Christine's Audition

[Erik]

Erik was bored. Completely and utterly bored. He'd been sitting--No, laying on the beams of the ceiling above the dullards who pretended to run his opera house for hours. There was the slightest hole in the ceiling from which he could watch the proceedings in the room, and the material that made up the ceiling was so fine he could hear the singers as though they were right in front of him. It was time - once again - to audition new prospective singers for the company. All of the managers had to be present, and he was no exception. After all, Debienne and Poligny had some taste, but their tastes were nothing as compared to Erik's. Or at least, in his mind that was the case.

There were so many young adults here. Fresh from the Conservatoire, no doubt. Little spring chickens, ready to take the stage and sing to their heart's content. But - alas, should they have known it was he who truly judged them! - hardly any of them had the spark of ingenuity that Erik looked for. Yes, some of them were rather good singers. Better than the norm, anyway. But there was still that 'special something' that they lacked.

Erik looked down on the heads of the current managers as they discussed the previous applicant with the soon-to-be-managers, Messieurs Firmin and Richard. The particular subject of their discussion was an average looking, squarely built blonde soprano whose shoulders were quite masculine, in Erik's opinion. She carried herself haughtily, describing everything that she'd learned from her teacher in painstakingly redundant detail before she sang an excerpt in German. Erik thought that if they hired her, they'd have to build wider doors to accommodate the egos of both that particular Mademoiselle and Mademoiselle Carlotta.

Overall, Erik did not expect much out of this batch of auditionees. He threw his voice into the ear of Monsieur Debienne, intent on making sure that that particular soprano didn't show her face here until she humbled herself.

"...Monsieur Debienne! I do not believe that she would be good for this opera house! One diva is already trouble enough, and I foresee painful circumstances should you hire that girl!"

There, that should do it, he thought. Perhaps there would be luck with the next applicant.

[Christine Daaé]

Christine adjusted the broach she was wearing as she waited for the previous auditionee to exit the room. She supposed that, she should have been more nervous than she was… After all, this was the national company… and yet she found herself strangely at ease with the situation. After all, this was the national company, so if she didn’t make it, there would be no need for petty excuses and she might be closer to convincing Mamma Valerius that opera just wasn’t for her.

The other, a rather large German woman, came out with a rather puffed up, air, and Christine turned, her eyes silently following her as she left. She waited a few seconds before she heard her name called a second time. “Christine Daaé.”

After taking a breath and putting on her smile again, the young soprano entered the room, being careful to close the door quietly behind her, and then made her way to the piano and gave the accompanist her sheets. After this, she stepped back to the center of the room looking at the three men sitting on the panel.

“Hello,” she said to them, watching as they looked over her paperwork. She stood, her hands clasped in front of her. She was in a burgundy buttoned dress with a fringed bustle, her blonde hair half up half down so that a braid encircled her head like a wreath, and a couple long gold ringlets hung down her back and one over her shoulder. She stood waiting for them to tell her what they would like her to sing, ready to answer any questions they may ask.

[Erik]

Erik peered through his peep-hole at the new girl. She was plain, in a burgundy dress. The cut was nice, and it caught Erik's eye for clothing. Oh it buttons in the front...how quaint...Ugh, god-awful fringe...She really must choose better work next time. It looks like it's from America. He looked down at the paperwork the managers had flipped to. Christine Daaé. A Scandinavian name. Oh precious! A Swede. Erik rolled his eyes. Perhaps she'd be better than the German girl. He'd test her, for sure.

"How long have you been singing, Mademoiselle?" Monsieur Debienne asked, sounding monotonous as he went on with his routine. She answered, and Erik got more of a feel for the girl's voice. She was a quiet little thing. Sweet. But confident. Good. Confidence is key, in any theatrical or operatic audition.

"And what songs have you prepared for us today?" Debienne checked his pocket-watch. It seemed that Erik wasn't the only one who was tired of spending hours listening to every girl in the city try to push her lungs out through her oesophagus.

[Christine Daaé]

The men seemed rather board almost with auditions. Christine couldn’t say that she blamed them. After all, it was hardly early on during the day, and they’d probably sat through a good sixty auditions already… She stood there with no goal in mind other than to remain pleasant and answered there questions as they came.

“I began studying with my father when I was about four years old, Monsieur… I’ve studied for three years at the conservatory level though.” They were typical questions, ones she’d expected to have to answer upon entering the audition room, so they didn’t faze her really.

“I have prepared for you ‘Ah, forse è lui’ from Verdi’s La Traviata, ‘Les oiseaux dans la charmelle’ from Offenbach’s Les Contes D’Hoffmann, and ‘Der Hölle rache’ from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.” Two of the pieces she’d performed at le Conservatoire, but the third was from a rather new opera she’d seen performed at the Opéra Comique, which was about five minutes from the Garnier. She recalled the professors at the Conservatory saying it was better to choose established pieces for an audition than something new, and so she hoped these subtle choices would work to her disadvantage without being too terribly obvious.

[Erik]

Erik's ear perked at the mention of a Mozart piece. Mozart was one of his absolute favourite composers. He threw his voice into Debienne's ear. He normally didn't interfere with auditions unless Mozart was involved.

