A Compendium of Essays: 

Purcell, Hogarth and Handel, Beethoven, Liszt, Debussy, and Andrew Lloyd Webber 

E. A. Bucchianeri

Now Available!

1stbooks Library

(November 2002)    200 pp.

Hardcover:        ISBN  1-4033-7071-0

Paperback:         ISBN  1-4033-7070-2

E-book:              ISBN  1-4033-7069-9

Phantom of the Opera and ALW fans may find the essay "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera: An Example of the 'Musical Theatre Renaissance' " of particular interest to them.  This essay explores ALW's POTO from a musicological and philosophical viewpoint.  Research for this essay was based on studies of the original 1986-88 London score!

For more information, just click on the book cover above!

The Phantom of Manhattan 

Frederick Forsyth

I can sum this book up with one word; -- yuck.

Forsyth has dared to declare that Leroux's tale was badly written and that Lloyd Webber's muical is the only version of the Phantom tale that makes any sense.  As much as I love Lloyd Webber's musical, Forsyth's claim is pure rubbish.  (Of course you know he said this only to facilitate the creation of his version as it was reported Lloyd Webber had planned to compose a sequel for his musical and was going to use this for his libretto.)  

This sequel is really disappointing; to all intents and purposes, Forsyth simply turned the "Phantom of the Opera" into "The Phantom of Wall Street"; Erik no longer loves music -- he becomes a slave to gold.  Sad.

It's almost worth it to buy the book so you can see how bad it is...

Maskerade

Terry Pratchett

Published by Gollancz

    At first, I was sceptical about spending money on a book which I had heard was a comedy on Phantom.  But don't worry fans!  This book doesn't actually make fun of Erik per se, but upon the opera world.   Pratchett's dedication in the book reads "My thanks to the people who showed me that opera was stranger than I could imagine.  I can repay their kindness by  not mentioning their names here."  (Bizarre sense of humour; I think  you  can see what I mean....) The story is set in a fiction/fantasy world called Discworld  which is populated by comical dwarves, witches, humans, etc. Even if you are not a Discworld fan and have no clue as to what I'm talking about you can still keep up with the story.  I was surprised to find the 'Phantom' character in the book wasn't mentioned as often as I would like - so don't wory about Erik getting roasted in this book....  It was quite a 'fun' read. 

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Journey of the Mask

 by Nancy Hill Pettengill

Writer's Club Press, USA

ISBN 0-595-12484-4

   In all, this book was a good read! Erik manages to kidnap Christine and whisk her away to New Orleans to start a new life and to see if she can learn to love him finally. This sequel is much better than Forsyth's "Phantom of Manhattan" and is more believeable too. It reads much like Susan Kay's "Phantom", so of course you can guess that Pettengill was influnced here! It is hard to write a review for this without giving the story away, so I'll just mention some things I noticed.

*  I miss Erik's 'mysterious' Phantom - image as he has now left his life at l'Opera behind. *   The story resumes Erik's interest in magic and the occult - the story assumes the feeling of being back in Persia, though it  is set in America. Strange, I know. A sense of history repeating itself - but without any torture chambers.... *   The author has changed some of Leroux's narative around and added some of her own ideas; Christine's childhood home is set in Brittany, not Sweden.  Raoul is  a right 'ole snake and pulls a nasty trick on Erik (but of course Erik knows what he is up to...) - I guess Nancy is a Raoul hater! And they confront each other on the stage of the theatre. etc.   *     This is one point that bugged me;  too many 'marital relations' scenes. I can understand the author wanting to show Erik finally having a normal married life, but for me, this tended to be an overkill! *  I guess that's about it!  

In all, this book is still a great read! Worth getting if you want to recover after Forsyth's book! 

Phantom Phantasia; Poetry for the Phantom of the Opera Fan

by E.  A. Bucchianeri

EAAB Publications ©1999

I know, I know! Here I am plugging another  book; but what the heck!  Might as well promote my stuff too.....   "Grin!"

I never thought that I'd get addicted to poetry composition, but I guess I did! This book contains poetry ranging from the most serious to the  most silly thoughts about our most beloved Erik and other facets of Phantom related culture.  Why did Erik place the Dies Irae on his wall? What the heck IS the Dies Irae...? There's a poem on this subject. What did  the stature of Apollo witness one solatary night? There's a poem on that. What did Erik think about his life in the cellars? Why did he dress as Red Death for the Masqerade? There are poems on these topics too! (And there's one requesting that someone give Frederick Forsyth a lobotomy!)

This book includes some of my own illustrations as well as some pictures of the Paris Opera house.

