La Carlotta
and who influence her character
Her names in different versions
la Carlotta (Leroux)
της Καρλότας/ tis Karlótas (Greek Translation)
Madame Biancarolli (1943 Movie)
Maria (1962 Movie)
Madame Brigida Bianchi (1983 Movie)
La Carlotta (1989 Movie)
Carlotta Giudicelli (ALW Musical)
Carlotta Cholet (Yeston & Kopit Musical)
Carlotta Altieri (1998 Movie)
la Carlotta (Leroux)
της Καρλότας/ tis Karlótas (Greek Translation)
Madame Biancarolli (1943 Movie)
Maria (1962 Movie)
Madame Brigida Bianchi (1983 Movie)
La Carlotta (1989 Movie)
Carlotta Giudicelli (ALW Musical)
Carlotta Cholet (Yeston & Kopit Musical)
Carlotta Altieri (1998 Movie)
'No heart or soul to her singing but a marvelous instrument.
Sang in disreputable taverns in Barcelona.'
Sang in disreputable taverns in Barcelona.'
| About the Character | Adelina Patti & Carlotta Patti | The Croak |
| Marie Carvalho | Gabrielle Krauss | Carlotta Grisi | Rose Caron | Mathilde Mallinger |
| Mysterious Illness & No-show Diva | The Chandelier Crash |
| Marie Carvalho | Gabrielle Krauss | Carlotta Grisi | Rose Caron | Mathilde Mallinger |
| Mysterious Illness & No-show Diva | The Chandelier Crash |
"La Carlotta possessed neither a heart nor a soul. She was simply an instrument. Certainly, a magnificent instrument, but an instrument none the less, whose repertoire included everything that could tempt the ambitions of a grand artist. From German masters, to the Italians, as well as the French. Never before, had La Carlotta sang out of key, nor lacked the volume to her belt necessary to carry her through any of the works in her immense repertoire. In short, the instrument was extensive, powerful and admirably accurate. ” ~ The chapter in which MM. Firmin Richard and Armand Moncharmin have the audacity to put “Faust” on in a house with a “curse” upon it and the dreadful event that resulted, Fd'lO by Gaston Leroux
La Carlotta was based off of a few very real Divas. Leroux was an avid Opera lover and certainly was well aware of quite a few famous ladies of the stage even writing articles about them.
"Oh Carlotta, where was your soul, when you danced in the dingy brothels of Barcelona? Where was it, when you later sang in Paris, on sad makeshift stages in those seedy music-halls, where you performed your cynical verses? Where was your soul when, in the homes of one of your lovers, in front of gathered masters you made this meek instrument resonate, whose only glory was that it sang with the same indifferent perfection rather it had been a song about sublime love or the most debauched orgy? Oh Carlotta, if at one point you did indeed have a soul and then lost it, then you would have certainly found it again when you sang Juliet, or when you were Elvira, Ophelia, or Marguerite! For others have risen from lower places than you and their talent, helped by love, was purified!
~Visit to box 5, The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux
La Carlotta was based off of a few very real Divas. Leroux was an avid Opera lover and certainly was well aware of quite a few famous ladies of the stage even writing articles about them.
"Oh Carlotta, where was your soul, when you danced in the dingy brothels of Barcelona? Where was it, when you later sang in Paris, on sad makeshift stages in those seedy music-halls, where you performed your cynical verses? Where was your soul when, in the homes of one of your lovers, in front of gathered masters you made this meek instrument resonate, whose only glory was that it sang with the same indifferent perfection rather it had been a song about sublime love or the most debauched orgy? Oh Carlotta, if at one point you did indeed have a soul and then lost it, then you would have certainly found it again when you sang Juliet, or when you were Elvira, Ophelia, or Marguerite! For others have risen from lower places than you and their talent, helped by love, was purified!
~Visit to box 5, The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux
Adelina Patti & Carlotta
La Carlotta lived in a little hotel in the Rue du Faubourg-Saint Honore
&
was partly based off of the most famous diva at the time Adelina Patti and Patti LuPone is her great grand nice.
