Carlotta and Christine Daae

Carlotta, the established Spanish diva of the Paris Opera, and Christine Daae, the young Swedish understudy, occupy opposing positions in the opera house's hierarchy. Their rivalry is not merely a contest of voices but a struggle for status, patronage, and survival within the fiercely competitive world of the National Academy of Music. Carlotta, confident in her position and her powerful connections, initially dismisses Christine as a minor talent, while Christine, guided by the mysterious Angel of Music, harbors a hidden genius that will soon shatter the established order.

The Triumph That Changed Everything

The rivalry's first decisive turn occurs at the farewell gala performance for retiring managers M. Debienne and M. Poligny. Carlotta, inexplicably absent due to illness, leaves the role of Margarita in Faust open. Christine Daae, stepping in at a moment's notice, delivers a performance that astonishes the entire house. The audience rises to its feet, shouting and cheering, while Christine sobs and faints in the arms of her fellow singers. This triumph, described as revealing "a new Margarita" of "a splendor, a radiance hitherto unsuspected," immediately establishes Christine as a serious rival. Subscribers protest, demanding to know why such a treasure had been hidden from them, and why Carlotta's absence had been the occasion for Christine's revelation. The event marks the beginning of Carlotta's active campaign to suppress her rival.

Carlotta's Campaign of Suppression

Carlotta, far from being intimidated, responds with a calculated campaign to "smother" her rival. She enlists influential friends to persuade the managers not to give Christine another opportunity for a triumph. She manipulates the press, ensuring that newspapers which had begun to praise Christine now focus exclusively on Carlotta's fame. Within the theater itself, Carlotta makes "the most scandalous remarks about Christine" and orchestrates "endless minor unpleasantnesses" to undermine her. When Christine's friends are rumored to be plotting against Carlotta during a performance, Carlotta mobilizes her own supporters, filling the house with her admirers and instructing them to silence any adversaries. This preemptive strike reveals the depth of Carlotta's fear and her willingness to use her social capital to crush a competitor.

The Catastrophe of the 'Co-ack'

The rivalry reaches its catastrophic climax during a performance of Faust. Carlotta, having received anonymous threats in red ink warning her of a "misfortune worse than death" if she sings, nevertheless takes the stage. During the jewel song, at the moment she sings "I feel without alarm," a terrible sound issues from her throat: "Co-ack!" The audience is stunned, recognizing the unnatural, witch-like quality of the croak. Carlotta, in horror, tries to continue, but the toad-like sound repeats itself, destroying her performance. The house erupts in tumult. The two managers, Firmin Richard and Armand Moncharmin, sitting in Box Five, hear the ghost's voice behind them declare, "SHE IS SINGING TO-NIGHT TO BRING THE CHANDELIER DOWN!" The chandelier then crashes into the stalls, killing the concierge who had replaced Mme. Giry. The event is a public and professional disaster for Carlotta, linking her humiliation directly to the ghost's supernatural power.

Aftermath and the End of Carlotta's Career

The "co-ack" incident proves fatal to Carlotta's career. The terror of a fresh humiliation fills her heart and deprives her of all her power of singing. The theater that witnessed her disgrace becomes odious to her. She contrives to cancel her contract, and Christine Daae is offered the vacant place. Christine returns in triumph, receiving thunders of applause in La Juive. Carlotta, who had once been the undisputed star, is reduced to a memory, her career effectively ended by the very forces she had tried to manipulate. Her final appearance in the narrative is a brief, sensational entrance into a box facing the stage during Christine's later performance, a sneer on her lips, but this only serves to galvanize Christine into a renewed, triumphant effort. Carlotta's fate is sealed: she is the victim of a cabal she herself helped to create, destroyed by the supernatural machinery she could not control.