Curiosities
In this section we are going to detail some
curiosities and aspects united to the Phantom of the
Opera's story.
One of them is the famous figure of the Red Death (
disguise which Erik used to surprise the audience in
the Opera Masquerade).
Surely Gaston Leroux chose this strange dress for
his character after discovered it in a tale written by
the celebrated Edgar Allan Poe titled The mask of the
Red Death (click here to read this tale) published in
1842, when Paris was desolated with a plague of red
pest.
In this story, this peculiar figure, suddenly appears
in Prince Prospero's masked ball (created to escape
from Red Pest) in order to take with him all the
guests' lives.
Poe's story takes place in seven connected but
carefully separated rooms. This reminds the reader
of the past significance of the number seven. (The
history of the world was thought to consist of seven
ages, just as an individual's life had seven stages.
The ancient world had seven wonders; universities
divided learning into seven subjects; there were
seven deadly sins with seven corresponding cardinal
virtues, and the number seven is important in
mysticism.) Therefore, an allegorical reading of this
story suggests that the seven rooms represent the
seven stages of one's life, from birth to death,
through which the prince pursues a figure masked as
a victim of the Red Death, only to die himself in the
final chamber of eternal night. The prince's name
suggests happiness and good fortune, and the
prince, just like all beings uses happiness to wall out
the threat of death. Prince Prospero's masked ball or
dance reminds us of the "dance of death" portrayed
in old paintings as a skeleton leading a throng of
people to the grave, just as the prince leads his
guests to the Red Death. The significance of time in
this story is seen in the symbol of the "gigantic clock
of ebony" which is draped in black velvet and
located in the final room.
Death, then, is not an outside antagonist, to be
feared and walled out as Prince Prospero attempts to
do; but instead it is a part of each of us. Its presence
is felt in our imaginations as we become aware of the
control that time has over our lives. We hear the
echoes of the "ebony clocks" that we carry within.
Prince Prospero tries to escape death by walling it
out, and by so doing, creates a prison out of his
sanctuary. However, the Prince learns that no one
can escape death. Death holds "illimitable dominion
over all."
It's interesting observing how Leroux has taken
some concrete points from Poe's tale: Erik dressed
as Red Death appears just at 11:59 pm like Poe's Red
Death; The clock of ebony which marks this hour in
Poe's tale s exactly the same as we can find in the
Grand Foyer of the Opera, etc.
In all these past years this character has been shown
in very different forms:
In this section we are going to detail some
curiosities and aspects united to the Phantom of the
Opera's story.
One of them is the famous figure of the Red Death (
disguise which Erik used to surprise the audience in
the Opera Masquerade).
Surely Gaston Leroux chose this strange dress for
his character after discovered it in a tale written by
the celebrated Edgar Allan Poe titled The mask of the
Red Death (click here to read this tale) published in
1842, when Paris was desolated with a plague of red
pest.
In this story, this peculiar figure, suddenly appears
in Prince Prospero's masked ball (created to escape
from Red Pest) in order to take with him all the
guests' lives.
Poe's story takes place in seven connected but
carefully separated rooms. This reminds the reader
of the past significance of the number seven. (The
history of the world was thought to consist of seven
ages, just as an individual's life had seven stages.
The ancient world had seven wonders; universities
divided learning into seven subjects; there were
seven deadly sins with seven corresponding cardinal
virtues, and the number seven is important in
mysticism.) Therefore, an allegorical reading of this
story suggests that the seven rooms represent the
seven stages of one's life, from birth to death,
through which the prince pursues a figure masked as
a victim of the Red Death, only to die himself in the
final chamber of eternal night. The prince's name
suggests happiness and good fortune, and the
prince, just like all beings uses happiness to wall out
the threat of death. Prince Prospero's masked ball or
dance reminds us of the "dance of death" portrayed
in old paintings as a skeleton leading a throng of
people to the grave, just as the prince leads his
guests to the Red Death. The significance of time in
this story is seen in the symbol of the "gigantic clock
of ebony" which is draped in black velvet and
located in the final room.
Death, then, is not an outside antagonist, to be
feared and walled out as Prince Prospero attempts to
do; but instead it is a part of each of us. Its presence
is felt in our imaginations as we become aware of the
control that time has over our lives. We hear the
echoes of the "ebony clocks" that we carry within.
Prince Prospero tries to escape death by walling it
out, and by so doing, creates a prison out of his
sanctuary. However, the Prince learns that no one
can escape death. Death holds "illimitable dominion
over all."
