''The Life and Loves of Tschaikovsky'' or ''It Was a Lovely Night at the Ball'' (german: Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht) is a 1939 German historical

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Carl Froelich and starring

Zarah Leander Zarah Leander (; 15 March 1907 – 23 June 1981) was a Swedish singer and actress whose greatest success was in Germany between 1936 and 1943, when she was contracted to work for the state-owned Universum Film AG (UFA). Although no exact record ...

, Aribert Wäscher and

Hans Stüwe Hans Stüwe (14 May 1901 – 13 May 1976) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * '' Prinz Louis Ferdinand'' (1927) * ''Potsdam'' (1927) * ''The Transformation of Dr. Bessel'' (1927) * ''The Bordello in Rio'' (1927) * '' Assassination'' ( ...

.Reimer & Reimer p. 119 The film portrays the fictional relationship between the Russian composer Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky and an aristocratic woman who, unhappily married, falls in love with him and decides to secretly support his work financially. It premiered on 13 August 1939 at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. It was shot at the

Tempelhof Studios The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial bac ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director

Franz Schroedter Franz Schroedter (9 May 1897 – 14 November 1968) was a German art director.Giesen p.212 Selected filmography * '' The Black Count'' (1920) * '' The Dance of Love and Happiness'' (1921) * '' The New Paradise'' (1921) * '' The Queen of Whitechap ...

Cast

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* 1939 films Films of Nazi Germany German musical drama films German biographical drama films 1930s musical drama films 1930s biographical drama films 1930s German-language films Films directed by Carl Froelich Films set in Russia Films set in the 1860s Films based on Hungarian novels Films about classical music and musicians Films about composers Cultural depictions of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky German black-and-white films 1930s historical musical films German historical musical films Films shot at Tempelhof Studios UFA GmbH films 1939 drama films 1930s German films {{historic-musical-film-stub