If you want to read other reviews by fans and find out more, you can check out this link! This is the only site where you can get this book! (Well, I'd recommend it anyway, even if I did write it myself! Click the link below for more info!)

http://welcome.to/eaab

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Andrew Lloyd Webber: His Life and Works by Michael Walsh

Harry N. Adams Inc. New York

(Updated version 1997)

Includes approx. 175 illustrations and 125 plates in full colour. 




When it came time to do some research on Andrew Lloyd Webber for my college dissertation, this book proved to be a priceless source of information. This is not your average'coffee table' book with nothing but pictures and no reading material. And it is not your typical tabloid type book filled with 'gossipy news.' Written by an author who is trained in music, you actually get an unbiased view of each of Lloyd Webber's musicals as well as a detailed account of Lloyd Webber's life from childhood up to the present day.



However, the only thing that puzzled me about Walsh's chapter on "Phantom" was his dates concerning the novel, and other details. He states that Leroux's novel was written in 1910, and that the silent movie is dated 1926, not 1925. Yet, his analysis of Lloyd Webber's music is correct.

What is more, for anyone out there writing a music report on musicals and opera, Walsh brings this subject up in his preface. Also, there are a couple of pictures that are quite interesting, such as one featuring Sarah Brightman in her "Christine" costume on the roof of the actual Paris Opera house. What makes the chapter on "Phantom" even more interesting is that Walsh mentions a time capsule that is buried there that will be opened in 2007.



In all - I would definitely recommend this book.

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***

Charles Garnier's Paris Opera:

Architectural Empathy and the Renaissance of French Classicism

By Christopher Curtis Mead



An Architectural History Foundation Book

The MIT Press

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology

ISBN 0-262-13275-3

If you are the fan who has to know the whole history of the Paris Opera House from beginning to end, then this book is it! Also used by Susan Kay for her research for "Phantom", this book not
only tells about the Opera House, but of Garnier's life and studies as well as his philosophy concerning architecture.

This book features many photographs from the building of the Opera House during its various stages, the sketches entered for the Opera competition, other buildings built by Garnier and much more.

I would certainly recommend this book even if you don't know a thing about architecture! A must have for the historically -minded fan.

***

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Le Fantôme de l'Opéra

Gaston Leroux





Le Livre de Poche

(paperback)

ISBN 2 -253 -00950 - 4

Uncut version!



What can I really say about this version besides that it is brilliant? I am only learning French just now...but this book sure is a joy to read! If you don't speak French, I'd nearly suggest that you learn just to read this book! 

The way that the story is told and punctuated in the original French adds a whole new dimension to the story for me. I have come across a few bad translations of Phantom in English which left quite a bit out concerning the characters and their development,- this book surely sets the story straight and it displays Leroux's own writing style which doesn't quite come across in English in my view....(but that could be the bad translations that I've read!) 

In all, if you are studying French, or speak it already....buy this book! 

: )

****

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Dorset Press 75th Anniversary Edition.


Dorsett Press, New York, 1988

ISBN 0-88-029-298-9

For a book that was meant to be a 75th Anniversary edition, it proved to be a bit disappointing in the fact that the story itself was edited! What was annoying was that all the descriptive elements were taken out, such as Erik naming the lake Averne after the Roman Mythological lake of the Dead, and other things like the dialogue between Christine and Erik and some of the events that happened when she was first taken to his home, as if it wasn't important! The same with the Persian's Narrative as well, and quite a few other areas. 

However, the book has some other interesting features such as a foreword by Peter Haining concerning the life and work of Leroux and the history of the Opera House, some pictures of the 1925 Silent film posters and one of ALW's musical (not in color), and two articles by literature students linking some areas with Sherlock Holmes and the story of the Opera Ghost. At least  with these added bits, the book is not a total loss. Yet, these sections cannot make up in my view for the cropping of the original story itself when you would expect something better from an anniversary edition. 

*****

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Piano /Vocal Score -Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera

Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation

ISBN 0-88188-615-7





This score is great fun! There is nothing like being able to play the songs from Phantom yourself!

There is a piano solo version available, but if you can only find the voice and piano book; don't worry. The accompaniment carries the melodies so you aren't left in the lurch with 'background'
music!

The songs are set in their actual keys so if you are interested in getting a copy for research purposes it will do. (Except that Music of the Night is actually in C#, not Db as in this book.) 
However, the key signatures for some of the songs for beginners can be a bit daunting! But not to worry, like all good popular music books today, the main accompaniment chords are given on top.

(And just a tip for those of you trying to get through the opening chords of Past the Point of  No Return; - just keep in mind that they are all in second position and go in a whole tone scale, you'll make it without bothering too much with all the accidentals!) : )

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