about his role, Fukuyama said that he almost did not take the role of Albert due to auditioning for another project when the script for Gankutsuou was sent to him. However his audition for the first project was a failure, and though disappointed it left him able to play Albert. Hirakawa, Franz's voice actor, was originally going to be cast as Albert. When Hirakawa arrived at the audition for Albert, a mix-up caused Hirakawa to be given Franz's lines. Rather than immediately correcting the mistake, Maeda tried out Hirakawa for the role of Franz and decided to keep him. Music Several pieces of original music for Gankutsuou were composed by Jean-Jacques Burnel, bass guitarist for the British rock band the Stranglers. Burnel and Louie Nicastro handled instrumentation and arrangements, additional guitars were handled by Baz Warne, and vocals were provided by Burnel and Phillipa Cookman. Burnel was directly invited onto the project by Maeda, who flew to London to ask him in person. Maeda, who was a fan of Burnel's work, explained his artistic vision for the anime, and Burnel agreed to compose. He worked from his own country, then sent the completed themes to Japan, where they were arranged to fit the animation and pace where needed. Additional musical pieces and arrangements were done by Koji Kasamatsu and Reiji Kitazato. The music covers multiple genres, including opera and electronic dance. Maeda initially intended the Count's character theme to be the Manfred Symphony from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Burnel had already composed an original character theme, and the rest of the production staff successfully overruled Maeda to keep Burnel's work. The Count's theme mixed original music with samples from Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony, Robert le diable by Giacomo Meyerbeer, and Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. The classical music was arranged by Kasamatsu, who was the series sound designer. The opening theme "We Were Lovers" and ending theme "You won't see me coming" were composed and sung by Burnel. The lyrics for all songs were written by Burnel. A soundtrack album, Gankutsuou Original Soundtrack, was released on February 23, 2005 through the Victor Entertainment label Flying Dog. The album featured all music used in the anime including the opening and ending themes. A second album featuring the classical music sampled in the main soundtrack was released by Victor Entertainment on April 13, 2005. Both albums remain exclusive to Japan. Broadcast Gankutsuou was first