He then brings down the large chandelier on the audience, causing chaos. Garron plans to have Liszt play Claudin’s concerto after the performance, but the Phantom strangles one of Raoul's men and heads to the auditorium's domed ceiling. To catch the Phantom, Raoul comes up with a plan: not let Christine sing during a performance of the (fictional) Russian opera Le prince masqué du Caucase ('The Masked Prince of the Caucasus') to lure the Phantom out into the open. The following night, the Phantom kills Biancarolli and her maid, and the opera is subsequently closed.Īfter some time, the opera's owners receive a note demanding that Christine replace Biancarolli.

Biancarolli says she will forget the affair only if Christine's performance is not mentioned in the papers. Biancarolli, who suspects that Garron and Christine are responsible for drugging her, orders Raoul to arrest them, but he says he cannot because there is no evidence. The director puts Christine in her place, and she dazzles the audience with her singing. Biancarolli drinks, knocking her unconscious. Now wanted for murder, Claudin flees into the sewers of the Opera and covers his disfigurement with a prop mask stolen from the Opera house, thus becoming the Phantom.ĭuring a performance of the opera Amour et Gloire, The Phantom drugs a glass of wine which prima donna Mme. Georgette, the publisher's assistant, throws etching acid in Claudin’s face, horribly scarring him. Claudin hears his concerto being played in the office and is convinced that Pleyel is trying to steal it unbeknownst to him, a visiting Franz Liszt had been playing and endorsing the concerto. After weeks of not hearing a response about his concerto, he becomes worried and returns to the publisher, Maurice Pleyel, to ask about it. In a desperate attempt to earn money, Claudin submits a piano concerto he has written for publication. Christine considers them both good friends but doesn't openly express if she loves them.

But famed opera baritone Anatole Garron hopes to win Christine's heart. Meanwhile, Christine is pressured by Inspector Raoul Dubert to quit the Opera and marry him. Unbeknownst to the conductor, who assumes Claudin can support himself, the musician has used all his money to help anonymously fund voice lessons for Christine Dubois, a young soprano to whom he is devoted. Violinist Erique Claudin is dismissed from the Paris Opera House after revealing that he is losing the use of the fingers of his left hand. Claude Rains as the Phantom of the Opera.

Phantom of the opera 2004 unmasked