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In 1997 Santiago Rodriguez
and the Fairfax Virginia Symphony
:45:04
made a new digital recording for CD.
:45:06
Rodriguez wrote his own
conjectural ending for the concerto,
:45:10
as it is abruptly terminated in the movie
by the cave-in of the catacombs.
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Phantom's source music posed problems.
:45:18
Legitimate operas that would appeal
to middlebrow audiences were desired.
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Universal did not want to pay for them.
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Existing operas considered
were Borodin's Prince lgor,
:45:28
then, as late as December 23, La Traviata,
still with Gloria Jean in mind.
:45:33
By December 29 the lead actors
still were not set in stone.
:45:37
The terms for La Traviata
came in at $2,250,
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but publishing clearances were needed
for occupied France and Belgium,
:45:45
where the rights
were controlled by Loew's.
:45:48
Waggner may have steered the
production towards creating new operas
:45:52
so that he could receive ASCAP royalties.
In mid-December the hunt encompassed
:45:56
Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet
Overture", songs by Edvard Grieg,
:46:01
songs by George Frederick Handel,
and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade,
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all to be hammered into
original operatic form.
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Handel was determined public domain.
:46:10
Grieg was still in copyright in all
foreign countries, as was Tchaikovsky,
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as was Rimsky-Korsakov.
Worldwide clearance was critical.
:46:18
"This is important in foreign countries."
:46:20
"If they get a motion-picture company
in court there,
:46:23
the damages run into real dollars."
:46:27
By early January, with filming
already begun, a panic was on.
:46:30
César Franck's Symphony in D Minor
was on the table,
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along with Ippolitov-Ivanov's Caucasian
Sketches, as basis for a Russian opera.
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Franck's publisher was in Paris and could
not be contacted due to the occupation.
:46:43
Glazunov's Concerto in A Minor
was suggested,
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but it too was still in European copyright.
We know by this point
:46:50
that Claudin's music was supposed to be
forward-Iooking and modern,
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but nothing can explain
the craziest music note of all:
:46:56
"Urgently await word on
'The Caissons Go Rolling Along'."