Where Are These Ten Operas Set? Quiz

The Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's opera "La bohème" was first performed in Turin, Italy, in 1896. It is set in Paris during the 1830s, and was loosely based on the 1851 book "Scènes de la vie de bohème" by Henri Murger. The opera deals in a highly romanticised way with the so-called "bohemian lifestyle" of a group of young artists, in particular the tender but doomed relationship between the writer Rodolfo and the embroideress Mimi.

It has become one of Puccini's most enduringly popular operas.

The French composer Georges Bizet (1838-75) set his opera "Carmen" in the Spanish city of Seville and filled it with the rhythms and harmonies of that country's music. The story follows the tumultuous romance between the fiery gypsy Carmen and the soldier Don José, whose obsessive love leads to tragic consequences.

At its first performance in 1875, the opera was not a great success, but it slowly gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the most popular and frequently performed operas of all time. Sadly, Bizet died only a few weeks after the opera's premiere and never lived to see its success.

Leos Janáček (1854-1928) was a Czech composer who wrote some of the most original and celebrated operas of the early twentieth century. While some of his works, such as "Jenufa" and "The Cunning Little Vixen", are based on Czech stories and history, "Káťa Kabanová" is set in Russia and is based on the 1859 play "The Storm" by the Russian writer Alexander Ostrovsky.

The heroine, Káťa, is a young woman who feels trapped in a loveless marriage. While her husband is away on business, she gives in to her desires and has an affair with Boris, the man she secretly loves. However, wracked by guilt, she confesses to her husband during a storm, and commits suicide by throwing herself into the swollen river.

Julius Benedict (1804-85) was born in Stuttgart, Germany, but lived and worked for most of his life in England and was knighted in 1871 for his services to music in Britain. He wrote several operas that were very popular at the time, although little heard nowadays.

The best known of these was probably "The Lily of Killarney", which was based on the play "The Colleen Bawn" by Dion Boucicault and first produced in 1862 at the Covent Garden Theatre in London. As the title suggests, it is set in the Irish town of Killarney, and tells a somewhat melodramatic tale of secret marriage, blackmail, and attempted murder, which nevertheless ends happily.

The French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-92) was a devout Roman Catholic, much of whose music was inspired by his faith. Among his most important works was the opera "Saint François d'Assise", based on the life of the Italian saint, founder of the Franciscan order, and set in his home country. Messiaen worked on it between 1975 and 1983, writing the libretto as well as composing the music, and it had its premiere at the Palais Garnier in Paris in November 1983, with the Belgian baritone José van Dam in the title role.

The Italian Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) was a prolific composer of almost 70 operas, from comedies such as "L'elisir d'amore" to dramas like "Lucia di Lammermoor". Among his less-known works is "Emilia di Liverpool", set in the English city of that name and first performed in 1824. It has been only rarely performed since then, and had its UK premiere in 1957 in Liverpool as part of celebrations for the city's 750th anniversary.

To the British, there is something intrinsically amusing in the idea of an Italian opera set in Liverpool. To make matters worse, neither Donizetti nor his librettist had much of an idea about the location or geography of the titular city, which they describe as being located in a mountainous region a few miles north of London. Nevertheless, the opera contains some enjoyable music, especially for the eponymous heroine.

Mozart's opera is generally known in English as "The Abduction from the Seraglio" and was first performed in July 1782 in Vienna. It is set in Turkey, and deals with the efforts of the Spanish nobleman Belmonte to rescue Konstanze, the lady to whom he is betrothed, who has been captured by pirates and sold to Pasha Selim, a high-ranking Turkish official.

The opera was described at the time as a "singspiel", meaning that it consisted of separate arias linked by spoken dialogue rather than sung recitatives.

Indeed, the important role of Pasha Selim is entirely spoken, meaning it is sometimes performed by a straight actor rather than a trained singer.

Benjamin Britten's version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was first performed in 1960 and is one of his most popular operas. Britten and Peter Pears adapted the libretto from Shakespeare's original and used his words throughout (apart from one tiny addition).

It is set, according to the stage directions, in and around the Greek capital city of Athens, although only the major "romantic" characters (such as Theseus and Hippolyta) bear names from Greek history. The fairies are straight from English folklore, and the so-called "rude mechanicals" are recognisably English rustic workmen.

The German composer Richard Wagner (1813-83) began working on the libretto to his opera "Der fliegende Holländer" ("The Flying Dutchman") in 1840, and it was first performed in 1843 in Dresden with Wagner conducting. It is the earliest of his operas to become a part of the regular repertoire.

Stories about a ghostly ship named the "Flying Dutchman", cursed to sail the seas for eternity without ever reaching port, had been around for at least a century before Wagner composed his version, which is set in a small town on the southern coast of Norway. In Wagner's interpretation of the legend, the ship's captain is allowed to come ashore every seven years, and if he can find a woman to love him, he and his ship will be freed from the curse. Fortunately, he encounters a Norwegian girl named Senta who is obsessed with the legend and is willing to sacrifice herself to save him.

Jules Massenet (1842-1912) was in his day the most popular and successful French composer of operas, of which he wrote around 40 in total. Most of them are rarely performed today, although "Manon" and "Werther" are still common in opera houses around the world. "Werther" (1892) was based on the enormously popular 1774 novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by the German writer Goethe. Set in the German city of Wetzler, it tells the tragic tale of a young man who shoots himself while tormented by his unrequited love for a woman named Charlotte who is betrothed to someone else.

It was first performed in Vienna in a German translation, although the original French version is now more common.