"Carlotta Patti was in a wheelchair. Her (elder sister), Adelina Patti was very competitive with Christine Nilsson. French critics were constantly comparing their styles: making fun of Christine's Swedish accent on the one hand but stating that Adelina Patti could not sing as high or as gracefully, on the other. Both Patti sisters were infamous divas of the French opera. If one is convinced that Leroux gave his heroine the background of Christine Nilsson, it makes sense that the Patti sisters might be used as Carlotta. To begin with, the name "Carlotta" is a convenient coincidence. Additionally, Adelina Patti wrote fairly cattish things about Nilsson, an example of which can be seen in the article she wrote entitled The Art of Song, Yesterday and To-day. Incidentally, with regard to the time capsules buried under the Opera Garnier, "Patti" is one of names listed as a voice included in the recordings. (See the Opera Garnier Time Capsule Roster (this is an MS Word.doc)... Too bad a Nilsson recording wasn't also included. " ~ (Leatha Ann Betts)
Adelina Patti was an Italian-French Opera lyric soprano and was one of the most famous Sopranos in history for her birdlike purity and an unmatched bel canto technique. Her sisters Amalia and Carlotta Patti was also a singers. Carlotta Patti "...was very popular on the concert stage, sharing with her sister wonderful facility of execution and beautiful quality of voice. Probably no singer of her time traveled so extensively as Carlotta Patti, who is said to have visited every part of the world in which a concert could be successfully given. In 1879 she married Mr. Ernst de Munck, of Weimar, a violoncellist, but ten years later she died." ~ Famous Singers of To-day and Yesterday, by Henry C. Lahee. Adelina Patti was one of the most famous and highest paid singers of her day. How interesting that when her and her sister were originally compared to each other it was said her sister Carlotta had a superior voice to hers.
Interestingly enough Patti was on tour in America from 1881-1882 not France or even Paris and she did so poorly when she got there from over charging for tickets to a singing a repertoire that was trite and out of touch with her American audience. She had to fire her French manager and higher an American one.
I want to take this time to give a huge shout out to Leatha Ann Betts and Carrie Hernandez who both sent me down a path to try and find even more information out and try my best to preserve theirs to inform for future generations to come. How much of this story was indeed real or at least in part based on real life people and events.
♫ Hear Her Sing Ah Non Credea Mirarti ~ ( La Sonnambula ) ♫
♫ Hear Her Sing Don Giovanni , Batti, Batti, O Bel Masetto (From the Paris Opera Time Capsule) ♫
ref The Art of Song, Yesterday and To-day by Adelina Patti
&
was partly based off of the most famous diva at the time Adelina Patti and Patti LuPone is her great grand nice.
"Carlotta Patti was in a wheelchair. Her (elder sister), Adelina Patti was very competitive with Christine Nilsson. French critics were constantly comparing their styles: making fun of Christine's Swedish accent on the one hand but stating that Adelina Patti could not sing as high or as gracefully, on the other. Both Patti sisters were infamous divas of the French opera. If one is convinced that Leroux gave his heroine the background of Christine Nilsson, it makes sense that the Patti sisters might be used as Carlotta. To begin with, the name "Carlotta" is a convenient coincidence. Additionally, Adelina Patti wrote fairly cattish things about Nilsson, an example of which can be seen in the article she wrote entitled The Art of Song, Yesterday and To-day. Incidentally, with regard to the time capsules buried under the Opera Garnier, "Patti" is one of names listed as a voice included in the recordings. (See the Opera Garnier Time Capsule Roster (this is an MS Word.doc)... Too bad a Nilsson recording wasn't also included. " ~ (Leatha Ann Betts)
Adelina Patti was an Italian-French Opera lyric soprano and was one of the most famous Sopranos in history for her birdlike purity and an unmatched bel canto technique. Her sisters Amalia and Carlotta Patti was also a singers. Carlotta Patti "...was very popular on the concert stage, sharing with her sister wonderful facility of execution and beautiful quality of voice. Probably no singer of her time traveled so extensively as Carlotta Patti, who is said to have visited every part of the world in which a concert could be successfully given. In 1879 she married Mr. Ernst de Munck, of Weimar, a violoncellist, but ten years later she died." ~ Famous Singers of To-day and Yesterday, by Henry C. Lahee. Adelina Patti was one of the most famous and highest paid singers of her day. How interesting that when her and her sister were originally compared to each other it was said her sister Carlotta had a superior voice to hers.
