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Quiz about Operatic Aliases and Disguises
Quiz about Operatic Aliases and Disguises

Operatic Aliases and Disguises Quiz


Opera plots frequently revolve around intrigue and deception, and so it's not surprising that characters sometimes assume false names or appearances. Can you solve these questions of operatic identity?

A multiple-choice quiz by TabbyTom. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
TabbyTom
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
342,552
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
328
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: Guest 82 (6/10), Guest 193 (8/10), Guest 147 (10/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. In Puccini's "La Bohème", a consumptive girl is struggling up the stairs to her Paris garret on a freezing Christmas Eve. A draught blows her candle out, and she knocks at a neighbouring poet's door to ask for a light. Since this is opera, the young couple fall in love at first sight, and the girl introduces herself. "Mi chiamano Mimì, ma il mio nome è ..." ("They call me Mimi, but my name is ..."). What is the girl's real name? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. In Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", the doctor's young ward Rosina has just been serenaded by an admirer, who identified himself as Lindoro. Rosina, smitten by the voice, sings an aria beginning "Una voce poco fa" ("Just a voice at break of day"), in which she vows that "Lindoro mio sarà" ("Lindoro shall be mine"). But who is Lindoro really? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. In Verdi's 'Rigoletto', the daughter of the court jester Rigoletto has an admirer who bribes his way into her garden to meet her. Their tryst is interrupted, the admirer flees, and the girl sings an aria about his "caro nome" ("dear name"). She thinks he is called Gualtier Maldè, a penniless student, but who is he in fact? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Beethoven's Leonore has disguised herself as a man and taken a job in a prison in order to rescue her husband Florestan, who has been unjustly jailed by the governor Pizarro. She is ultimately successful, but what male name does she use during her spell as a prison officer?

Answer: (One Word - the title-role in Beethoven's only opera.)
Question 5 of 10
5. In Puccini's opera, Lieutenant Pinkerton calls his Japanese wife Butterfly, but what is her real name? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. In one of Mozart's operas, Doctor Bartolo and Marcellina had an illegitimate son whom they called Raffaello. He was carried off by bandits in his childhood, but years later he and his parents are surprisingly reunited. By what name is Raffaello now known (the name appears in the title of the opera)? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. In Mozart's "Così fan tutte", Ferrando and Guglielmo are so sure of their girlfriends' fidelity that they are happy to bet on it with their cynical old friend Alfonso. They disguise themselves as foreign visitors to Naples and each of them pays court to the other's fiancée. What is their assumed nationality? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. In Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" the maidservant Despina assumes two disguises in the course of the opera. What are they? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. A nameless Wanderer plays a large part in "Siegfried", the third opera of Wagner's "Ring" cycle. What is the true identity of the Wanderer? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. In Rossini's "La Cenerentola" Prince Ramiro, in search of a wife, disguises himself as whom? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Oct 28 2024 : Guest 82: 6/10
Oct 18 2024 : Guest 193: 8/10
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Score Distribution

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In Puccini's "La Bohème", a consumptive girl is struggling up the stairs to her Paris garret on a freezing Christmas Eve. A draught blows her candle out, and she knocks at a neighbouring poet's door to ask for a light. Since this is opera, the young couple fall in love at first sight, and the girl introduces herself. "Mi chiamano Mimì, ma il mio nome è ..." ("They call me Mimi, but my name is ..."). What is the girl's real name?

Answer: Lucia

This, I think, is the only time in "La Bohème" that the heroine's real name is mentioned. For the rest of the opera she is Mimi, from the merrymaking at the Café Momus until the curtain falls on Rodolfo sobbing out "Mimi" over her deathbed.
2. In Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", the doctor's young ward Rosina has just been serenaded by an admirer, who identified himself as Lindoro. Rosina, smitten by the voice, sings an aria beginning "Una voce poco fa" ("Just a voice at break of day"), in which she vows that "Lindoro mio sarà" ("Lindoro shall be mine"). But who is Lindoro really?