It's interesting observing how Leroux has taken
some concrete points from Poe's tale: Erik dressed
as Red Death appears just at 11:59 pm like Poe's Red
Death; The clock of ebony which marks this hour in
Poe's tale s exactly the same as we can find in the
Grand Foyer of the Opera, etc.
In all these past years this character has been shown
in very different forms:
Another curiosities are given to us by Susan Kay's
novel.
One of them is the Arabian poems which Erik read
Christine in his dominions: poems taken from
Rubaiyat. This work was written by Omar Khayyam
known as the Astronomer-Poet of Persia (1073-1125).
He was a super-achieving genius, counsel to
ministers and kings. He was a mathematical genius,
presenting solutions to problems that were centuries
ahead of his time. He was a highly knowledgeable
astronomer, who calculated the duration of the solar
year with unmatched accuracy, at least unmatched
until this century. He was knowledgeable in other
physical sciences such as medicine and chemistry
(or alchemy at his time). He was a much sought after
philosopher and teacher...
Khayyam understood that it was our fate, our
destiny, something beyond our control to be born
into this world. He also understood that death was
an inevitable fate for anyone who was ever born. He
understood the fantasy of concerning ourselves with
the future, as well as the neurosis of staying in our
past. He saw that all we have is this ever slipping
moment, this now, which itself has a timeless
quality. And he understood that in life what is
important is that deeper joy and love for which we
have infinite yearning, as well as capacity to both
receive and emanate. His Rubaiyat force us to ask
those ultimate existential questions, and lead us
down a path that, unless we are lost along the way
or are destabilized by the abyss which we must
traverse, must inevitably reach the same answer.
Those ultimate truths that in life all that matters is
love and joy.
Here you can read some of his poems.
Another curiosity taken from Kay's book is the
Arabian legend of red rose creation. This legend
exists in truth and surely Oscar Wilde tale is based
on it: The ancient Persians explained the appearance
of red roses with a legend of a nightingale who
loved the white rose. When Allah named the rose the
"Queen Flowers", the impulsive bird flew down to
embrace her and was pierced by her thorns. From
the drops of the nightingale's blood, red roses grew.
A wonderful poem based in this legend can be found
here.
novel.
One of them is the Arabian poems which Erik read
Christine in his dominions: poems taken from
Rubaiyat. This work was written by Omar Khayyam
known as the Astronomer-Poet of Persia (1073-1125).
He was a super-achieving genius, counsel to
ministers and kings. He was a mathematical genius,
presenting solutions to problems that were centuries
ahead of his time. He was a highly knowledgeable
astronomer, who calculated the duration of the solar
year with unmatched accuracy, at least unmatched
until this century. He was knowledgeable in other
physical sciences such as medicine and chemistry
(or alchemy at his time). He was a much sought after
philosopher and teacher...
Khayyam understood that it was our fate, our
destiny, something beyond our control to be born
into this world. He also understood that death was
an inevitable fate for anyone who was ever born. He
understood the fantasy of concerning ourselves with
the future, as well as the neurosis of staying in our
past. He saw that all we have is this ever slipping
moment, this now, which itself has a timeless
quality. And he understood that in life what is
important is that deeper joy and love for which we
have infinite yearning, as well as capacity to both
receive and emanate. His Rubaiyat force us to ask
those ultimate existential questions, and lead us
down a path that, unless we are lost along the way
or are destabilized by the abyss which we must
traverse, must inevitably reach the same answer.
Those ultimate truths that in life all that matters is
love and joy.
Here you can read some of his poems.
Another curiosity taken from Kay's book is the
Arabian legend of red rose creation. This legend
exists in truth and surely Oscar Wilde tale is based
on it: The ancient Persians explained the appearance
of red roses with a legend of a nightingale who
loved the white rose. When Allah named the rose the
"Queen Flowers", the impulsive bird flew down to
embrace her and was pierced by her thorns. From
the drops of the nightingale's blood, red roses grew.
A wonderful poem based in this legend can be found
here.
Did you know that the Opera Store was sent of fire
mysteriously 6th January-1894?
mysteriously 6th January-1894?
Another interesting curiosity is that the Opera
Garnier premiered a gorgeous ballet in 1980: Le
Fantome de l'Opera. A ballet based in Leroux's
novel, composed by Marcel Landowski and directed
by Roland Petit.
Garnier premiered a gorgeous ballet in 1980: Le
Fantome de l'Opera. A ballet based in Leroux's
novel, composed by Marcel Landowski and directed
by Roland Petit.