Interestingly enough Patti was on tour in America from 1881-1882 not France or even Paris and she did so poorly when she got there from over charging for tickets to a singing a repertoire that was trite and out of touch with her American audience. She had to fire her French manager and higher an American one.
I want to take this time to give a huge shout out to Leatha Ann Betts and Carrie Hernandez who both sent me down a path to try and find even more information out and try my best to preserve theirs to inform for future generations to come. How much of this story was indeed real or at least in part based on real life people and events.
♫ Hear Her Sing Ah Non Credea Mirarti ~ ( La Sonnambula ) ♫
♫ Hear Her Sing Don Giovanni , Batti, Batti, O Bel Masetto (From the Paris Opera Time Capsule) ♫
ref The Art of Song, Yesterday and To-day by Adelina Patti
"The whole scene rises before me now, as clearly as it stood out when I was the little -the very little- child, alternately ridid and quivering with my first stage fright, that anxious dismay which, in all the years that have passed since then, has never once failed to lie in wait for me as I went out upon the stage...
They charged fifty cents for the tickets... which, before the door keep received the last of them, had admitted thousands of music lovers to the old Metropolitan Hall, in New York. How vast, and how distinguished, that first audience -my first audience- seemed to my childish eyes! When I came out to sing, there was not enough of me to be discerned upon the board stage; so a table, that had been brought from the wings, served for tiny Adelina's pedestal of song. Raised for the moment in spirit, as well as height, the needful bravery flowed upon me; and I sang with all my heart- sang " Casta Diva," from "Norma" until, at the end the great throng seemed to go mad in its applause. They called out to me; they shouted to me, and the ladies, in their enthusiasm, began to come to the stage to give me the jewels they wore. How they sparkled, and how Adelina, half distracted by the glittering, proffered gems, forsook her pedestal and gathered up her sudden riches, her baby hands at least overflowing with rings and brooches... No one then who had attained to fame would find a word to say that was not kind and, often more then generous. Among them all, one of the loveliest natures was that of Jenny Lind... Every year, for very many years, I have sung in Covent Garden... Only a little while before she died, when I was singing in Covent Garden, Sir Arthur Sullivan saw Jenny Lind in one of the boxes. He hastened to her, and his first words was: "So you've some all the way from Malvern to hear Patto sing to-night?" "I wouldn't miss her," She answered. "But,"rejoined Sullivan, teasing, "Do you not think Nilsson fine?" "Oh,"was her reply, "Nilsson is a wonderful singer. But, for me, there is only one Niagra Falls; and there is only one Patti..." ~ Excepts from; The Art of Song, Yesterday and To-day by Adelina Patti (reprinted from The Independent, March 17, 1904. Vol. 56. page 606-609, ref POTO Magazine Millenium Edition 86) |
"Croak!"
"...a toad madam?"
Christina Nilsson
"While speaking of Nilsson, I want to record that I was present on the night, much later, when she practically murdered the high register of her voice. She had five upper notes the quality of which was unlike any other I ever heard and that possessed a peculiar charm. The tragedy happened during a performance of The Magic Flute in London and I was in the Newcastles' box, which was near the stage. Nilsson was the Queen of the Night, one of her most successful early rôles. The second aria in The Magic Flute is more famous and less difficult than the first aria and, also, more effective. Nilsson knew well the ineffectiveness of the ending of the first aria in the two weakest notes of a soprano's voice, A natural and B flat. I never could understand why a master like Mozart should have chosen to use them as he did. There is no climax to the song. One has to climb up hard and fast and then stop short in the middle. It is an appalling thing to do: and that night Nilsson took those two notes at the last in chest tones.
