S/He Loves Me Not Trivia Quiz

Answer: Liù

Puccini's last opera unfolds somewhat like this: unlike the other unlucky princes so far, Calaf is the only one who was able to answer Turandot's three riddles and therefore remain alive. When she protests, asking whether or not he wants her by force, Calaf says that he does not and that if she can discover his name by dawn, he will be ready to die.

When Turandot declares "Nessun dorma" (let noone sleep) until the Prince's name is discovered, Calaf stands firm and sings the famous aria of the same name, saying that the answer to the mystery - his name - will remain locked within him. Even when Timur and Liù are dragged in and she is tortured, she does not reveal the name because she loves him so.

It is in the earlier (Act I) "Signore, ascolta (My Lord, listen)", when she tries to dissuade Calaf from pursuing Turandot, that we learn that it was Calaf's smile that caused the slave Liù to fall in love with him.

She tells him that she has walked all this way with his blind father, who may lose his son.

She also says that "Liù will not beg anymore. Ah, pity." Knowing that he will never return her love and that he is in love with Turandot, Liù sings to her: "Tu che di gel sei cinta, l'amerai anche tu prima di quest'aurora (you, who is sealed in ice,you will love him too before dawn)." She grabs a dagger and stabs herself, falling at Turandot's feet, the secret of Calaf's name dying with her. This is where Puccini's original score ends and Franco Alfano's takes over to finish the opera and unite Turandot and Calaf.

Answer: Golaud

This is the cuckolded (or not; we are not sure. He only sees the two 'lovers' embracing) Golaud of Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande", grandson of King Arkel.

Thanks to Belgian dramatist Maurice Maeterlinck, this opera is so full of symbolism, that I do not know where to begin! For starters, remember the crown that fell into the well? What a coincidence: when Pelléas and Mélisande are standing by a well at a shaded spot in the park, the ring that Golaud gave her falls into the water. At the precise moment (noon) that the ring was lost, Golaud was hurt in a riding accident! There is another scene in Act III when the princess is combing her hair by her window; when she leans out to get a better view of Pelléas down below, her hair tumbles down, enveloping him; doves fly around them. Think of Rapunzel (being imprisoned by Golaud) or the sensual symbolism represented by a man being lost in a woman's hair...

It is not until Act IV, however, that the two openly declare their love for each other. Golaud, after his son Yniold innocently tells him of what he sees Pelléas and Mélisande doing, he is consumed with jealousy, and comes out of the castle to look for them. When the pair hear his approach, they exclaim: "tout est perdu, tout est sauvé (all is lost; all is saved)" since they know that it is inevitable that they will be discovered. This is the moment when Golaud tries to kill the pair after seeing their passionate embrace, succeeding with his brother, but not with his wife, who runs away. She gives birth in Act V, dying shortly thereafter.

The opera also utilizes 'leitmotif' for each character, as does Wagner in his operas. For example, Mélisande's motive is also the same tune that is heard in the accompaniment of Debussy's mélodie "Nuit d'étoiles (Starry night)", which would explain her 'other-wordliness'.

Answer: Morgana

This is Morgana, sister of Handel's "Alcina". Her aria, "Tornami a vagheggiar (Return to captivate me)", is sung at the end of Act I after Bradamante/Ricciardo leaves to find Ruggiero (***depending on the production, Alcina is sometimes given this aria, but when performed true to the libretto, it is Morgana who is to sing it.***).

Leave it to the incomparable French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay to turn this aria into a comic one. In a well-known European imported production of "Alcina" at the Lyric Opera of Chicago a few years ago (and also on CD) featuring Renée Fleming as Alcina, mezzo Susan Graham as Bradamante and Dessay as Morgana, Dessay sings to Bradamante's discarded jacket. She somehow uses the jacket to simulate 'Ricciardo's' arms around her, turning her back to the audience as if they were embracing. She also rolls around on the floor, while singing, to show her 'excitement' and desperate desire to see 'him' again.

Answer: Gilda

Even though her father "Rigoletto", also the name of this Verdi opera, tried to shut his daughter Gilda up in their house, away from the lecherous eyes of the courtiers, the womanizing Duke of Mantua still got his hands on her. He never loved her for one moment; he, who sings "La donna è mobile (woman is fickle)", gets to live and carry on with his licentious ways, while Gilda knowingly gives up her life so that he may live.

After seeing with her own eyes the Duke trying to woo Maddalena, the assassin Sparafucile's sister, Gilda is heartbroken and explains to her father, who had brought her to witness the Duke's depravity, how she came to be seduced.

The greatest dramatic irony is in the fact that Rigoletto pays Sparafucile to kill the Duke; Maddalena feels sorry for him (the Duke) and begs for his life, so she devises a plan with her assassin brother that he would kill the first man who comes before midnight and give Rigoletto the body in a sack. Gilda is determined to sacrifice her life for the Duke's, and knocks on their door, already dressed in men's clothing.

Answer: Selim

In Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail (the Abduction from the Seraglio)", we have the Turkish Pasha Selim as the abductor of not only Konstanze, the Spanish noblewoman, but also her maid, Blondchen. Her betrothed Belmonte and his manservant Pedrillo try to save them.

