Prolific, globetrotting organist and recording artist Edward Norman is once again playing live organ to the silent 1925 film Phantom of the Opera. He will perform at Powell River Academy of Music this weekend.
Norman said he improvises on the spot as the movie unfolds.
“I include little recognizable motifs, from the original score, here and there,” he added. “I also reference [Charles] Gounod’s opera Faust, since that is clearly what is being performed throughout the movie. But the themes get absorbed and interwoven into my ongoing improvisation.”
Phantom of the Opera is an American silent horror adaptation of the 1910 novel, Le Fantôme de l'opéra by Gaston Leroux.
“Originally, in the 1920s, movies were still largely silent, but big theatres might have a small orchestra playing a set score; the more usual situation would be playing ‘on the fly,’ or improvising,” explained Norman. “A bigger town might have a Wirlitzer theatre organ, like the Orpheum in Vancouver, otherwise a pianist would supply the music.”
The music academy hopes the audience can “relieve the grey-ness of January with the suspense of a classic silent film, popcorn and the live music of Norman.”
The event takes place at 2 pm on Sunday, January 28, at James Hall, located 7280 Kemano Street.