"Great heavens!" I gasped, "what is she doing? What is the woman thinking of!"
Of course I knew she was doing it to get volume and vibration and to give that trying climax some character. But to say that it was a fatal attempt is to put it mildly. She absolutely killed a certain quality in her voice there and then and she never recovered it. Even that night she had to cut out the second great aria. Her beautiful high notes were gone for ever. Probably the fatality was the result of the last stroke to a continued strain which she had put upon her voice. After that she, like Mario, began to be dramatic to make up for what she had lost. She, the classical and cold artist, became full of expression and animation. But the later Nilsson was very different from the Nilsson whom I first heard in Paris during the winter of 1868, when, besides singing the music perfectly, she was, with her blond hair and broad brow, a living Ophélie."
(ref 'Truth "Truth Cultrores fraud." --Cicero. No. 261. Vol.XI Thursday, December 29, 1881.'
"Great heavens!" I gasped, "what is she doing? What is the woman thinking of!"
Of course I knew she was doing it to get volume and vibration and to give that trying climax some character. But to say that it was a fatal attempt is to put it mildly. She absolutely killed a certain quality in her voice there and then and she never recovered it. Even that night she had to cut out the second great aria. Her beautiful high notes were gone for ever. Probably the fatality was the result of the last stroke to a continued strain which she had put upon her voice. After that she, like Mario, began to be dramatic to make up for what she had lost. She, the classical and cold artist, became full of expression and animation. But the later Nilsson was very different from the Nilsson whom I first heard in Paris during the winter of 1868, when, besides singing the music perfectly, she was, with her blond hair and broad brow, a living Ophélie."
(ref 'Truth "Truth Cultrores fraud." --Cicero. No. 261. Vol.XI Thursday, December 29, 1881.'
Cornélie Falcon
Falcon's singing career was cut short. She catastrophically lost her voice during the second performance of Stradella in March 1837. When Nourrit as Stradella asked her "Demain nous partirons – voulez-vous?" ('We leave tomorrow, are you willing?'), Falcon was unable to sing her line "Je suis prête" ('I am ready'), fainted, and was carried offstage by Nourrit. Berlioz, who was present, describes "raucous sounds like those of a child with croup, guttural, whistling notes that quickly faded like those of a flute filled with water". Falcon resumed performances, but her vocal difficulties continued, and she gave her last regular performance there in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots on 15 January 1838. She resorted to all sorts of bogus treatments and remedies and moved to Italy for 18 months in the hope that the climate would have a beneficial effect.
(ref https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornélie_Falcon)
(ref https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornélie_Falcon)
Other Inspiration for La Carlotta
Marie Caroline Miolan-Carvalho
Regarding Gounod's opera Faust, Phil Riley, in his The Making of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (The original 1925 Shooting Script), writes:
The work was immediately optioned by a man named Leon Carvalho, who having failed at his own attempts to become an opera star, now managed the career of his partner and wife, Marie Miolan. He operated a smaller company called the Theatre Lyrique . . . Marie Miolan was reported to be just "lightly gifted", but the fear she inspired by her iron will and lust for fame caused many to yield to that will just to avoid a confrontation with her. In her younger days her beauty had carried her, but now beginning to show her age, the fact that she had a thin, shrill voice was becoming noticeable. "Faust" was therefore commissioned as a show case to revive Mlle. Miolan's fading career .
When performed for the first time, on March 19, 1859, Gounod's faithfulness to the original grim theme was . . . so somber that it flopped commercially . . . (Riley, 23)
Interestingly, Carvalho is one of the "real" artists mentioned in Leroux. In Chapter 2, "The New Marquerite," Leroux writes:
But the greatest triumph belonged to Christine Daaé who began with some passages from "Romeo and Juliette." It was the first time the young artist sang that work of Gounod's which, moreover, had never been performed at the Opera and which the Opera-Comique had only just revived after its long-ago debut at the old Theatre-Lyrique with Mme. Carvalho. (Leroux, Chapter 2, Paragraph 9)
Marie Miolan Carvalho (1826-1895), a member of a famous French family of musicians, was a gifted soprano who had a long and successful career as an opera singer. She sang in Halevy's "La Juive" in 1849. The year of the opening performance of "Romeo and Juliette" at the Theatre Lyrique was 1867. (Wolf, 41)
I'm uncertain why Riley believes Carvalho to be the only model for Carlotta though she did sing in a flop performance of Faust.
