Opera Trivia

61. Relatives commit will fraud.

From Quiz Additional Opera Summaries in Four Words

Answer: Gianni Schicchi

Learning that a dead relative has bequeathed everything to a monastery, a family decide to disguise one of their own, Gianni, as the "dying" man, make him declare a new will that favors various family members, then have him "die". But engaging in fraud is a sticky business... This one-hour opera forms a triptych with two other short Puccini operas, "Suor Angelica" and "Il Tabarro". It contains one of the most performed arias in the repertoire, "O mio babbino caro".

From Quiz Further Opera Summaries in Four Words

Answer: The Bartered Bride

Smetana wrote this comedic opera. Marenka wishes to marry Jenik, but her parents want to betroth her to Vasek, the son of a man called Micha. Micha tries to pay Jenik to renounce his love for Marenka, and he does, via contract stating that only a son of Micha can marry her. Guess who Jenik is...

From Quiz Yet More Opera Summaries in Four Words

Answer: Pelleas et Melisande

At the start of Claude Debussy's only opera, Golaud meets a mysterious woman, Melisande, in a forest. Months after marrying her, he knows nothing more about her than when he met her, including why she's always sad and where she came from (the audience never finds out either). Complications arise when his half-brother Pelleas falls in love with her.

From Quiz Operas That Offend

Answer: Blackface

In the 21st century, playing a role in blackface (or yellowface) has become a major issue in opera. Operas like 'Turandot' or 'The Magic Flute' or 'Aida', for example, demand that singers in a traditionally white art form transform themselves into people of a different race. Unlike most other operas in which people of colour play prominent roles, in 'Otello' the plot hinges on racism. For example, Monostatos in 'The Magic Flute', who complains that he can't get a girl because he's black and that's ugly, has been a problem for a while. But in a 2014 version in English mounted by the Washington Opera, the offending lines in the aria were altered and the problem was solved. But a solution like that wouldn't work in 'Otello'. Some argue that playing the role without dark skin takes an essential element from the opera. Kaufmann and other white singers playing the role without darkening their skin have received very mixed reviews. For an interesting look at what singers think, try 'Talking Race and "Blackface" in Opera: The Long Version' (Anne Migette, 2015) and 'I am Singing About Myself: Conversations with Black Othellos' (Alison Kinney, 2016)

From Quiz One of These Opera Characters Doesn't Belong

Answer: Kate Barlow

This Puccini opera, written in Italian, takes place in the American Old West. Minnie is a barmaid in love with Dick Johnson, who's sought for thievery by the sheriff Jack Rance, who also loves Minnie. Kate Barlow is a character in the book "Holes" by Louis Sachar.

From Quiz Still More Opera Summaries in Four Words

Answer: Hansel und Gretel

Granted, she was trying to fatten them up and eat them. After getting kicked out of their house and wandering the woods, the titular children of the fairy tale come upon a witch's house and eventually free other children in Humperdinck's opera. Though having no thematic ties to Christmas, the opera is often performed around Christmas.

From Quiz Accessible Opera

Answer: Turandot

'Turandot' is by the Italian Composer Giacomo Puccini, and was his last opera. 'Nessun Dorma', which translates as 'none shall sleep tonight' is sung in the last act by the character Calaf. It has been made popular by Luciano Pavarotti's spectacular version.

From Quiz Even More Opera Summaries in Four Words

Answer: Madama Butterfly

One of Puccini's most popular operas, "Madama Butterfly" is based on a short story about a man who marries a Japanese woman, Cio-Cio-San, and then abandons her to return to America and take a "real American wife". He doesn't realize that she loves him deeply and awaits his return for years. Anthony Minghella's version uses a puppet to represent Butterfly's son, who is operated by black-clad puppeteers on stage.

From Quiz More Opera Summaries in Four Words

Answer: Turandot

The icy Princess Turandot and her father have a test for any man who wishes to wed her: he must answer three riddles. If he fails, he dies (tough courtship, huh?). However, there's a twist when a man DOES answer her riddles. Puccini died before finishing this opera, leading other composers to complete it. There is controversy over whether or not the final "t" in "Turandot" should be pronounced.

