Christine Daae's mother died when she was very young. She and her father, a famous fiddler, traveled all over Sweden playing folk and religious music. Her father was known to be the best wedding fiddler in the land. During Christine's childhood, her father told many stories and a character known as The Angel of Music figured heavily in all of them, especially one about a girl he called Little Lotte, who was able to hear the Angel of Music. When Christine meets Raoul, he also enjoys her father's many stories. Later, when Father Daae is dying--probably of tuberculosis--he tells Christine that when he dies he will send the Angel of Music to her. Christine grieves for her father endlessly. She lives with an elderly woman whose now deceased husband had been her father's benefactor. The woman, known as "Mamma Valerius" sends Christine to the conservatory, but Christine's singing is not what it once was. Her sorrow and loneliness make it impossible for her to reach her true potential.