Photos taken in exhibition at the
Opera Garnier-2008.
Opera Garnier-2008.
Roland Petit in front of the
Opera Garnier.
Opera Garnier.
The Box Five is the famous Box where the Phantom
uses to be seeing his favourite operas.
Do you want to know more about it and see some
exclusive photos of its inside? Click Here.
uses to be seeing his favourite operas.
Do you want to know more about it and see some
exclusive photos of its inside? Click Here.
We can find another newest ballet about the
Phantom created by The Atlantic Ballet Theatre of
Canada. An original interpretation inspired by
Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel .
Conceived and Choreographed by Igor
Dobrovolskiy, The Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada’
s production of The Phantom of the Opera evokes
timeless themes and images of outcasts, love, and
loneliness. An exile, rejected by the only world he
knows, the phantom is a romantic figure, a
sensitive soul who has given his life to his music.
Driven by a hopeless love, he lurks in the in the
shadows in a world of his own creation.
Phantom created by The Atlantic Ballet Theatre of
Canada. An original interpretation inspired by
Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel .
Conceived and Choreographed by Igor
Dobrovolskiy, The Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada’
s production of The Phantom of the Opera evokes
timeless themes and images of outcasts, love, and
loneliness. An exile, rejected by the only world he
knows, the phantom is a romantic figure, a
sensitive soul who has given his life to his music.
Driven by a hopeless love, he lurks in the in the
shadows in a world of his own creation.
Would you like to see how were the tickets to the
Opera in Erik's time?
Did you know almost all tickets were reserved only to
the Opera aboneés?
Here you can see some examples:
Opera in Erik's time?
Did you know almost all tickets were reserved only to
the Opera aboneés?
Here you can see some examples:
And, of course, the current Opera Garnier visit
tickets:
tickets:
Yann Arthus-Bertrand made a couple of wonderful
photos in the Opera cellars. In one of them, a little
rat (that's how the young dancers are called in
France) can be seen in a boat crossing the lake.
And in the other one, we can see a couple of
firemen who have caught some of the blind fishes
which are in these dark waters down the Opera.
photos in the Opera cellars. In one of them, a little
rat (that's how the young dancers are called in
France) can be seen in a boat crossing the lake.
And in the other one, we can see a couple of
firemen who have caught some of the blind fishes
which are in these dark waters down the Opera.
Did you know that in a lot of famous movies
appears the Opera Garnier? Do you want to know
some of that movies?
Just enter here.
appears the Opera Garnier? Do you want to know
some of that movies?
Just enter here.
Do you want to know more about the Punjab
Lazzo?
Just enter here.
Lazzo?
Just enter here.
Please, do not take the text and images without my permission.
Thanks to Howard David Johnson for giving me his permission to use his Red
Death artwork.
Thanks to Howard David Johnson for giving me his permission to use his Red
Death artwork.
Some firemen at the Opera lake.
January 2008.
January 2008.
A new wonderful ballet version from the Czech
Republic premiered in 10th April, 2008.
From dark corners of the Paris Opera a voice
resounds that calls the name of the very young
ballet dancer Christina Daaé and encourages this
extraordinary talent. Hardly anybody knows that the
mysterious voice is the voice of the Phantom, a
disfigured genius roaming around the labyrinth of
catacombs... The ballet ensemble comes with
another delicacy, a romantic story on the theme of
the novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra by Gaston Leroux.
The head of our production team is Libor Vaculík.
The dance/acting roles of Raoul, Christine, the
Phantom and a number of other heroes will
challenge again the soloists and the entire
ensemble. This attractive material set into music by
Petr Malásek and choreographed by Libor Vaculík.
Republic premiered in 10th April, 2008.
From dark corners of the Paris Opera a voice
resounds that calls the name of the very young
ballet dancer Christina Daaé and encourages this
extraordinary talent. Hardly anybody knows that the
mysterious voice is the voice of the Phantom, a
disfigured genius roaming around the labyrinth of
catacombs... The ballet ensemble comes with
another delicacy, a romantic story on the theme of
the novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra by Gaston Leroux.
The head of our production team is Libor Vaculík.
The dance/acting roles of Raoul, Christine, the
Phantom and a number of other heroes will
challenge again the soloists and the entire
ensemble. This attractive material set into music by
Petr Malásek and choreographed by Libor Vaculík.
2009, A year of anniversary...because did you know that
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux was firstly
published in a newspaper called Gaulois in 22th
September?
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux was firstly
published in a newspaper called Gaulois in 22th
September?