From Quiz Opera Summaries in Four Words

Answer: Siegfried

"Siegfried" is opera number three in Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen". The title character, the grandson of Wotan, is raised by Mime, who wants Siegfried to kill the dragon Fafnir so Mime can obtain the ring and his shape-shifting helmet. Siegfried isn't nice to Mime, throttling him for information about his parents and destroying things when Mime fails in forging a sword. The character Siegfried has a lot in common with the fairy tale character Fearnot, who doesn't know what fear is, and after a serious of harrowing adventures, only learns it when his wife is dying. Similarly, Siegfried learns fear from his love, Brunnhilde.

From Quiz Early Opera

Answer: Thomas Arne

Thomas Augustine Arne (1710-1779) is the prolific composer we're looking for. Arne composed the music for at least 100 stage productions. He started his prolific output with the operas "Rosamond" and "Tom Thumb the Great", both in 1733. In 1740 Arne composed music to the masque (later transformed into an oratorio and even later into a full opera) "Alfred", with the finale "Rule, Britannia!". Furthermore Arne started in 1740 the work for many of Shakespeare's plays: "The Tempest" (1740), "As You Like It" (1740), "Twelfth Night" (1741), "The Merchant of Venice" (1741), "Cymbeline" (1744), "Much Ado About Nothing" (1748), and "Romeo and Juliet" (1750). Besides his work for stage productions, Arne has also composed odes, cantatas, a few masses, and some sonatas. Clarke (1674-1707) is best known for his "Trumpet Voluntary", officially designated as the "Prince of Denmark's March". Gibbons (1615-1676) specialized in instrumental music and sacred music, but also worked on the 1653 masque "Cupid or Death". Humphrey (1647-1674) left us music for John Donne's poem "A Hymn to God the Father". 

From Quiz A Night at the Opera

Answer: Giacomo Puccini

Set in Nagasaki, Japan, "Madama Butterfly" is considered by many to be Giacomo Puccini's masterpiece. It is the story of an American Naval officer who is going to marry a 15 year old Japanese girl. He envisions this marriage as a temporary situation and leaves shortly after the honeymoon night which unexpectedly resulted in a pregnancy. When he returns years later, he has an American wife and wants to take the child. The mother turns the child over and then commits suicide in order to save her honor and because she is broken hearted. This tale of love and disdain is one of the most performed operas in the world.

From Quiz A Prayer at the Opera

Answer: Submit to the lustful advances of Baron Scarpia

In her famous aria "Vissi d'arte", Tosca prays to God, asking him why, when she has always served him well, he has apparently abandoned her. Scarpia, the Chief of Police, has given her an ultimatum - to submit to his advances, or see her lover, the artist Cavaradossi, shot by a firing squad. This being a tragic opera, Tosca kills Scarpia rather than give in to him, only to see Cavaradossi shot anyway. She then rounds things off by throwing herself to her death off the castle walls.

From Quiz È La Solita Storia (It's The Same Old Story!)

Answer: both are male characters played by women, who put on female dress during the opera

The "breeches part" (or Hosenrolle or travesti as it's often called in the polyglot world of opera), in which a woman plays a male character, goes back a very long way. In "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Der Rosenkavalier" the gender ambiguity is heightened by having the "male" character assume female dress to advance the comic plot.

From Quiz The Sopranos

Answer: Montserrat Caballé

Montserrat Caballé (born 1933) is perhaps the best known of these four spinto sopranos. She started her career in Basel (Switzerland) in 1956, playing Mimi from Puccini's opera "La Bohème". In 1965, she sang the role of Lucrezia Borgia in the eponymous opera by Gaetano Donizetti, which earned her a standing ovation for 25 minutes and international renown. Caballé made a few recordings with pop artists. The duet "Barcelona" with Freddie Mercury was an instant hit. Later she worked with Vangelis on the movie score to "El Greco", and she also recorded a CD with (among others) Johnny Halliday and Johnny Logan. Leontyne Price (born 1927) is an American soprano, who ended her opera career in 1985. Emma Eames (1865-1952) was another American soprano. Sondra Radvanovsky (born 1969) is yet another American soprano.

