Improvising The Phantom of the Opera with Peter Richard Conte

Silently scary

Starring the iconic Lon Chaney, the father of cinematic horror, the 1925 Phantom is not only one of the most famous films of all time, but it has retained its petrifying power for nearly a century. In this production, the film will assume a menacing presence on a huge screen that sprawls before the cowering Verizon Hall audience. Conte, an acknowledged master of the secret art of organ improvisation, will unleash a barrage of music stretching from the skin-crawling creepy to the heavenly divine.

“It’s a thrilling feeling,” Conte told me via phone from Youngstown, Ohio, on Sunday, where he was preparing to accompany the silent film, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) for a large, terror-craving audience in a few hours. “The floor vibrates beneath your feet!” This is not surprising, since the state-of-the-art organs on which Conte performs link to hundreds of sonorous pipes and contain multiple keyboards including one for soles and heels. In Philly, Conte will play the legendary Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ, the largest mechanical action concert hall organ in the United States, sporting nearly 7,000 pipes, four blowers, 300 levels of memory and 111 stops. The production is part of this fall’s Philadelphia Orchestra season, but the orchestra will not participate in the concert. After all, here is an instrument that is a dead ringer for just about every sound produced in the traditional symphonic ensemble.

Conte’s performance will be a real treat for lovers of all forms of improvised music. Improvisation (taking a musical phrase and building it into something grand) is at the heart of many of the world’s oldest musical traditions, including jazz, the music of India, and the Western classical tradition before the modern era. Many listeners will be surprised to learn that the great French cathedral organists (Widor, Franck, Saint-Saens and others) were masters of improvisation and even improvised parts of the Mass. Conte does not recall exactly when or what attracted him to this freeform style of playing, but today he is recognized as a national expert and has taught organ improvisation at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, a leading music college in the Delaware Valley.

Playing to the chord of terror

Conte will not have any printed score in front of him as he shapes and teases melodies and harmonies into the perfect backgrounds for the feverish dramatic action unfolding on the Verizon Hall stage. Instead, he will refer to a cue sheet of scenes, noting the title cards which indicate the actor’s lines as well as visual cues in the film itself.

How important is music to film drama? Conte cites a study involving John Williams’ nail-biting score for Jaws. “Shown without the music, the scene showed a fish and a boat. With the heart-stopping music, however, the scene conveyed unforgettable terror!”

Peter Richard Conte has a busy season ahead following the one-night performance of Phantom. As the holidays approach, we will be able to catch him at the Wanamaker organ in downtown Macy’s, and later with the Philly Pops as the music scene returns to some semblance of normalcy. Together, artists and audiences are emerging from the most severe strictures of the pandemic. If all continues to go well, there will be many concerts on the horizon in early spring.

But for now, Halloween beckons, and Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor is on everyone’s Top Ten list. Conte looks forward to enchanting adults and children alike at this holiday special, but insists the show is all about the film, not just his performance. “The greatest compliment I can have,” Conte said, “is for people to forget I’m there. My improvisations and the organ exist to support and advance the drama, not detract from it.”