A Date With the Devil Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nuns

The ballet occurs in Act III amid the ruins of the convent of St. Rosalie. Bertram summons from their graves the spirits of nuns who were unfaithful to their vows. The nuns dance grotesquely around Robert and try to entice him into all manner of dissolute behavior. Bertram urges Robert to bear away a branch from the cypress tree which grows near the ruined convent; this branch will enable him to achieve whatever he wishes.

In the fourth and final act, Isabeau convinces him to break the branch in the celebrated aria "Robert, Robert, toi que j'aime" (the best-known excerpt from the opera). Robert yields to her pleas and, ultimately, is freed from his father's evil influence. At the 1831 premiere of "Robert le Diable", the celebrated Italian prima ballerina Maria Taglioni danced the role of the Mother Abbess of the corps of ghostly nuns.

Answer: Boito's "Mefistofele"

Mephistofele's Act I aria "Son lo spirito che nega" ("I am the spirit which negates"), with its famous "whistling" refrain, paraphrases the celebrated speech from Goethe. Of the numerous composers who have tackled the "Faust" story, Boito was the most comprehensive and faithful to Goethe's original.

Unfortunately, as originally written, "Mefistofele" was far too long and, after an unsuccessful premiere in 1868, the composer radically and indiscriminately cut the work, destroying large sections of it.

The revised version, which premiered in Bologna in 1875, though far less unwieldy than the original, was far from cohesive and the opera remains something of a puzzle to this day. Several excerpts. however, have enjoyed lasting popularity; these include the impressive "Prologue in Heaven" (a favorite of Toscanini's, who included it at his final La Scala appearance in 1948), Margherita's wrenching prison scene, which includes her aria "L'altra notte in fondo al mare" and the beautiful "Lontana" duet, Faust's arias "Dai campi, dai prati" and "Giunte sul passo estremo", and Mefistofele's "Son lo spirito" and "Ecco il Mondo".

Answer: The scene takes place in a church.

The French censors were concerned that church officials would be highly offended by the appearance of Satan in a church (although a similar scene appears in Goethe, who also has Satan appear in Heaven in the prologue). To disprove their fears, the composer invited a clergyman to attend a rehearsal of the scene.

The clergyman declared that he found the scene not at all offensive and, in fact, was quite complimentary of it. The censors were mollified and the scene was allowed; Gounod never told them that the clergyman was blind and could not tell that the scene took place inside a church.

The "Church scene" from Gounod's opera, in which Mephistophele torments the already distraught and guilty Marguerite by telling her that she is eternally damned for giving herself to Faust, is the dramatic crux of Gounod's opera.

Answer: Antonin Dvorak

After Jirka has rescued Kate from Hell, he manages to free a princess from the Devil's clutches by using the female chatterbox to drive him away. The operas of Dvorak, which have lain dormant for many years, are beginning to enjoy a rebirth in recent years. Certainly "The Devil and Kate", in addition to its delightful plot, contains much wonderful music (including an aria for the princess which rivals Rusalka's famous "Song to the Moon") and deserves to be better known.

Answer: A shepherd

When we first meet Eurydice, she is gathering cornflowers to place at the cabin door of the ardent, but mysterious shepherd who has been wooing her (she sings the "Couplets du Berger jolie"). Jupiter resents Pluto's appropriation of his own usual modus operandi and, not to be outdone, woos Euridyce himself in the form of a fly.

This results in a hilarious "duet" between Eurydice and the buzzing insect ("Belle insecte a l'aile doree"). Meanwhile, Orphee, far from being the disconsolate lover of classic mythology, is only to happy to leave his beloved in the nether regions, but is forced by Public Opinion (who is an actual character in the operetta) to fulfill his destiny by descending into Hades to reclaim her. Scratching a comic version of Gluck's celebrated "J'ai perdu mon Eurydice" on his fiddle, he reluctantly descends to the Underworld, where he finds that Jupiter has transformed Eurydice into a Bacchante.

