‘Cine-concert: The Phantom of the Opera’

The German conductor Frank Strobel is one of the pioneers of film concerts. In this concert, he conducts the score composed by Carl Davis in 1996 to accompany the silent American horror film The Phantom of the Opera. In the early 1920s, New Zealand director Rupert Julian conceived the idea of filming Le fantôme de l'opéra, a book by Gaston Leroux. He cast Lon Chaney, known for his innovative make-up, in the title role. It worked, because when the ghost revealed his skeletal face on the big screen at the 1925 premiere, the audience screamed. The lavish masquerade ball, the crashing of the giant crystal chandelier and the grotesquely spooky world beneath the Paris Opera House also made an impact.