"Ask her for the Mozart. That will be the deciding factor, to see if she's worth the time or if she's just like all the other students." Surely Debienne would agree. After all, anyone could claim they can sing the role of the Queen of the Night. Carlotta, for instance...However, Erik would look for the drama in her voice. There had to be a little, or he would guarantee that she wouldn't be in this company...But if she sang this well - well enough, that is - he'd get her in. He promised himself he'd do one good thing today. That would count.

"Sing the Mozart, please." Debienne announced. Erik situated himself more comfortably in the rafters. As the girl prepared herself to sing, he chuckled lightly to himself. Debienne's tone was haughtier today. He must be in one of his moods. Perhaps his wife annoyed him too much this morning? Ha! Debienne reminded him of an old annoyed horse, sometimes. Huffy, quiet, and if you got on his nerves too much he might just swat you.

Erik turned his attention back to the girl. Let's see if you know this piece...

[Christine Daaé]

They asked her to sing the Mozart, which didn’t particularly surprise her, considering the fact that the Offenbach was so new and the Verdi was so terribly over-popularized… She nodded and went to the piano to accompanist and gave him her tempo before returning to the center and giving a nod to begin the aria.

“Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen,
Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro
Todesschmerzen,
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr.
Verstossen sei auf ewig,
Verlassen sei auf ewig,
Zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
Alle Bande der Natur
Wenn nicht durch dich!
Sarastro wird erblassen!
Hört, Rachegötter,
Hört der Mutter Schwur![/i]”

German had never been Christine’s best language, and her Swedish accent crept up as she sang in it… Luckily the two were quite close, so to the non-native ear it was difficult to tell. The range for the song was not an issue for her at all, and yet… that might have been a bad thing. It made the piece sound… too easy—if that were possible, as if it were far simpler than it was. The tuning was good, the pitches were unforced… unstrained… but that was just it. It was more of an overelaborated vocalise than a revenge aria. One could tell be her expression that she was capable of acting… yet the same level of drama did not transfer over into the emotion inflicted in her voice.

[Erik]

Erik blinked a couple of times. Her face didn't match her voice at all. She sang the song with ease...Were his ears playing tricks on him? It wouldn't surprise him. After that German warbler...But...the conviction in her voice was convincing enough. She'd have to work on that acting if she wanted a top spot, but she was better than most of the other girls he'd seen walk in this room today.

"Put her in the ensemble. She shows promise." Debienne jumped slightly in his chair. Erik had spoken in the middle of the piece. It was unusual for him to do so, but it wasn't unheard of. For instance, a couple years back, there was a lovely brunette who had a wondrous choice of piece that fit her perfectly. She'd shown versatility and poise, so Erik had interrupted her audition to push her into the company. And it seemed the same would happen to this little Swedish girl. "Let her have a couple of days, but be sure she's early in the list to know she's in. I've heard all I need to."

Debienne coughed, holding his hand up to stop the accompanist. "That'll be all, Mademoiselle Daaé. Thank you for your time."

Erik smirked. His good deed was done for the day.

[Christine Daaé]

Christine had gotten only through the first part of the aria, after the first section of F6, when something quite unexpected happened. One of the men on the board seemed quite startled and then coughed, raiding his hand to stop her.

She did stop, her mouth slightly agape. She wasn’t sure whether or not she should be offended by the gesture. Had she really been that terrible? She certainly hadn’t been trying if she had been. After all, she wanted to be able to tell Mamma Valerius that she had at least put some effort into joining the company…

But then it hit her. He had cut her off!

That'll be all, Mademoiselle Daaé. Thank you for your time."

Her almost shocked expression spread into a smile. It was rather odd, really, and anyone who didn’t know how much she didn’t wish to be there might have thought her a bit mad to look so very happy with herself after being cut off before she had been able to finish the aria.

Beaming like an idiot, Christine gave a polite nod to the men on the panel. “Thank you very much, Messieurs, and good day to you.” She clasped her hands together happily. This had been far easier than she had thought! And if she wasn’t able to sing with the company, perhaps Mamma Valerius might finally realize that the thought of her singing was silly, and let her join the nunnery instead. After all, her father had never wanted her to be a singer, per se. He had wanted her to be happy. If she were happier not singing… then wasn’t that what mattered?

With a bit of a spring to her step, the girl exited the audition room in a much more cheerful mood than she had entered the room. Her plan was working!...

[Erik]

What the devil? Was that girl actually happy about being cut off? Erik thought, as he watched the little Swede leave. Well it was just too bad, if she didn't want to be in his company. He'd done his good deed for the day, and he wasn't about to let her ruin it. She'd be in the company, she'd work hard, and if she didn't exhibit the talent that he knew she possessed by the end of the season, then she could take her leave.

Erik harrumphed. Oh, she'll work. She could be better than the current diva if she really put her heart and soul into it. But that seemed a bit of a far stretch now. Whatever her case was, it didn't so much matter to Erik. It just put a damper on his good deed for the day.

The girl left the room and Erik sighed. Time for the next poor soul to enter his judgement.