The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera (French: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialization in "Le Gaulois" from 23 September 1909, to 8 January 1910. It was published in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierre Lafitte. The novel is partly inspired by historical events at the Paris Opera during the nineteenth century and an apocryphal tale concerning the use of a former ballet pupil's skeleton in Carl Maria von Weber's 1841 production of "Der Freischütz". It has been successfully adapted into various
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical) and Canadian productions. The recording of the 1986 original London cast, released by Polydor Records in 1987, was released in both a single CD "Highlights From The Phantom of the Opera" and a two CD "Phantom of the Opera", both of which have been certified 4× Platinum in the US and sold 4.97 million copies as of January 2017. "The Complete Recordings" edition has sold 507,000 copies since 1991. "Phantom" was also certified 3× Platinum in the UK. The Canadian cast recording went 2× Platinum in Canada. In Switzerland, "Phantom" was certified 3× Platinum and "Highlights" was certified 2× Platinum.