From Quiz Hero in Disguise

Answer: Octavian and Mariandel

The mezzosoprano first plays the part of Octavian, lover of Die Marschallin. As they are disturbed in the morning, Octavian has to dress up as Mariandel the maid. Thus the mezzosoprano has to play a boy playing a girl!

From Quiz Various Vacancies: Ten Terrific Tenors

Answer: Enrico Caruso

Caruso was the tenor we're looking for - one of the first who made studio recordings. This fact explains we can still listen to his marvelous interpretations, although he died in 1921. Caruso started his career with a role in Domenico Morelli's opera "L'Amico Francesco". He sang the part of Rodolfo in Puccini's "La Bohème" in Milan in 1898, and continued with the role of the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's "Rigoletto" in the Met in New York in 1903. One of the earliest records with Caruso is the 1907 recording of Handel's "Serse", of which you can easily find the aria "Ombra Mai Fu" on internet. Lucio Dalla's song "Caruso" (1986) doesn't explicitly mention the tenor's name, but clearly reminds us of Caruso's final love affair. Sam Cooke (1931-1964), Roy Orbison (1936-1988) and Michael Jackson (1958-2009) are listed as pop singers who had a tenor voice, but they weren't Italian neither classical tenors.

From Quiz La Stupenda Performs ...

Answer: Mozart

Written in 1791, "The Magic Flute" deals with the education of man as he struggles with the bonds of superstition and religion to attain a state of enlightenment. Eventually Earth turns into a form of Heaven and mortal men become akin to gods. At this point in her career Sutherland had moved to London to study at the Royal College of Music where she would be engaged as their utility soprano.

From Quiz Opera Composers and their Librettists

Answer: Eugene Scribe

Eugene Scribe (1791-1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He was going to study law before he made writing his career. George Enescu (1881-1955) was a Romanian composer, violinist, and conductor.

From Quiz Grand Opera, People and Places

Answer: La Scala

A beautiful opera house in Milan, Italy. Construction on La Scala was begun in 1776 under the auspices of Empress Maria Theresa on the (former) site of the church of Santa Maria Della Scala. It opened in 1778 and to this day is one of the most important opera houses in the world. A number of famous operas have premiered there including many by Verdi, Puccini, and Bellini.

From Quiz Easy Peasy "Cav/Pag" quiz

Answer: She got pregnant by Turiddu out of wedlock.

This plays out "well" when she and Lola, Turiddu's current squeeze, face off in front of the church.

From Quiz Sleepless at the Opera

Answer: Semele

"Semele" recounts the tragic love of the mortal Semele for Jupiter, the god of thunder. In the second scene of Act II, Semele, awakening from her romantic reveries, calls upon sleep, to "...again deceive me; to my arms restore my wandering love". Semele's palace, in which she is kept by Jupiter, is guarded by two ever-wakeful dragons, which prevents the vengeful Juno from taking revenge on her rival. Juno calls upon Somnus, the god of sleep, and his attendant Morpheus to provide Jupiter with such an erotic dream of Semele that he will subsequently be unable to refuse any wish she may ask him to grant. She also obtains the rod of Somnus, which enables her to subdue the dragons guarding Semele's palace. She convinces Semele to ask Jupiter to come to her, not in his mortal form, but in his full glory as the god of Thunder. Jupiter is obliged to fulfill her request, which inevitably results in her fiery death. From her ashes, however, rises their son, the god Bacchus. Semele's aria "Oh Sleep, Why Dost Thou Leave Me?" is one of the best-known arias from the oratorio, along with Jupiter's "Where E'er You Walk". The great tenor John McCormack was known for his performances of both of these arias, both of which he also recorded. His flawless trill in the opening phrase of "Oh Sleep" is counted as an example of his flawless technique, along with his celebrated octave leap in "Care Selve" (from Handel's "Atalanta- also an aria written for soprano) and his amazing single-breath phrase in "Il Mio Tesoro", from Mozart's "Don Giovanni".

