The Tower Theater was dark Wednesday morning, save the glow on the silver screen, images from another era showing Lon Chaney terrorizing Mary Philbin in an opulent Paris opera house.
And yet, as the 1925 "Phantom of the Opera" flickered on the screen, another light in the lower left corner of the theater could be glimpsed, a little glow over some papers on a keyboard as full-bodied organ, piano and choral music filled the theater.Seated at the synthesizer was a well-dressed, distinguished-looking gentleman, playing music as he glanced up at the screen, pausing every now and then to write notes to himself on the paper above the keyboard.
The setting itself wasn't so remarkable, though the music played was most enjoyable, perfectly suited to the film's changing moods, a mix of familiar classical themes, along with some original compositions.
What was most remarkable was to discover afterward that it was the musician's first time seeing "The Phantom of the Opera," that he had never played a synthesizer before and that the entire score was improvised.
Leonid Nemirovskii, a talented and internationally accomplished pianist and organist, is from Moscow, where he was a composer, musician and teacher. A serious student of silent film, he has often appeared as a lecturer on the subject, playing and speaking in various forums, including Soviet state television. In 1988 he was invited to play at the World Forum of the Silent Movies in Pordenon, Italy.
He also often played organ or piano at Moscow's Keno Theater, mostly for European or Russian silent cinema, but occasionally for such American films as "Broken Blossoms." He also has a special fondness for the works of Charlie Chaplin.
"It was a hobby for 10 years," he said, expressing his love for the silent era. "The silents were the best, the Golden Age."
After several months in Salt Lake City, Nemirovskii missed playing for silent movies, something he expressed to a friend who told him about the Cinema in Your Face! Theater showing "Nosferatu" and "Metropolis" with live accompaniment last year.
Cinema in Your Face! is now defunct, as owner-operator Greg Tanner has moved Salt Lake's only art movie house to the Tower Theater at 876 E. 900 South. So Nemirovskii approached Tanner about reviving silents at the Tower.
"He just walked in while I was running a film," Tanner said, "and, in halting English, told me he was a pianist and had played music for silent films in Moscow, and he asked if I'd be interested in having him do it here."
They struck a deal, and Nemirovskii will play for "The Phantom of the Opera" Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25 and 26, two shows each night. And next month, Nov. 29 and 30, he will play for Chaplin's "The Gold Rush." And yes, he'll play Chaplin's own score - mostly.
"He likes doing Chaplin," Tanner said, "and I figured it would be nice to have something dark and sinister before Halloween and then have some comedy. We're going to try something different every month."
With the help of a translator, Ziba Marashi, a graduate in Russian from the University of Utah, Nemirovskii said he found the synthesizer a bit difficult at first, something that was not apparent to the three critics who made up his first American audience.
Though he made extensive notes to himself during his rehearsal, Nemirovskii said he will still improvise during performances. "The artist must always be in contact with the public," he explained. "The public sometimes dictates their own feelings and I will try to interpret them."
His first impression of Chaney's "Phantom"?
"It is most stirring, most impressive."
The same could be said for Nemirovskii's music.