Always the Music

Always the Music is the story of Cosima, one of three illegitimate children born to Franz Liszt and his mistress. After her parents separate, Cosima spends her childhood searching for the love and security she lost. She survives years of uncertainty, shuffled between boarding schools and disapproving governesses, while trying to please both parents in the hope that she can bring them together. After Cosima joins her glamorous and adventuresome mother in a daring escapade through the streets of Paris, Liszt tightens his control, a decision that leads Cosima straight to the arms of her father’s piano student, Hans von Bulow. As she attempts to escape from Hans’ mother’s domination, her life takes a downward spiral, one that leads inevitably to an affair with Richard Wagner, an event that prompts Cosima to take control of her own destiny. This is the story of one woman’s remarkable courage in the face of scandal, and how she survives to help create a legacy that survives to this day as the Bayreuth Festival.