Marie Carvalho and her husband Leon Carvalho who ran the Theatre Lyrique where his wife Marie Carvalho sang was also the inspiration for Yeston and Kopit La Carlotta the singer wife and Alain Cholet the new head of the Opera.
The work was immediately optioned by a man named Leon Carvalho, who having failed at his own attempts to become an opera star, now managed the career of his partner and wife, Marie Miolan. He operated a smaller company called the Theatre Lyrique . . . Marie Miolan was reported to be just "lightly gifted", but the fear she inspired by her iron will and lust for fame caused many to yield to that will just to avoid a confrontation with her. In her younger days her beauty had carried her, but now beginning to show her age, the fact that she had a thin, shrill voice was becoming noticeable. "Faust" was therefore commissioned as a show case to revive Mlle. Miolan's fading career .
When performed for the first time, on March 19, 1859, Gounod's faithfulness to the original grim theme was . . . so somber that it flopped commercially . . . (Riley, 23)
Interestingly, Carvalho is one of the "real" artists mentioned in Leroux. In Chapter 2, "The New Marquerite," Leroux writes:
But the greatest triumph belonged to Christine Daaé who began with some passages from "Romeo and Juliette." It was the first time the young artist sang that work of Gounod's which, moreover, had never been performed at the Opera and which the Opera-Comique had only just revived after its long-ago debut at the old Theatre-Lyrique with Mme. Carvalho. (Leroux, Chapter 2, Paragraph 9)
Marie Miolan Carvalho (1826-1895), a member of a famous French family of musicians, was a gifted soprano who had a long and successful career as an opera singer. She sang in Halevy's "La Juive" in 1849. The year of the opening performance of "Romeo and Juliette" at the Theatre Lyrique was 1867. (Wolf, 41)
I'm uncertain why Riley believes Carvalho to be the only model for Carlotta though she did sing in a flop performance of Faust.
Marie Carvalho and her husband Leon Carvalho who ran the Theatre Lyrique where his wife Marie Carvalho sang was also the inspiration for Yeston and Kopit La Carlotta the singer wife and Alain Cholet the new head of the Opera.
Gabrielle Krauss
Gabrielle Krauss born Marie-Gabrielle Krauss (March, 24 1842 – January, 6 1906) Leroux states that Krauss sang ‘Les Vêpres Siciliennes’ by Verdi, when in reality she never sang it on stage and she had her Palais-Garnier debut during the inauguration January 5, 1875 with ‘La Juive’ composed by Fromental Halévy and the libretto by Eugène Scribe. She began the evening with the first two acts of ‘La Juive’ where she performed as Rachel. She was given the night name « La Rachel chantante » or "The Singing Rachel". Then she performed ‘La Juive’ in full on January 8, 1875. She was an Austrian-born French operatic soprano. Quite an important figure of her time. Interestingly enough she did originate major roles in operas by Anton Rubinstein, Charles Gounod, Camille Saint-Saëns, Auguste Mermet, Clémence de Grandval, Errico Petrella, Antônio Carlos Gomes and Émile Paladilhe. She did however originate roles in local premieres of Verdi and Wagner operas. She was also the leading soprano at the Paris Opera for 13 years and was known for having a power voice.
