Updated April 1, 2006
1. Who is Christine Daaé?
Christine Daaé is the new rising star at the Paris Opera.
2. How is Daaé pronounced?
Die'-yay.
3. Where does she come from?
Christine was born in a small town not far from Uppsala, Sweden where her mother was a homemaker and her father tilled the land and sang bass in the church choir. After Christine's mother died when she was 6, her father sold their land and took her with him to Uppsala where he sought fame as a violinist but wound up losing all their money. They then began traveling the countryside, playing fair after fair until Professor Valerius heard them and took them into his home in Götebourg. When the Valerius' moved to Paris, Christine and her father went with them. Christine remained with Madame Valerius as her ward after her father and the professor died.
4. What is her educational background?
Christine's father taught her her musical scales before she could read. When the Daaés moved in with the Valerius', the professor provided for Christine's education and music training. Christine received her degree from l'Ecole de Musique in Paris.
5. Vital statistics?
Christine is 5' 5", petite, auburn hair (although we believe she is a natural blonde), fair complexion, cute nose, exquisite mouth, big bright eyes you could drown in, yadda yadda yadda :)
6. Is Christine married?
*sigh* Pretty much. She is engaged to the Vicomte de Chagny, although it was never formally announced. But just between us, we don't think it will last ;)
7. How did she get into opera? How did she rise from understudy to diva?
Christine's father was a naturally talented musician and apparently he passed those genes down to his daughter. As a child, Christine sang in country fairs throughout Sweden and Professor Valerius nurtured her talent after taking the Daaés in. After her father died, Christine lost all her enthusiasm for singing. She did study at l'Ecole de Musique and win a prize, but it was more to please her benefactress than for herself. After receiving her degree, her career took a turn when she joined the Paris Opera as a ballerina, apparently eschewing singing for good.
When La Carlotta was suddenly unable to perform, Christine was allowed an impromptu audition. It went so well that the managers decided to go forward with the production. Her performance was so spectacular that she immediately became the toast of Paris.
8. What is Christine's view on the possibility of angels and ghosts?
A quote from CD can sum it up better than I could:
"the spirits of the dead are all about us, especially the souls of those who loved us and of the saints to whom we pray. [...] I know that there are other spirits very different from us, full of great powers. There are the wicked devils and angels, many many beautiful angels. Archangels, seraphim, cherubim, and... others." (Shamelessly stolen from Dr. Henry Vernier)
9. What is Christine Daaé like?
From all reports she is a very kind, hardworking, and charming young woman with a gentle and caring personality (in other words a heartbreaker to us guys) who genuinely enjoys her work even though she found it stressful at first with all the unexplained accidents and murders, though you wouldn't guess it from her consistently extraordinary performances. She shows a genuine interest in the work of all the employees at the Opera, and they all have nice things to say about her.
10. Does Christine have any nicknames?
The Italian press have dubbed her "La Divina."
11. Does Christine have any body modifications?
She's 100% natural, baby! Well, except maybe the hair...
12. Does Christine know that the CDTB exists?
The internet hasn't been invented yet, so I doubt that she knows about us.
13. What is Christine's phone number / email address, etc?
Aside from a vague idea of where her apartment is, we don't have much information; which is just as well, we think. Since computers are still a good century away from being created, we doubt she has an email address. As far as a contact address for fan mail, gifts, and such:*
Christine Daaé
c/o Opera de Paris
8 rue Scribe
75009 Paris
14. What are Christine's other performances?
On stage, Christine has performed the roles of Siebel and Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, Elissa in Chalumeau's Hannibal, and Serafimo and the Countess in Albrizzio's Il Muto, as well as Rachel in Halévy's La Juive. She has also performed privately for the Duchess of Zurich. Her repetoire includes pieces from Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet, Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment.
15. Where can I find photographs of Christine?
Christine hasn't done many official photo shoots as far as *we* know, so the best place to find images of her is the Internet (that's how we found all of ours!).
* This site is for entertainment purposes only. Sending fan mail to the Palais Garnier addressed to a fictious character will just make you look like a loony.
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or suggestions to masked_maestro@yahoo.com
