Music from the Seventies - the 1870s, That Is Quiz

Answer: Leo Delibes

25 May 1870 was the first night of the ballet "Coppélia" by Léo Delibes. The title character is a dancing doll created by an elder inventor. Franz, one of the young villagers fell in love with Coppelia - which of course caused much grief for his fiancée Swanhilda.
One of the famous dances in this ballet was the "Waltz of the Hours", in which 24 ballerinas perform. If I would try to dance in this manner, it would be a bit like the farce with dancing hippopotamuses from Disney's "Fantasia".
Delibes (1836-1893) left us 3 ballets and at least 24 operas. If you're a fan of the soprano voice, I can recommend you a few arias from his opera "Lakmé": the soprano solo "Où va la jeune Hindoue" and the soprano duet "Dôme épais le jasmin".

Answer: Richard Wagner

The "Ride of the Valkyries" is the start of the third act of "Die Walküre", which opera premiered on 26 June 1870 as a separate opera. Later on Wagner would show the four operas that constitute his cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" in one week in his opera house Bayreuth.
The Ring cycle starts with "Das Rheingold", followed by "Die Walküre". The third instalment is "Siegfried" and the final conclusion is "Götterdämmerung".
In "Die Walküre", the main characters were Wotan (chief of the gods), the immortal Valkyrie (nine daughters of Wotan, among whom Brünnhilde), and the mortal twins Siegmund and Sieglinde (children of Wotan). Sieglinde was forced into marriage to Hunding, and when Siegmund made love to her, he had to fight Hunding. Siegmund was killed at the order of the gods, and Brünnhilde (who tried to defend him) was punished by Wotan: she would become a mortal woman, and only the bravest man on earth could free her from a mountain surrounded by fire.
Meanwhile Sieglinde was to give birth to Siegfried, the protagonist in the third opera.
Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was one of the most multi-talented artists of his time. He did not only compose the music to his operas but also wrote all the libretti, advised the staging, the props and the set decoration, and even advised on the construction of the opera of Bayreuth.

Answer: Giuseppe Verdi

Verdi's "Aida" was first performed in 1871. The title character was an Ethiopian princess and hostage of the Egyptians, who fell in love for the Egyptian general Radames. But there were two threats to their happiness: Pharaoh's daughter Amneris was in love with Radames, although he felt more for Aida. And the Ethiopian army, commanded by Aida's father Amonasro, marched upon the Egyptian capital.
The "Triumphal March" celebrated Radames' victory over the Ethiopians. When Pharaoh granted Radames a wish, he demanded the liberation of all Ethiopian slaves (including Aida and Amonasro).
Amonasro tricked Aida into revealing Radames' plan for the next battle, and so Radames was charged with high treason. He was condemned to be locked into a tomb, and Aida chose to share his fate.
I love the "Triumphal March" when staged in the most exuberant style: with at least 300 extras singing, and a few elephants on stage.
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) was a prolific opera composer, best known for his choral arias. He left us about 25 operas, of which the finest are "Nabucco", "La Traviata", "Rigoletto", "Il Trovatore" and "Aida". 

Answer: Johann Strauss Jr.

Johann Strauss Jr. (1825-1899) was one of the most prolific composers of the Viennese waltz family. He left us over 500 dances, of which many of you will instantly recognise "Der Blaue Donau" ("The Blue Danube") and the "Kaiser Waltz" ("The Emperor's Waltz").
"Wiener Blut" premiered in 1873 as a waltz composed for the wedding of Archduchess Gisela and Prince Leopold. Later this waltz and a number of other compositions by Johann Strauss Jr. were used in an operetta with the same title.

Answer: Jacques Offenbach

Offenbach (1819-1880) was born in Germany (near the French border) but took the French nationality. He composed about 100 operettas and two operas. His operetta "La vie parisienne", one of his best works, debuted in 1866 but was thoroughly revised. The definitive version premiered 25 September 1873. Main characters were Gardefeu and Bobinet, two Parisian dandies who once were in love with Metella but now try to start an affair with a Swedish baroness. As in many operettas (starting with the 1858 production "Orphée aux enfers"), Offenbach included in this operetta once more his infamous dance - the French Can-Can. I love seeing this dance, but I'm too rigid and too fat to try it myself.

Answer: Camille Saint-Saens

Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) is probably best known for one segment of his "Carnaval des Animaux", namely the "Swan". But he left us a dozen operas (including "Samson et Dalila"), more than twenty orchestral works, over one hundred vocal compositions, and so on. The "Danse macabre" is an orchestral work in which the violin plays the major part.

It is based upon a legend that each year at Halloween Death visits a cemetery and wakes the deceased, to dance all night - until the first rooster crows, signalling the time for the skeletons to re-enter their graves.

In the original version of 1872 there were also lyrics, but these have been removed in 1874 and it is the purely instrumental version that survives.

Answer: Georges Bizet

The "Habanera" is the signature song and dance from Bizet's opera "Carmen". The title character worked at a cigarette factory and was in love with the officer Don José, but then fell in love with the toreador Escamillo. Needless to say José was not amused. After a few insults, José stabbed Carmen to death.
Carmen sang the "Habanera" in the first act, in which she mused on the fickleness of love. She accompanied her singing with an arousing dance.
Bizet (1838-1875) died a few months after the premiere of "Carmen" in March 1875. He left us 15 operas (also including "Les pêcheurs de perles"), incidental music, several songs and several works for piano solo.

Answer: Edvard Grieg

24 February 1876 was the date for the first performance of "Peer Gynt", incidental music to Ibsen's theatre play. The eight main themes were rearranged into two suites.
Peer Gynt was a poet, a son to an impoverished salesman. After some amorous adventures (most of them illicit) he ended up in North Africa, where he met Anitra, the daughter of a Bedouin chieftain. Anitra robbed him after a seducing dance.
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) may be best known for his music for "Peer Gynt", but he also composed for piano sonatas and violin sonatas.

Answer: Pyotr Tchaikovsky

"Swan Lake" was a ballet by Tchaikovsky that debuted in 1877. IT tells the story of Odette, a princess who was cursed by the evil sorcerer Rothbart and metamorphosed into a white swan, only resuming her human form for a few hours each night. When prince Siegfried witnessed this transformation, he immediately fell in love with Odette.

But then there was also Odile, Rothbart's daughter, with a cunning likeness to Odette... Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was a prolific Russian composer. He left us eleven operas (including "Eugene Onegin"), three major ballets, eight symphonies, three piano concertos, and so on.

Answer: Antonin Dvorak

Dvorak (1841-1904) was a Czech composer, best known for his symphonies (including the Ninth Symphony "From the New World"). Furthermore he composed about fifteen operas, orchestral works, chorals, chamber music... The "Slavonic Dances " are two works for piano and orchestra, inspired by local dances such as the Mazurka, the Polka and the Polonaise. Opus 46 (the first set of eight dances) was published in 1878, and the second set (opus 72) followed soon, in 1886. Contrary to Brahms in his Hungarian dances, Dvorak did not incorporate actual folk music into these dances but wrote new compositions for them.