I have some notes that said she fell in ill in 1879 And Don Juan was replaced with Faust (needs ref)
I have some notes that said she fell in ill in 1879 And Don Juan was replaced with Faust (needs ref)
Carlotta Grisi
She was born Caronne Adele Josephine Marie Grisi, but went by Mlle. Caroltta Grisi and was an Italian ballet dancer and singer of the Romantic era. She trained at Teatro alla Scala the ballet school in Milan and later on she trained with the dance and ballet-master Jules Perrot. She was remembered for her performance in he role of "Giselle" on June 28, 1841 at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique. It caused a sensation and inspired reviewers to proclaim "Giselle" to be the greatest ballet of its time and a triumphant successor to the Romantic masterwork La Sylphide. She was a muse to the choreographer and dancer Jules Perrot and to the poet Théophile Gautier. She sang and danced in Paris, London, Vienna, Munich, and Milan.
Carlotta cousin to the famous soprano singers, Giuditta and Giulia Grisi. The name Giuditta is possibly where Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of Phantom of the Opera got Caroltta Giudicelli from, since she has no last name to speak of in the novel.
Carlotta cousin to the famous soprano singers, Giuditta and Giulia Grisi. The name Giuditta is possibly where Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of Phantom of the Opera got Caroltta Giudicelli from, since she has no last name to speak of in the novel.
Rosa Carron
Possibly an other inspiration for La Carlotta, she was a French Operatic Soprano who studied at the Paris Conservatoire 1875-1878. however the Paris Opera did not pick her up. She studied with Marie Sasse who helped her get into The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie in Brussles. Her debut was in 1880 as Alice in Robert le Diable, by Mayerbeer. She aslo was Marguerite in Gounod's Faust 1882. She started singing at the Paris Opera in 1885-1887 where she became immediately rivals with Lucienne Bréval who was a Swiss dramatic soprano. "Her repertoire included several Wagnerian roles, including Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Caron was the first in Paris to sing Desdemona in Verdi's Otello. Her repertoire included several Wagnerian roles, including Sieglinde in Die Walküre," "She also sang Marguerite in the stage premiere of Berlioz's La damnation de Faust at Monte Carlo in 1893." (New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, Stanley Sadie 1997). She started teaching at the Paris Conservatoire 1904-1909 and later as a private tutor.
Mathilde Mallinger
An other possible influence is Mathilde Mallinger she studied singing with Giovanni Battista Gordigiani at the Prague Conservatory. She made her opera debut in the Bavarian State Opera in 1866 in the title role of Norma and Opera of the same name by Vincenzo Bellini's. While in Berlin she was a notorious rival with soprano Pauline Lucca a rivalry which extended to their fans as well, so much so they would heckle one another. One night during a performance of The Marriage of Figaro in 1872, where Lucca was Cherubino (A breeches role just like Siébel from Faust) and Mallinger was the Countess, Mallinger supporters booed Lucca so badly that it prevented her from singing her aria. Lucca was so upset she broke her contract with the Opera House and left German for the US.
The Chandelier Crash
Mysterious Illness & No-show Diva
Had it not been for the incomprehensible and inexplicable absence of La Carlotta, at this gala evening, the world may have never know of this little Daaé, who at a moment’s notice could give herself so fully to the part of the program reserved for the Spanish diva!
~The New Marguerite |
The Gala evening Leroux speaks of never actually happened. As far as my research has show the Paris Opéra never gave gala evenings or even held going away parties for incoming Opera Managers. Look at what Leroux wrote for who performed and what was performed I think it's pretty safe to say he was speaking of the
*following the no-show of an artist, the program had to be changed on the morning of the inauguration, Faust's 4th act was replaced with Huguenots, Hamlet was staged first. Nilsson fell ill two days before the gala and her eager audience was disappointed.
Performance lineup for the Inauguration (before no shows)
1) *La Juive by Halévy- (first two acts) Gabrielle Krauss as Rachel [spectacular and dazzling, great success, brilliant procession of 1st act]
2) *Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas - Mlle. Nilsson (*fell sick didn't go on) & M. Faure (3rd & 4th act)
3) *Faust - Mlle. Nilsson (was sick didn't go on she didn't even come to the theater), (Mę de Courey possibly replaced her) & M. Faure (Church scene, reported to have continued on with an understudy, but had to stop because of technical difficulties with the set ? *a soprano had fallen ill during one act from Charles Gounod's Faust and one act from Hamlet had to be omitted. (is that because she passed out perhaps?)
