and perhaps he doesn't think so either, for the first half of this book is devoted to saying out loud all the things about Elgar and his women friends that were either glossed over or merely hinted at on screen.
Unless and until a really full biography of Elgar appears, we won't know the truth about Elgar, and probably not even then. As far as I know, and the leading authority Michael Kennedy states, there is no conclusive evidence that Elgar had a string of mistresses before, during and after his marriage, but Ken doesn't let that stand in his way. And who knows, he may be right?
For the real enigma about Elgar is that his often wonderful music was produced by, frankly, an awful man with an even more awful wife. He was paranoid, a raving snob and social climber, convinced of his own worth and bitter that not everyone else was, a cutter-dead of his friends, and unpleasant to just about everyone. To the extent that those things come through in Ken Russell's narrative, his work is done.
Ken, it is true, can't write to save his life. His dialogue is hopeless -- anachronistic, embarrassing and wooden -- there are spelling mistakes everywhere, and you can see the joins where he strings together the few known facts he does employ. And yet . . . and yet, this is a good read!
The second section, about Frederick Delius, is less feverish, but one senses a real affection for the subject. It's no better as literature, but one hates to quibble. . .
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