'Turn back ere ye perish!': Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Opera House

Still recovering from the uber-cool experience of seeing Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden tonight. Thats right - eminent composer Carl Davis (who wrote soundtracks for movies such as "Napoleon" and the BBC production of "Pride and Prejudice") composed a brand new score for the 1925 classic silent horror film, "Phantom of the Opera."



This is the original movie version, and quite a far cry from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. It was fascinating to watch - both frightening and hilarious at the same time. Apparently this was the most famous horror movie of its time. Funny.



Anyhow, was pleasantly surprised to see something new and interesting coming from the Royal Opera House, even saw a few punks in the crowd! (Although to be fair they were being stared out indignantly by dozens of snobs at any given minute.) Tickets ranged from £5 (restricted view) to £40 (pricey for a 90 minute movie, even if accompanied by a live orchestra.) But I have to say it was an absolutely unique experience, and that I was extremely impressed with the new musical score.



Look out for more random events from the Royal Opera House ("ROH2" hosted this event.) Actually, the ads for "Sleeping Beauty" at the end of the month looked pretty cool, anyone up for that?



I'll leave you with my favorite pieces from the 2004 Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, having failed to find any relevant music to the 1925 film online (if you know/have any, please comment, I'd love to know!)

Download:

The Point of No Return (Chandelier Crash) - 2004 Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack

The Phantom of the Opera - 2004 Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack

Masquerade (Why So Silent?) - 2004 Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack

Buy:

Phantom of the Opera - Soundtrack from the Musical (Michael Crawford, etc.) (Amazon.co.uk)

Phantom of the Opera - Soundtrack from the 2004 Movie (Amazon.co.uk)