4) Bénédiction des poignards from La bénédiction des poignards des Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer -(a scene) [a blessing]
5) La Source by Léo Delibes & Ludwig Minku - (ballet) Mlle. Rita Sangalli dancer (2nd act, wished she had danced the 1st act instead)
La Muette de Portici by Daniel Auber -(overture)
Guillaume Tell/William Tell by Gioachino Rossini- (overture)
Le serment des conjurés , Pedro Gailhard (sings) [standing ovation]
Villaret [was applauded]
Changes program?
Overtures of la Muette de Portici by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber et de
Guillaume Tell de Gioachino Rossini
la Juive by Jacques-Fromental Halévy 2 acts
les Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer « bénédiction des poignards »
la Source de Léon Minkus by Léo Delibes : 1st tableau of the second act.
Actors who did not show including Nilsson
*Mme Gueymard, Mme Miolan-Carvalho did not appear, no-show of an artist Nilsson, the program had to be changed on the morning of the inauguration, Faust's 4th act was replaced with Huguenots, Hamlet was staged first. Nilsson fell ill two days before the gala and her eager audience was disappointed. Her doctor said she should not perform and she didn't even show up to the theater that day. So who went on in Faust and Hamlet is the question.
(December 29, but that rehearsals in the new year ran into problems: the stage rehearsal with Jean- Baptiste Faure in Faust on January 1st was cancelled due to the new scenery order from Cambon not being ready, and the general rehearsal of Faust on January 3rd did not take place because Nilsson was ill. An entry for January 4th reported that Nilsson had been ordered by the Doctor Guerin to take several days rest. Since the inauguration of the new Opéra was due to take place the following day and could not be postponed, the program had to be modified. The two acts of Hamlet were replaced by the ‘Bénédictions des poignards’ scene from Les Huguenots, and the Church scene of Faust by the overture to Guillaume Tell.
~ Journal de Régie, RE-27 [1874-1875])
(Faust's third act was supposed to be part of the Palais Garnier inaugural program on January 5, 1875, but apparently, the lead heroine was indisposed. Faust was withdrawn at the last minute. Faust was heard for the first time at Palais Garnier on May 30, 1875. Directed by Leon Carvalho. Charles Gounod's Faust premiered on September 6, 1875 at the Palais Garnier. Further notable revivals at the Opéra took place on 4 December 1893.)
~ref. Bulgakov: The Novelist-Playwright edited by Lesley Milne
That is interesting because the program seemingly had Faust and Hamelt in it and critics spoke of it going on at least for a short while, although they report problems I believe I read at least one act did go on. Several reports form that night say different things so it's hard ot understand just what when on that evening and why. Could this truly be the real name and face of the real Christine Daaé? She certainly looks young, innocent, blond hair probably blue eyes and defiantly could be from the North. Problem is there is n information on her.
Curiously Mę de Courey, is credited to in the National Archives as playing Marguerite 1875 at the Paris Opéra, which is the Inauguration year...curious.
Is it possible that the event in the novel where Christine made her triumph was in reality the Inauguration night performance and Mlle. Nilsson fell ill, never showed up to the Opera that day, but because the program would have to be altered and large sets moved, is it possible, a very young and unknown singer offered to take over both Ophelia from Hamlet (changed later to Romeo and Juliet and Marguerite from Faust) because she knew the roles well. Yet the pressure was too much for her and she passed out from exhaustion or nerves and that is the second singer who fell ill that evening. Rather this is the truth or not, rather you believe the story is real or not this is an incredibly interesting find.
*following the no-show of an artist, the program had to be changed on the morning of the inauguration, Faust's 4th act was replaced with Huguenots, Hamlet was staged first. Nilsson fell ill two days before the gala and her eager audience was disappointed.
