VCH Organ Series: Phantom of the Opera

26 October 2017 Victoria Concert Hall

DOROTHY PAPADAKOS organ

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Toccata in D minor, BWV 565 3’00 Improvised score by DOROTHY PAPADAKOS The Phantom of the Opera (Universal Pictures, 1929) 96’00 This evening’s screening of The Phantom of the Opera in Blu-Ray is presented by permission of Film Preservation Associates, Inc.

Dorothy Papadakos will sign autographs in the stalls foyer after the concert.

DOROTHY PAPADAKOS came to international attention as the first woman organist of the world’s largest gothic cathedral, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City from 1990-2003. A graduate of The Juilliard School and Barnard College, NYC, she is a member of the seven-time Grammy Award winning Paul Winter Consort and a published composer, author and playwright. Her musical BACCHUS (the first musical about wine) smashed box office records in its acclaimed world premiere in North Carolina and is now in development for Broadway. Her popular new book The Kingdom Of Winter launched in December 2016 and she and Sir Windham are working on the eagerly anticipated next book in the series, The Kingdom Of Spring. Other current projects include a new TV drama, screenplay and stage play. As a celebrated international performer and improviser, her annual Halloween tours of silent horror films on the world’s great pipe organs enjoy sold out houses and critical acclaim the world over. Please visit www.dorothypapadakos.com.

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Toccata in D minor, BWV 565 J.S. Bach’s Toccata in D minor is a thrilling sonic experience for organist and audience alike. It is widely associated with all things spooky, particularly The Phantom of the Opera, who is himself an infamous “mad organist”! Composed c.1705, the Toccata is improvisatory in nature, a fantasy with flourishes and dramatic crashing chords where organists can pull out all the stops!

The Phantom of the Opera (Universal Pictures, 1929) Originally a 1925 feature-length silent film directed by Rupert Julian, The Phantom of the Opera is a brilliant adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s famous novel. Starring in his most famous role, the Hollywood Golden Era legend, Lon Chaney, made Phantom after his great success with The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1923.

Starring Mary Philbin as Christine and Norman Kerry as Raoul, the film’s plot takes place in 1890s Paris. The Phantom, a mysterious cloaked figure, haunts the Paris Opera House. He causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to win the love of Christine, a rising young opera singer, by promising to make her the toast of Paris. At once a love story and a suspenseful thriller, the film showcases Lon Chaney’s extraordinary ability to evoke both terror and compassion for this complex character.

Production began in 1924 at Universal Studios and was fraught with troubles from the start. When the film previewed in Los Angeles in January 1925, reviews and audience reaction were disastrous, in spite of a 60-piece orchestra

accompanying the film with music from the opera Faust. The film’s release was pulled and the director was told to reshoot most of the film. Additional writers, directors and comic subplots were added. This version’s preview took place in San Francisco in April 1925 to even worse reviews! Nine writers and four directors later, the third and final version debuted in September 1925 in New York City’s Astor Theatre. The film was a hit and grossed over $2 million. Four years later, the 1929 edited re-release (the version we’re screening) became screen legend, ranking among the great classic horror films.

Improvising silent film organ accompaniments is nearly a lost art form. But for the few organists in the world who spontaneously conjure musical ideas for 90+ minutes, most silent films are shown with generic classical music or pre-planned underscore. It is my great joy to improvise a fresh new score each performance, as every audience, organ and venue are different and the threeway relationship between the audience, the actors and organist is different!

Programme notes by Dorothy Papadakos

Fun Facts & Urban Legends • Lon Chaney’s horrific, self-applied make-up was kept a studio secret until the premiere.

• The film originally contained 17 minutes of colour footage: the Faust opera scenes and the “Bal Masque”, both in an early two-colour form of Technicolor. Also, tinted footage was used to provide mood: amber for interiors, blue for night scenes, green for mysterious moods, red for fire and yellow for daylight exteriors.

• The famous unmasking scene reportedly made women in the audience scream and faint!

• This film is #52 on Bravo’s 100 Scariest Movie Moments and has been deemed “Culturally Significant” by the Library of Congress.

• In September 2014 Universal Studios crated and preserved the Opera House set in order to demolish Sound Stage 28, thought to have been haunted by Lon Chaney’s ghost.

THE KLAIS O

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First installed in 1987, the Victoria Concert Hall’s Klais organ was purchased through fundraising efforts from the then newly formed SSO Ladies’ League as a replacement for the St. Clair organ that had been built some 50 years earlier in 1931. The St. Clair organ was named after Major W. G. St. Clair, founder of the old Philharmonic Society and the first editor of the Singapore Free Press, and its façade was retained after the installation of the Klais organ.

In 2010, with the redevelopment of the Victoria Concert Hall and Victoria Theatre, the organ – consisting of a total of 2,012 pipes – was methodically removed piece by piece, repaired and stored in climate-controlled warehouses during the refurbishment period.

Being the only mechanical organ in Singapore, the Klais organ has strong emotional links with generations of audiences and many donors and supporters of classical music, notably the Lee Foundation, who have stepped forward to provide financial support for the restoration.

When the Victoria Concert Hall reopened in the second half of 2014, the organ once again took centrestage, providing awe-inspiring and delicate strains of music to old and new audiences.

We would like to thank the following organisations and individuals for donating towards the restoration of the Klais Organ.

Lee Foundation, Singapore Goh Yew Lin Far East Organization Ho Ching Mrs Christina Ong Low Check Kian Tan Kong Piat (Pte) Ltd Tow Heng Tan Bernard Tan Tiong Gie Winston Hauw Michael Koh Ann Kheng Richard P Armstrong Joseph Grimberg One North Capital Pte Ltd Tan Corporate Advisory Pte Ltd United Overseas Bank Ltd

Leong Wai Leng Wing Tai Holdings Limited Yeoh Chee Yan ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited Paul A. J. Supramaniam Auric Pacific Group Limited Heidrick & Struggles Bryan Manaf Ghows Santa Lucia Asset Management Andreas Sohmen-Pao Tan Boon Ngee American Women’s Association Chng Hak-Peng Dr Warren Lee’s Paediatrics Growth & Diabetes Centre Pte Ltd

20 November 2017 12.30pm I Victoria Concert Hall Niccolò Paganini was a prolific violinist, whose devilish virtuosity was unparalleled. His Caprice No. 24 in A minor for solo violin is a notoriously difficult piece to perform, and its theme has inspired many variations. Imagine playing the variations with only your feet, impossible you say? This incredible feat will be performed by Canadian professional organist Isabelle Demers, along with J.S. Bach’s intricate Prelude and Fugue in D major, excerpts from Demers’ own arrangement of Prokofiev’s ballet Cinderella which will transport you right to the doorsteps of the ballroom and Rachel Laurin’s Three Short Studies, Op. 68, culminating in a scintillating Finale from Louis Vierne’s Symphony No. 5.

Isabelle Demers, organ Free Admission Doors open half an hour before the concert.

Suitable for ages 5 and above. No admission for infants-in-arms.

VCH Tour: 1.30pm | Registration: 11.30am

PATRON SPONSOR

SPONSORED BY

SUPPORTED BY

Singapore Chapter of the American Guild of Organists

SSO.ORG.SG/VCHORGAN

ABOUT THE KLAIS ORGAN Mechanical Stop and Keyboard Action Windpressure: Manuals: 100mm Pedal: 120mm 3 Manual Combination Pedals Builder: Klais, Bonn 1987 PEDAL

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8’ 16’ 4 Ranks 2 Ranks 2’ 4’ 4’ 8’ 8’ 8’

Couplers:

I/Ped II/Ped II/I II/II 16’

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