Answer: Count Almaviva

The Count tells us that he has important reasons ("ho le mie gran ragioni") for not revealing his true identity. Does he want Rosina to love him for himself rather than for his rank and wealth? Or does he fear that she will automatically suspect the sincerity of an aristocrat? The plot involves a whole series of deceptions and disguises before the lovers are finally united.
3. In Verdi's 'Rigoletto', the daughter of the court jester Rigoletto has an admirer who bribes his way into her garden to meet her. Their tryst is interrupted, the admirer flees, and the girl sings an aria about his "caro nome" ("dear name"). She thinks he is called Gualtier Maldè, a penniless student, but who is he in fact?

Answer: The Duke of Mantua

Rigoletto, the Mantuan court jester, keeps his daughter Gilda in strict seclusion from the courtiers, but can't prevent his dissolute employer, the Duke, from spotting her at church on Sundays. A series of misunderstandings and deceptions culminates in the murder of Gilda by an assassin whom her father has hired to kill the Duke.
4. Beethoven's Leonore has disguised herself as a man and taken a job in a prison in order to rescue her husband Florestan, who has been unjustly jailed by the governor Pizarro. She is ultimately successful, but what male name does she use during her spell as a prison officer?

Answer: Fidelio

In the end justice triumphs and Leonore is reunited with her husband, even though (in her male guise) she has stirred feelings of love in the jailer's daughter Marzelline.
5. In Puccini's opera, Lieutenant Pinkerton calls his Japanese wife Butterfly, but what is her real name?

Answer: Cio-cio-san

The name is sometimes spelled Cho-cho-san in English texts. Cho or chou is a Japanese word for butterfly.
6. In one of Mozart's operas, Doctor Bartolo and Marcellina had an illegitimate son whom they called Raffaello. He was carried off by bandits in his childhood, but years later he and his parents are surprisingly reunited. By what name is Raffaello now known (the name appears in the title of the opera)?

Answer: Figaro

Raffaello/Figaro, valet to Count Almaviva, is about to marry the Countess's maid Susanna. However, unaware of Marcellina's identity, he has borrowed a substantial sum of money from the older woman and is contracted to marry her if he cannot repay it. Figaro has defaulted and Marcellina has successfully sued him.

At this stage, as Figaro desperately tries to extricate himself from his situation, his true identity becomes known, and there is a joyful reunion. Figaro's marriage to Susanna, however, must still await the outcome of further intrigues.
7. In Mozart's "Così fan tutte", Ferrando and Guglielmo are so sure of their girlfriends' fidelity that they are happy to bet on it with their cynical old friend Alfonso. They disguise themselves as foreign visitors to Naples and each of them pays court to the other's fiancée. What is their assumed nationality?

Answer: Albanian

For people of my generation, Albania was a country cut off from the rest of the world for most of our lives by their ruler Enver Hoxha. However, according to historians, there would have been nothing remarkable about the appearance of wealthy Albanians in Naples (where the opera is set) in Mozart's time
8. In Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" the maidservant Despina assumes two disguises in the course of the opera. What are they?

Answer: a doctor and a notary

When the two men first try to woo each others' girlfriends, they are repulsed and pretend to take poison in an attempt to die for love. Despina, disguised as a doctor, revives them by mesmerism. In the second act the men are successful in gaining the girls' affections, and Despina, in a notary's costume, draws up bogus marriage contracts.
9. A nameless Wanderer plays a large part in "Siegfried", the third opera of Wagner's "Ring" cycle. What is the true identity of the Wanderer?

Answer: Wotan

Wotan has come to realize that it is necessary for his power to be brought to an end by Siegfried. In a letter to his friend August Röckel, Wagner says "After Brünnhilde leaves, Wotan is in truth no more than a departed spirit: true to his lofty goal, he can only let things happen, let them take their course, but no longer intervene. That is why he has become the Wanderer."
10. In Rossini's "La Cenerentola" Prince Ramiro, in search of a wife, disguises himself as whom?

Answer: his valet Dandini

Many of us in the UK get to know the story of Cinderella through Christmas pantomimes. We may therefore be surprised when we come to Rossini's opera to find that there is no fairy godmother and no magic, and that the heroine's half-sisters (though vain and selfish) are not expected to be ugly.

The prince and his valet change places at the ball. Cinderella's sisters naturally pay court to the imagined prince and are duly humiliated: Cinderella, disguised as a fine lady, avows her love for the apparent servant and is eventually rewarded.
Source: Author TabbyTom

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Pagiedamon before going online.
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