Beneath the magnificent Paris Opera House lies a labyrinth of eerie catacombs, inhabited by a Phantom who occasionally wreaks havoc within the opera house itself. He loves and desires the singer Christine. Through blackmail and targeted attacks, he forces the management to let Christine sing the lead roles in Gounod’s*Faust*. Finally, the mysteriously masked Phantom abducts his beloved and reveals his hideous face. Christine’s lover, Raoul, sets off in pursuit into the underworld and finds himself caught in one sadistic trap after another.

The stirring film score was composed by the Canadian composer Gabriel Thibaudeau in 1990 for a small orchestra, organ, synthesiser and soprano. It features excerpts from Gounod’s opera ‘Faust’ as well as eerily beautiful, spine-tingling sounds.

Lon Chaney shines in one of his most impressive performances, wearing one of the most remarkable masks in film history. This dynamic and entertainingly staged silent film features not only effective horror effects but also early colour footage, utilising striking hand-colouring to create particularly elegant effects. The film was so successful that it was re-released in cinemas in 1929, complete with sound and newly filmed scenes. Today, this early horror film is regarded as a milestone in the art of silent film. Exactly 100 years ago, it flickered across Weimar’s screens and was effusively praised in the advertising with the words: ‘The film that has been unanimously hailed by the world’s press as one of the greatest masterpieces of international cinema. (…) It is a feat, a magnificent creation.’ (Allgemeine Thüringische Landeszeitung Deutschland, Weimar, 14 January 1926).

Conductor Burkhard Götze, winner of the 2021 German Silent Film Award, is one of the leading experts in early film music; he has conducted renowned orchestras such as the Braunschweig State Orchestra, the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, has conducted numerous world premieres (including the silent film concerts as part of the Kunstfest in 2020 and 2021) and is at home in a wide range of genres. In 2017, he founded the Metropolis Orchestra Berlin, the first genuine cinema orchestra on European soil since the silent film era.