Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish are working on the pilot for a new TV show.

HBO has agreed to the first episode of series Virtuoso, which the star couple are working on with True Blood creator Alan Ball, according to Variety.

The action is set in 18th-century Vienna and follows European musicians from a class at the Academy of Musical Excellence as they make the first steps in their careers.

Elton John David Furnish
Sir Elton and David at the premiere of film Gnomeo and Juliet, which they also produced (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Sir Elton and David have previously served as producers on a number of film and TV projects including Gnomeo And Juliet, Spectacle: Elvis Costello With… and It’s A Boy Girl Thing.

Peter Macdissi is set to star in the series and he will also serve as executive producer alongside the three show creators and Steve Hamilton Shaw.

Steve, Peter and Alan will write the story.

Peter Macdissi
Peter Macdissi will star (MICHEL SPINGLER/AP)

Among the cast of talented musician characters are The Imitation Game’s Alex Lawther as Battista, Rosemary’s Baby actor Francois Civil as Isidoro, Upstairs Downstairs’ Nico Mirallegro as Franz, Lindsay Farris as Heinrich, and Iva Babic as Leonid.

Production for the Virtuoso pilot begins this spring in Budapest.