Operatic Non-Greek Myth and Legend Quiz

Answer: Aladdin

Henry Rowley Bishop (1786-1855) was an English composer. "Aladdin" was his last opera and rather a failure.
Ali Baba was a woodcutter who opened the gate Sesame. He fought against forty robbers.
Sinbad was a sailor whose adventures are also related in "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights".
Scheherazade was the princess who would have invented the stories of "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights".
Aladdin was a tailor's son. When he found a genii in a wonder lamp, he started to climb the social ladder and ended up marrying a true princess. Walt Disney Corporation has produced a series of animated movies on Aladdin.

Answer: Faust

Louis Spohr (1784-1859) was a German violinist and composer.
All options I gave are title characters of Goethe's works. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was a famous German poet, symbol of German Romanticism.
Werther is the young man who falls in love that is not requited, and for that reason he commits suicide (see "Das Leiden des Jungen Werthers" - translated into English as "The Sorrows of Young Werther").
Wilhelm Meister is the title character in two of Goethe's books: "Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre" ("Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship") and "Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre" ("Wilhelm Meister's Travels").
Egmont is a historical character: one of the Flemish noblemen who fought Alva. Count Egmont and his friend the Count of Hoorn were beheaded in Brussels in 1568, at the start of the Eighty Years War. Goethe's "Egmont" also inspired Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827).
Doctor Faust was originally a historical character. The stories I mention hereafter, start with Faust's desire for absolute knowledge. In present days someone with this obsession, would start reading the entire Funtrivia Encyclopaedia ;-) But Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) and Goethe relate that Dr. Faust sells his soul to the devil. Marlowe's play ends with Dr. Faust being eternally damned, Goethe's has a happy ending: Faust is redeemed.
Dr. Faust did also inspire other operatic composers, among which are Charles Gounod (1818-1893), Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) and Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971).

Answer: Skipper

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was probably the most important German opera composer ever. He did not only compose the music for his operas, but also wrote the libretti himself.
The Flying Dutchman is a nickname for a legendary person whose name is not mentioned. He was captain on a ship that carried the name "The Flying Dutchman". According to different legends, the captain had sworn to continue his voyage - even if a tremendous storm broke out. One version of the legend says that since then, the captain sails for ever on his ship filled with dead bodies, and gambles with the devil for the sake of his soul.
The other professions do not figure in any leading role in one of Wagner's operas.

Answer: Gotterdammerung

The "Ring" as it is popularly called, was first executed completely in August 1876 in the Bayreuther Festspielhaus - a building especially conceived to perform dramatic operas in.
The first episode of the "Ring" is "Das Rheingold" ("The Rhine Gold"). This opera starts with some nymphs swimming in the Rhine, where a large treasure is hidden. He who can forge the gold into a ring, will become almighty.
The second episode, "Die Walküre" ("The Valkyrie"), tells the story of Brünnhilde, leader of the Valkyrie. According to Norse mythology, these women guard the entrance of the paradise (the "Valhalla"). Only brave soldiers may pass. Brünnhilde loses her status of immortality because she neglects specific orders by Wotan, and is incarcerated on a rock encircled by magical fire.
In the third episode, "Siegfried", the title character is a brave soldier who fears nothing - until he finds the rock Brünnhilde lies upon. He liberates Brünnhilde and becomes quite uncertain on discovering she is a woman.
The final episode, "Götterdämmerung" ("Twilight of the Gods"), tells about the final combat between good and evil. Siegfried has taken the Ring but is killed by Hagen. To break the power of the Ring, Brünnhilde decides to ride into a funeral pyre with the Ring. The spectacular final scene is the perishing of the Earth: the Rhine overflows, Hagen drowns, and flames threaten Valhalla.

Answer: Hansel und Gretel

The Engelbert Humperdinck I mention in this question is *not* the English singer (born in 1936), but a German composer (1854-1921).
The brothers Jakob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859) are famous for having gathered a great number of fairy tales. All the titles I've mentioned are related in their book "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" ("Children and Household Tales"), but some of them were already told by Charles Perrault (1628-1703).
"Rotkäppchen" is known in English as "Little Red Riding Hood". This young girl dressed in a jacket with a red hood, wants to visit her grandmother. Unfortunately the wolf has eaten grandma.
"Dornröschen" is "The Sleeping Beauty". When a witch is not invited to the baptism of a young girl, she puts out a spell that the baby will once prick her finger at a spinning wheel and die. The good fairies can reduce the effect of the spell in that the baby will not die, but fall into sleep until a brave prince will kiss her. You know of course the rest of the story.
"Aschenbrödel" is "Cinderella" - the stepchild who has always to take care of the filthiest jobs. By magic, she can attend the prince's ball, where she loses a glass slipper (according to Perrault - the Grimm brothers substitute this with a golden slipper). The prince will finally marry the girl who fits the slipper.
"Hänsel und Gretel" are two children who encounter a witch in the woods. The witch catches them and tries to feed Hänsel until he's fat enough to eat. But Gretel defeats the witch.

