The Phantom of the Opera

The 1910 Gothic whodunnit novel, The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, has inspired many creative artists over the past century. In 1925, Hollywood released a silent horror film starring Lon Chaney as the Opera Ghost (and ‘a cast of 5000 others’). On an unseasonably gloomy, wet night, in the ‘Gothic-lite’ architecture of Perth’s St George’s Cathedral, a packed house watched a showing of this film accompanied on the West Wing Organ by visiting organist of many titles and talents, Giampaolo Di Rosa.

The opening scenes of a bubbly night at the Paris Opera allowed di Rosa to demonstrate the bubbling mobility of the instrument in his care, milling crowds and a stage crowded with ballerinas calling for lively dancing passages, all ably delivered. The massed scenes, whether of the masquerade ball or of the angry mob of vigilantes (it’s quite the dramatic film!) were particularly noteworthy as Di Rosa responded to every jumped move and enhanced the spirited drama purely through his music. Incidental slapstick humour was nimbly highlighted, proving this player’s confident versatility with his instrument. Later scenes in the underground lake and the concealed torture chamber allowed use of some of the more profound registers, while the actual organ playing scenes themselves seemed to be accurately presented as the work of a demented genius – the triumph of a most unlikely Don Juan.

Nobody seemed to miss the over-familiar melodies of the Andrew Lloyd Weber production, but rejoiced in old fashioned Hollywood goodies, baddies and swooning beauties, as well as magnificent moustache work. Amazingly, extempore work could create a sense of character as well as action, with the dapper Raoul always welcomed to the screen. The theatre owners had their own comic twists and the mingled tragedy, comedy and threatening presence of the betrayed Eric, standing be-caped on the roof, was brought out in a sympathetic selection of chord progressions.

Over a full hour of original organ mastery, so well-suited and intelligently matched to the rickety film stock presented, was a rare treat, breath-taking in the stamina, skill and musical wizardry of Giampaolo Di Rosa. The Cathedral Concert Series 2013 has been a wonder of curation – one never knows what Musical Director Joseph Nolan has prepared next, but one now expects the exceptional.

Rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5