Additional Opera Summaries in Four Words Quiz

Answer: Norma

Norma is a high priestess among the druids. She has broken her chastity vows by having an affair with a Roman and bearing two sons. She soon discovers that he's left her for another girl, who's also made vows. Norma doesn't blame Adalgisa or become angry at her, but she does want vengeance on the man.

The title role of Bellini's work is considered one of the most difficult and taxing roles in opera.

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".

Answer: Nabucco

Verdi's opera about King Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar II) was originally called "Nabucodonosor". Plot spoilers: Nabucco begins the opera as King; Abigaille, his supposed daughter (who turns out to be a slave), takes the crown from him when he loses his sanity.

When he regains his strength through prayer, Abigaille poisons herself, and Nabucco takes the crown back and frees the Israelites, whom he had conquered.

Answer: La Fille du Regiment

Marie is the daughter of the regiment, having been discovered as a baby on battlefield. The soldiers raised her and call themselves her fathers. She loves her life and even gains a sweetheart, and all is well until an aunt appears to take her away and train her as a lady. Marie hates her new life, but never fear, for Donizetti's comic opera ends well.

Answer: From the House of the Dead

Leos Janacek's last opera is based on "The House of the Dead" by Dostoevsky. It has no main plot or central character, instead featuring several prisoners in a Siberian prison camp narrating their stories. We see the prisoners' daily routines and even witness a play they perform.

Answer: Dialogues of the Carmelites

Needless to say, spoiler warning. Poulenc's opera begins with Blanche deciding to become a nun, and we witness many scenes of life in the convent. The French Revolution intrudes on the convent, and at the end, the nuns are beheaded, one by one, each singing until her death. The metallic swishes of the guillotine are written into the score as the chorus gets smaller and smaller...

Answer: The Turn of the Screw

This Britten opera is based on the book of the same name by Henry James. A woman known only as the Governess takes charge of two children at a country house, and she soon begins seeing specters. Are real ghosts threatening the children, or is the Governess unstable and the real threat?

Answer: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg

"Die Meistersinger" is one of the longest operas ever written--it takes around five hours to perform, not including intermissions! Wagner tended to go long with his operas--of his ten major operas (everything between "The Flying Dutchman" and "Parsifal"), only "Das Rheingold" and "The Flying Dutchman" can typically be performed in under three hours. This is the only major Wagner opera based entirely on an original idea, though Hans Sachs was a historical figure. It contains no magical elements, unlike his other nine major operas, and is considerably lighter in tone than the other nine.

Right, the story: Walther wishes to be a mastersinger and enter a contest, as whoever writes the best song may ask Eva, a mastersinger's daughter and Walther's sweetheart, to marry him. A rival, Beckmesser, steals Walther's poem, but messes up the lyrics, reciting grim, depressing lines that wouldn't be out of place in a heavy metal song but aren't very good for wooing.

Answer: Manon Lescaut

Spoiler warning for Puccini's opera. Manon loves Renato des Grieux but becomes Geronte's mistress for financial security. When Geronte finds out she's still seeing Renato, he has her deported as a prostitute. The ending takes place in a geographically-inappropriate desert, as there are none of those in Louisiana, where Manon dies of thirst.

Massenet also wrote an opera called simply "Manon". Both are based on the novel "Manon Lescaut" by Prevost. In the novel "The Lady of the Camellias", which formed the basis of the opera "La Traviata", "Manon" is often discussed.

Answer: Falstaff

Verdi's last opera is based on the Shakespeare play "The Merry Wives of Windsor". Falstaff writes identical love letters to two women, hoping to gain their money. The wives quickly discover the scheme and go about humiliating him. The love story between Fenton and Nannetta is spread throughout in small doses.

"Falstaff" contains a line often misappropriated to Shakespeare: "When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew."