There have been many literary and dramatic works based on Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera, ranging from light operas to films to children's books. Some well known stage and screen adaptations of the novel are the 1925 silent film and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (see The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)); Susan Kay's 1990 Phantom is one of the best known novels and includes in-depth study of Erik's life and experiences.
"The Phantom of the Opera" is a song from the stage musical of the same name, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and additional lyrics by Mike Batt. The song is performed in Act One after the song Angel of Music (The Mirror) and before The Music of the Night. It takes place as the Phantom escorts Christine by boat to his lair beneath the Opera Garnier. It is sung as a duet by Christine and the Phantom. In this song, Christine sings her highest note in the show, an E6, at the end of the song.
What makes this particular song unique is its unusual hard rock style, while most of the songs in the musical have a more operatic style. Early in the musical's production, Andrew Lloyd Webber met with Jim Steinman, who described "The Phantom of the Opera" as a rock song invading an opera house. This is what inspired the hard rock style of the song, which influenced all of the rock-based instruments in the song including drums and electric guitar.
The song "The Phantom of the Opera" was covered in 2002 by the Finnish symphonic power metal quintet Nightwish and released on the album Century Child. This particular version of the song, with Tarja Turunen (soprano) singing Christine's part and Marco Hietala (baritone/tenor) singing the part of The Phantom, is set in a different register to the original version written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. On the recorded version, the female vocalization at the end of the song is slightly different to the original, however, when the song is performed live, the vocalization is the same.
The song was also covered by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on their show-tune album, Are A Drag. Also, in Rufus Wainwright's song Between My Legs, from the album Release the Stars, the last 30 seconds plays the main theme from this song. The song was also covered by X Factor finalist, Rhydian Roberts, for which Lord Lloyd Webber wrote a male solo version specially for the artist.
"Phantom of the Opera" is a song from Iron Maiden's debut album Iron Maiden. It was written by Steve Harris. It is the fourth track from the original US & UK album releases, and was the fifth track from the remastered 1998 release CD.
Phantom of the Opera has a rather complex song structure, beginning with a complex intro riff, proceeding into the main riff, then vocals emerge, then the song changes after 3 verses; first there is a slow muted riff, then a slow legato solo, then on to a 2 string harmonized guitar lick, then two more solos before returning to the main theme. The song is considered the basis for many of Iron Maiden's classic epic songs.
About 10 seconds of silence after the song ends, singer Paul Di'Anno screams the line, "You torture me back at your lair!"
The song was used as the backing music for a Lucozade advertisement in the early 1980's.
The song is derivative of "Children of the Grave" by Black Sabbath.
