After leaving
Sorelli’s dressing-room, the ballerinas run into the
Count Philippe de Chagny. Unusually emotional, the Count eulogizes the night’s performance, while warning the excited ballerinas not to tell the outgoing Opera directors about
Joseph Buquet’s death, which would agitate them too much on their last night. The narrator notes that the Count is correct in lauding the night’s performance, because
Christine Daaé, who was replacing her ill colleague
Carlotta, performed exquisitely as Juliet in
Romeo and Juliet and as Marguerite in
Faust. Critics are bewildered to hear Christine’s extraordinary performance and wonder why the directors have kept her talent hidden for so long.