Answer: Ahasverus

Halevy (1799-1862) was a French composer. He wrote about forty operas.
Philemon is a character in Roman mythology. As he and his wife Baucis are the only ones to grant Jupiter and Mercury hospitality, they will survive a giant flood the gods sent to the region of Phrygia. At the end of their lives, Philemon and Baucis are transformed into trees: he becomes an oak; she becomes a lime-tree.
Pontianak is an Indonesian or Malay she-devil. She would be especially dangerous for small babies. According to local folklore, a pontianak would be harmless when confronted with a sharp object.
According to Jewish mythology, Golem is a man-like creature made out of clay, mud or any other earthly material. Although the Golem does appear in the Old Testimony, the most famous story is that of the Golem made by Rabbi Judah Low in a small Czech village near Prague.
According to most sources, Ahasverus was a shoemaker who lived on the path to Golgotha. When Christ carrying the cross wanted to rest a few minutes on his doorstep, Ahasverus chased Him away. As a punishment, he was condemned to wander eternally until Judgement Day. Many European stories give other names for the Wandering Jew: Cartophilax, Isaac Laquedem, Juan Espero in Dios.

Answer: King Arthur

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) was one of the first great British composers. He specialized in religious songs and anthems, and also wrote seven operas.
Richard III (1452-1485) and Henry VIII (1491-1547) were of course historical kings of Britain.
Richard III has a bad fame. He was appointed regent for his nephew Edward V (who was still a minor), but locked him up in the Tower. Edward died there in suspicious circumstances.
Henry VIII will always be remembered as the king with the many wives. He married six times: with Catharine of Aragon (whom he divorced, although Henry and his advisors declared the marriage annulled), with Anna Boleyn (who was beheaded on grounds of adultery), with Jane Seymour (who died of puerperal fever), with Anne of Cleves (divorced with mutual consent), with Catharine Howard (beheaded on grounds of treason) and with Catharine Parr (the only one who survived Henry).
Boudicca was queen of the Britannic tribe of the Iceni. She revolted against the Roman Emperor Nero and was defeated.
King Arthur was perhaps a historical army commander in the fifth century, but his historical existence might be just conjecture. According to medieval stories, he would have united England and fought against German invaders, Picts and Scots (in this context: the original inhabitants of Ireland, who later moved to Scotland).

Answer: Oberon

Von Weber (1786-1826) was a German composer who started the German national music. His best known opera is "Der Freischutz" (about a marksman who will be sure he hits his target following a pact with the devil).
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) was a German Romantic composer. His best known work is the "Wedding March" in the "Midsummer Night's Dream".
Syrdon is an Ossetian mythological hero whose fate would resemble, quite remarkably, Loki's. Loki was a Norse god, mostly male but sometimes female, who tricked many of the other Norse gods and hence was the source of many quarrels.
Kama is the Hindu god of love and sexuality. He is more or less the equivalent of the Greek Eros and the Roman Cupid: as the other two, Kama spreads love by shooting arrows. Notorious is the "text book" on Kama's acts: the "Kama Sutra", a book everyone has heard of but no one dares to admit having read it ;-)
Chiron was a Greek centaur specialised in medicine and pharmacology (for as much as these two disciplines were developed at that time - science has progressed a lot since then). He taught Achilles, Theseus, Jason and other Greek heroes.
Oberon finds his origin in a French medieval poem. The Arthurian legends claim that he is son to Morgan le Fay and Julius Caesar, whereas the "Nibelungenlied" mentions Alberich (meaning "King of Elves"), who is assimilated to Oberon.

Answer: Dido

Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676, official name Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni) was one of the major Venetian composers in the Seventeenth Century. He composed about 40 operas.
Virgil (Publius Vergilius Naso, 70 BC - 19 BC) was a Roman poet. Dante d'Alighieri (1265-1321) takes Virgil as guide through Hell and Purgatory in the "Divina Commedia".
All the names I gave are characters in Virgil's "Aeneid", the story about Aeneas who led the Trojans on their flight after Troy was captured by the Greeks (by means of the famous ruse of the Trojan Horse).
Creusa was Aeneas' wife in Troy. On the flight, she was trampled by the crowd.
Anchises was Aeneas' father. He died on Sicily.
Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus, was Aeneas' second wife. As soon as Aeneas finally reached Italian shores, King Latinus offered him his daughter in matrimony.
Dido was Queen of Carthage and fell in love with Aeneas. When Aeneas left Carthage, Dido ordered erected a pile, in order to light the Carthaginian shores. As soon as the pile was set fire to, she threw herself into the flames.
Other opera composers were inspired by Queen Dido include Henry Purcell (1659-1695) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).

Answer: Ludmila

Glinka (1804-1857) was a Russian composer who gave the start for Russian classical music.
The first names Valentina, Svetlana and Raisa are typical Russian first names.
Raisa was the first name of Gorbachev's wife: Raisa Maximinova Gorbacheva born Titarenko (1932-1999).
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born in 1937. She was the first woman in space, who flew on June 16, 1963.
Svetlana Iosifnova Alliluyeva (born Stalina) is Stalin's daughter, born in 1926.
Aleksander Pushkin wrote the poem "Ruslan I Ludmila" on which Glinka based his opera. The story tells how Ludmila is abducted at her wedding night by a famous magician. Ruslan, her fiancé, has to overcome many adventures before he can defeat the sorcerer and live happily ever after with Ludmila.