Leroux's "phantom" was....

[yanni]

...Gioachino Cocchi aka le comte de Saint Germain, C.W. Gluck, F.M.Grimm, Chastellux and J.J.Rousseau.

"They" -alltogether-will certainly "haunt" opera to eternity, there is however specific evidence as well: "Don Juan triumphant" points to Gluck's "Don Giovanni"-defined presently as a "ballet"-produced in Vienna 1761, ie early in Gluck's reformation period (1761-67), ie Leroux expresses a wish for his triumphant return . The phantom's persian companion-guard points furthermore to the "Gullistan" (Persia) history of the family, including our hero's Nikita "K" ancestor, himself as well as his grandson (Stroganov) who spent sometime in Persia.

see http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=39455

[Phangirl7]

It would be interesting to see if this is true.
P.G.7.

[yanni]

The "Persian" identified above as "grandson Stroganov" must instead read "grandson Saltykov", ie Alexis Saltykov (grandson of "Serge/Nikolai Saltykov", ie our hero).

Quoting Wikipedia
...his early days are somewhat of a mystery. He grew up in St Petersburg and at the age of eighteen joined the diplomatic services with the Russian State Board (Collegium) for Foreign Affairs in Moscow. By the age of 23 he was with the Russian Foreign Service, first in Constantinople, then in Athens, later in London, Florence, Rome, and Teheran.[3] In 1840 Alexis retired and moved to Paris where he planned his voyages to India. He ended up making two voyages there (1841-43 and 1844-46), and achieving the sobriquet 'The Indian' from the Russian and French aristocracy. In 1849 he published a selection of his letters in French accompanied by his drawings , which became very well known in Europe "Lettres sur L’Inde". Paris,1848). In 1851 the book was translated into Russian and became an instant success: it truly enraptured the Russian reading public [4]. The drawings were published separately in London in 1859 as "Drawings on the Spot".

[yanni]

On the evening of Friday, June 8, 1781, the Académie royale de musique presented a performance of Glück's famous Orfeo ed Euridice and an act from M.M. Rey's, Apollon et Coronis. Around eight thirty in the evening, after all the spectators had left the theatre, Dauvergne, the director, noticed that part of the stage curtain had caught fire. Not looking very serious, he first called for water, but there was none. He then tried to cut the cords from which the curtain was hung, but that only resulted in igniting other parts of the curtain. By the time the firemen arrived, it was too late and the Opéra was engulfed in flames (C. Gabillot, ``L'Incendie de L'Opéra en 1781", Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1913, pp. 26-36). Robert, who was living nearby in rooms in the Louvre, captured this spectacular and terrifying disaster in a number of eye-witness paintings and drawings. From the Académie de peinture, Robert was able to open up windows onto this horrifying scene and sketch the event as he saw it unfold. One can imagine him furiously sketching and capturing the view of the building engulfed in flames. The next day, while the ruins were still smoldering, Robert sketched the remains and possibly conceived the idea for another view of the ruined interior of the building itself. Robert exhibited two such views in the Salon of 1781

also see http://www.bridgemanartondemand.com/...-Royal_in_1781

[isidro]

Interesting ideas. Have we any real concrete evidence in Leroux's own words?

[yanni]

You should know better, Isidro, than to place your trust to a fiction author...and moreover a "Leroux"...