From Quiz Museum of the African-American Diva

Answer: Marie Selika

Selika's signature piece was Mulder's "Staccato Polka", which showed off her solid two-octave range (from Middle C to High C) and her deftness at ornamentation. She was reportedly the first black singer to sing at the White House for Rutherford B. Hayes - some 10 years before the next prima donna. Like Greenfield, she also sang for the Queen of England in 1883. How unlikely that the small town of Natchez would produce two great sopranos of color; it must be the water! Details about Selika's birth and early life are not reliable, as she supposedly traveled from Mississippi to Ohio (where her voice attracted a wealthy family who arranged for her instruction), San Francisco (where she studied with Giovanna Bianchi), Chicago (where she had a coach named Farini), then finally to the East. Her husband was baritone Sampson Williams, and they traveled the European capitals together. She was perhaps more successful than her predecessor because she apparently did not look "black in earnest", as a reporter had once said. She was fair complexioned, and had straight hair. Selika returned to Ohio in 1893 after being abroad, and continued to concertize. She and her husband moved to Philadelphia, where Williams died in 1911. Though she retired from the concert stage in 1916, she began teaching at the Martin School of Music in Harlem. She died in New York in 1937 at the age of 87.

From Quiz Opera Mixture

Answer: Mozart

Mozart wrote 'Cosi Fan Tutte', one of his most famous Italian operas. Mozart's birthday falls on the 27th of January, which happens to also be the birthday of this quiz's author!

From Quiz Opera Divas: part 2

Answer: Dawn Upshaw

She has been defined as too sweet and wholesome and all American to be a true diva.

From Quiz It's All About Opera

Answer: The Evening Star

"Oh du mein holder Abendstern, wohl grüß ich immer dich so gern..." Wolfram's "Lied an den Abendstern" is a beautiful, melancholy piece. Wolfram feels that Elisabeth is going to die, and he asks the Evening Star to guard her and to greet her when she leaves the earth.

From Quiz In Concert: Dame Screechy Cantatrice, Soprano

Answer: There is a 'Text & Translations' insert inside the program

With the exception of the Marilyn Horne Foundation, which has begun the innovative practice of projected translations on a screen above the singer's head, any half-decent recitalist will provide you with translations, sometimes even including the text of songs in English. You can't miss these inserts: they are bigger than the program itself, and are sometimes in bright colors. Just remember to make any page turns as quietly as possible.

From Quiz A Variety of Operas

Answer: Death of Klinghoffer

This John Adams opera tells the story of how in 1985, Palestinian terrorists hijacked the "Achille Lauro" and threw overboard a handicapped Jewish tourist named Leon Klinghoffer.

From Quiz Name That Opera! (19th & 20th century)

Answer: La Fanciulla del West

Puccini's "La Fanciulla del West," after the play by David Belasco ("The Girl of the Golden West"), was first performed in New York in 1910. Just as Belasco's "Madame Butterfly" had made a strong (operatic) impression upon Puccini in London, so did "Golden West" when he first saw it in New York in 1907. The play and the opera are about the California Gold Rush. This baritone aria was influenced by folk songs and Native American music; even though it is in Italian, it uses a motif from the Festive Sun Dance of the Zuni Indians. Jake sings: "What will my old mother do if I do not return? How she will weep!"

From Quiz What Opera Is This Aria From?

Answer: Rigoletto

Grand Opera in Three Acts By Giuseppe Verdi Libretto By Piave (Adapted from Victor Hugos Tragedy " Le Roi sAmuse") First Produced Venice, March, 1851 Chief Characters: Gilda, Maddalena, Rigoletto, Duke of Mantua, Count Monterone, Count Ceprano, Sparafucile

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