Performance lineup for the Inauguration (before no shows)
1) *La Juive by Halévy- (first two acts) Gabrielle Krauss as Rachel [spectacular and dazzling, great success, brilliant procession of 1st act]
2) *Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas - Mlle. Nilsson (*fell sick didn't go on) & M. Faure (3rd & 4th act)
3) *Faust - Mlle. Nilsson (was sick didn't go on she didn't even come to the theater), (Mę de Courey possibly replaced her) & M. Faure (Church scene, reported to have continued on with an understudy, but had to stop because of technical difficulties with the set ? *a soprano had fallen ill during one act from Charles Gounod's Faust and one act from Hamlet had to be omitted. (is that because she passed out perhaps?)
4) Bénédiction des poignards from La bénédiction des poignards des Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer -(a scene) [a blessing]
5) La Source by Léo Delibes & Ludwig Minku - (ballet) Mlle. Rita Sangalli dancer (2nd act, wished she had danced the 1st act instead)
La Muette de Portici by Daniel Auber -(overture)
Guillaume Tell/William Tell by Gioachino Rossini- (overture)
Le serment des conjurés , Pedro Gailhard (sings) [standing ovation]
Villaret [was applauded]
Changes program?
Overtures of la Muette de Portici by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber et de
Guillaume Tell de Gioachino Rossini
la Juive by Jacques-Fromental Halévy 2 acts
les Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer « bénédiction des poignards »
la Source de Léon Minkus by Léo Delibes : 1st tableau of the second act.
Actors who did not show including Nilsson
*Mme Gueymard, Mme Miolan-Carvalho did not appear, no-show of an artist Nilsson, the program had to be changed on the morning of the inauguration, Faust's 4th act was replaced with Huguenots, Hamlet was staged first. Nilsson fell ill two days before the gala and her eager audience was disappointed. Her doctor said she should not perform and she didn't even show up to the theater that day. So who went on in Faust and Hamlet is the question.
(December 29, but that rehearsals in the new year ran into problems: the stage rehearsal with Jean- Baptiste Faure in Faust on January 1st was cancelled due to the new scenery order from Cambon not being ready, and the general rehearsal of Faust on January 3rd did not take place because Nilsson was ill. An entry for January 4th reported that Nilsson had been ordered by the Doctor Guerin to take several days rest. Since the inauguration of the new Opéra was due to take place the following day and could not be postponed, the program had to be modified. The two acts of Hamlet were replaced by the ‘Bénédictions des poignards’ scene from Les Huguenots, and the Church scene of Faust by the overture to Guillaume Tell.
~ Journal de Régie, RE-27 [1874-1875])
(Faust's third act was supposed to be part of the Palais Garnier inaugural program on January 5, 1875, but apparently, the lead heroine was indisposed. Faust was withdrawn at the last minute. Faust was heard for the first time at Palais Garnier on May 30, 1875. Directed by Leon Carvalho. Charles Gounod's Faust premiered on September 6, 1875 at the Palais Garnier. Further notable revivals at the Opéra took place on 4 December 1893.)
~ref. Bulgakov: The Novelist-Playwright edited by Lesley Milne
That is interesting because the program seemingly had Faust and Hamelt in it and critics spoke of it going on at least for a short while, although they report problems I believe I read at least one act did go on. Several reports form that night say different things so it's hard ot understand just what when on that evening and why. Could this truly be the real name and face of the real Christine Daaé? She certainly looks young, innocent, blond hair probably blue eyes and defiantly could be from the North. Problem is there is n information on her.
Curiously Mę de Courey, is credited to in the National Archives as playing Marguerite 1875 at the Paris Opéra, which is the Inauguration year...curious.
Is it possible that the event in the novel where Christine made her triumph was in reality the Inauguration night performance and Mlle. Nilsson fell ill, never showed up to the Opera that day, but because the program would have to be altered and large sets moved, is it possible, a very young and unknown singer offered to take over both Ophelia from Hamlet (changed later to Romeo and Juliet and Marguerite from Faust) because she knew the roles well. Yet the pressure was too much for her and she passed out from exhaustion or nerves and that is the second singer who fell ill that evening. Rather this is the truth or not, rather you believe the story is real or not this is an incredibly interesting find.