In this guise, she leads the company in the celebrated Can Can (Galop Infernal). Orphee is allowed to reclaim her on the condition that he not look back at her. Urged on by Public Opinion, he glumly leads her away, but is forced to turn around when Jupiter hurls a thunderbolt just behind him. Thus, he forfeits Eurydice, who gets to remain in Hades, much to the delight of both.

Answer: Religious hermit

Benesy wants Vok to remain single so that, upon his death, his money will go to the church; he is willing to collaborate with a devil to achieve this. At the climax of the opera, Rarach creates a flood by damming the river Vltava, creating a flood. To prove her love, Hedwika crosses the flood to reach Vok, thereby breaking the curse. Based on Czech folk legend, "The Devil's Wall" was the last of Smetana's operas; he was seriously ill when it premiered and died two years later.

It was unsuccessful at its premiere in Prague, but is reputed to contain some of the composer's finest music.

Answer: A king

Busoni's opera is actually based more upon medieval puppet play versions of the "Faust" story than upon Goethe. There are several notable differences in the story from the Goethe-based versions, particularly the almost complete absence of the Gretchen character, who plays such an important role in the French versions and the Boito. During the course of the opera, Mephistopheles appears as a man in black, a chaplain, a monk, a courier, and a herald.

His last appearance is as a night watchman, who acts as a sort of stage manager in the opera's final scene; in this guise, he also speaks the final words of the opera. Faust, standing over the body of his dead child, offers to die so that his spirit might be reborn, and his faults rectified, in the child's body.

As Faust falls dead, a new, young man arises from the ground and walks away into the distance. Shining his lantern upon Faust's dead body, the "watchman" sardonically asks "Has this man had an accident?"

Answer: Scratch

"Old Scratch" has long been a popular nickname for the Devil, along with "Old Nick". Moore's opera is based on the 1937 short story by Stephen Vincent Benet. Set in New Hampshire, the opera begins with the wedding of a young couple, Jabez and Mary. Jabez is disturbed by the appearance of the lawyer Scratch, who carries a mysterious black box.

It soon becomes apparent to those assembled that Jabez has sold his soul to the devil; he later explains to Mary that he did this out of frustration over his seemingly interminable run of bad luck. Scratch opens the black box and releases a moth, which represents Jabez's soul. Jabez calls upon the eminent Daniel Webster for assistance; Webster agrees to represent the unfortunate young man at a "trial" at which the fate of his soul will be judged. Webster succeeds in overcoming Scratch and the good people of New Hampshire drive the demon from their soil. Moore collaborated with Benet himself on this opera, which is among his best-known works, along with "The Ballad of Baby Doe" and "Carrie Nation".

Answer: William Hogarth

"The Rake's Progress" was one of three satirical "pictorial dramas" by the eighteenth century artist; the two others were "The Harlot's Progress" and "Marriage a la Mode". The text of Stravinsky' libretto was written by the eminent English poet W.H. Auden, in collaboration with Chester Kallman. The story concerns young Tom Rakewell, who is loved by the devoted, but rather insipid Anne Truelove. Tom loves Anne, but is restless at the thought of settling into marriage and a stable, but dull career as a civil servant. He falls easy prey to the persuasive Nick Shadow, who lures him first to a brothel, then to a circus, where he is manouvered into marrying the bearded lady, Baba the Turk. Eventually, Tom loses his mind and ends up in Bedlam, where he is found, too late, by the devoted Anne. The opera ends with an Epilogue, not unlike that in Mozart's "Don Giovanni", in which the assembled cast steps in front of the curtain and warns that:
"For idle hands,
And hearts and minds,
The Devil Finds
A work to do."

Answer: Jerry Springer

I haven't seen or heard any of this opera, but it is reputed to be deliciously wicked and, like Springer's show, has something to offend everyone. This includes a tap-dancing Ku Klux Klan act, the obligatory husband-has-affair-with-transsexual interview, and a family truth-telling confrontation between Jesus, Mary, and God the Father.

As of 2004, the opera has relocated to the Cambridge Theatre; the non-singing role of Jerry Springer has been taken by American actor David Soul (a Soul in Hell?), best known for the 1980s American police drama "Starsky and Hutch".