A young girl fascinated with the Phantom of the Opera nurses him back to health and falls in love with him, despite his continued feelings for his first love and his efforts to escape his criminal past.
Inspector Leroux had witnessed the execution of the Phantom of the Opera. Justice had been served. So he thinks, until letters in a feminine hand arrive, hinting at the curious coincidence of a masked composer, Erik Costanzi, thriving in an Italian opera house and married to the former Parisian Diva, Meg Giry. Driven by outrage and a desire for revenge, the inspector tracks the Phantom to his new home. But there is another ghost from Erik's past, one who dogs the Phantom's steps, who sabotages the production of his newest opera, and who threatens the peace he has found with Meg and his family. Book IV, Phantom Death, is the last in the Phoenix of the Opera series. It continues and closes the story begun in The Phoenix of the Opera, and continued in Out of the Darkness: The Phantom's Journey and The Phantom's Opera.
Under the Paris Opera House lives a disfigured musical genius who uses music to win the love of a beautiful opera singer. The characters are portrayed as cats.
Known only as Erik Costanzi to the patrons of the Teatro dell'Opera and immersed in the world of music, the Phantom of the Opera believes his demons have been laid to rest. When a fire breaks out in the Teatro, Erik is thought to have died in the blaze. But he wakes-without memory and without an identity-in the arms of his former lover, Lucianna Fiortino. Given a chance to keep Erik to herself, Lucianna invents a fairy-tale past for him. She has him take the name of her dead husband, not realizing that she thus condemns him to live a fiction that spirals further and further out of control. Has Erik lost everything, including himself? Yet Meg cannot accept that her husband has died. She knows that the stranger who watches in the wings and sends her roses must be Erik. But someone else watches over both Erik and Meg, waiting for another chance at revenge. Only the Phantom can save them. Book III in the Phoenix of the Opera series, The Phantom's Opera continues the story begun in The Phoenix of the Opera and Out of the Darkness: The Phantom's Journey.
2019 HUGO AWARD FINALIST, BEST NOVEL The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets the joy and glamour of Eurovision in bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente's science fiction spectacle, where sentient races compete for glory in a galactic musical contest…and the stakes are as high as the fate of planet Earth. A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented—something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding. Once every cycle, the great galactic civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Species far and wide compete in feats of song, dance and/or whatever facsimile of these can be performed by various creatures who may or may not possess, in the traditional sense, feet, mouths, larynxes, or faces. And if a new species should wish to be counted among the high and the mighty, if a new planet has produced some savage group of animals, machines, or algae that claim to be, against all odds, sentient? Well, then they will have to compete. And if they fail? Sudden extermination for their entire species. This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick, and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny—they must sing. Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes have been chosen to represent their planet on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of Earth lies in their ability to rock.
Erik, the Phantom of the Opera, has escaped the hangman's noose and fled Paris for Italy with his bride, Meg. But the Phantom cannot so easily escape the demons that haunt him. Self-doubt and despair lead to a quarrel with Meg, who injures herself running from him. Despite his tender ministrations, when she comes to, Meg screams upon seeing the Phantom unmasked. Erik flees. The Phantom's journey takes him back to the sordid carnival-and the trauma-of his youth, to the luxurious home of the cruel and decadent nobleman Don Ponzio and his desperate and beautiful wife Lucianna, and to a battle between the man and the monster within. While Erik finds himself trapped in a complex weave of seduction and violence, Meg, recovered from her injury, is beset by suitors, one of whom is the handsome yet ominous Giovanni. But Meg longs for one man only. Will she draw Erik back to her? Can she inspire the Phantom to love himself and her enough to create a life together? Will Giovanni prove an obstacle to their happiness? Out of the Darkness continues the story of Sadie Montgomery's dark hero, his beloved Meg, and their stalwart friends Raoul and Christine.
This text tells how opera, steeped in European aristocratic tradition, was transplanted into the democratic cultural enviroment of America. It includes vignettes of productions, personalities, audiences and theatres throughout the country from 1735 to the present day.
Written by an opera insider and featuring an introduction by Placido Domingo, here is a thorough, friendly, and truly complete guide to learning how to love and appreciate the opera. After a brief history of opera, the book includes a guide to operatic terms, a minute-by-minute listener's guide to 11 central works, a list of recommended books and recordings and much more.
A Song of Love and Death examines the art of opera with the same creative insight that Susan Sontag's On Photography brought to its medium. It is an eloquent inquiry into the meaning of our boldest art, its expression of human irrationality and its power to disturb and excite us.