This opera is a comic one with dialogue, and the role of the Pasha Selim is often given to a well-known actor. There is also a second instance of unrequited love here, as the Pasha's right hand man, Osmin, has the hots for Blondchen and tries to force her to be affectionate with him.

She laughs in his face, already in love with Pedrillo. All's well that ends well, however. Selim decides to free the Spanish posse, even though years ago, Belmonte's father had wronged him, because he despises the elder Belmonte too much to follow in his footsteps. "The 'tortures of every kind' is in reference to perhaps the most famous aria of this opera - the English translation of "Martern aller Arten".

Answer: John Falstaff

Sir John Falstaff, baritone namesake of Verdi's ultimate opera "Falstaff," does not get either lady. Maybe the fact that they are married had a little something to do with it. Of course this opera is the adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" (and "King Henry IV, Part I" for the 'Honour' monologue) by Arrigo Boito.

He was also the "Otello" librettist for Verdi. The opera ends on a very light note, as everyone agrees that 'everything in this world is a jest.' The plot is somewhat reminiscent of Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro", as it involves Falstaff being hidden in a laundry basket, and true lovers (Nannetta - Anne in the English version - and Fenton) being married by the end of the opera.

Answer: Tatyana

This is of course the story of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin". Lensky is Onegin's friend, who is engaged to Olga, Tatyana's sister. After Onegin is left alone with Tatyana at her family's estate, she falls in love with him, giving a letter of declaration to her old nurse Filipyevna (who realizes what is going on with her charge) to deliver to Onegin.

The next day, Onegin makes it clear that he does not return her love. In fact, at the ball where Tatyana's name-day is being celebrated, Onegin dances so much with Olga as to incite Lensky's jealousy.

He then challenges Onegin to a duel and is killed. After three years of a self-imposed exile, Onegin returns to find an even more beautiful Tatyana now married to Prince Gremin. He then sends her letter declaring his love; after she reads it, she admits that her passion is reawakened.

When Onegin enters and kneels before her, declaring his feelings, she forgets herself for a moment and also tells him that she loves him. She tells him that she will not leave her husband, however, and leaves the room, and Onegin in despair.

Answer: Ophelia

This is Ophelia or Ophélie (in the Ambroise Thomas French opera version) from Shakespeare's "Hamlet". I will not cover the plot, as it should be fairly well-known, but rather, I will point out the differences between Thomas's score and Shakespeare's play. Yes, Ophelia does die, after her mad scene ("A vos jeux mes amis... - to your sport, my friends..."); she joins the Wilis, the group of spirits of unmarried girls which Giselle (from the ballet and story) also joined [Ever heard of the phrase 'that gives me the Willies'?].

A ballet (as French opera demanded) opened the fourth act in which Ophelia dies. Hamlet, however, does not die. Instigated by his father's ghost, he kills Claudius and declares himself king, a relatively happy ending, as opposed to the original.

Answer: Dodon

Rimsky-Korsakov's opera is a dramatized fable with prologue in three acts, with a libretto by Vladimir Bel'sky based on Pushkin's "The House of the Weathercock". The Astrologer offers a cautionary tale in the prologue. Tired of war, King Dodon asks his two sons -Gvidon and Afron - for advice. Along with the General Polkan, noone can agree on a strategy. The Astrologer brings in a golden cockerel that would sound an alarm at any sign of danger, but he warns that he has the right to demand his reward at any time for this. Two alarms lead Dodon to despatch his two sons to lead two armies, and the king himself to don armor. In the mountains, he finds his two sons, who had fought each other to death. The Queen of Shemakha then emerges from her tent, sings the exotic and sensuous "Hymn to the Sun", ensnaring the King. At her request, she orders Polkan to be beheaded and the couple will now rule together. When they return to a royal wedding procession, the Astrologer enters and interrupts, demanding the Queen as his promised reward. The King strikes him down and kills him, repulsing the Queen. The Cockerel pecks the King on the head and kills him; the Cockerel and the Queen then disappear together. In an epilogue, the Astrologer discloses that only he and the Queen were real, and that the other characters were merely a dream.

The Russian censors deemed this opera as politically incorrect and it was not allowed to be immediately performed. The satire of the piece, on the heels of the Russo-Japanese War and after the disturbance of 1905 in which the composer had become involved by siding with the students, seemed a little too accurate.

Answer: Philip

Poor King Philip of Spain had the misfortune of marrying a woman with whom his son had already fallen in love in Verdi's "Don Carlos". Verdi's opera was based on the Schiller dramatic poem, "Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien (Don Carlos, Infanta of Spain)", as revised into a libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle. It was first performed - in French - at the Paris Opéra in 1867. There is also the Italian version available and often performed.

Don Carlos, King Philip II of Spain's son, arrives secretly in France to meet his proposed bride, Princess Elizabeth de Valois. He falls in love with her (and she with him) and reveals his true identity. Her page, Thibaut, enters, however, to tell them that it is the king who intends to marry Elizabeth. There is a second instance of unrequited love here: Princess Eboli, Elizabeth's lady-in-waiting, is also in-love with Carlos, and she thinks that he also loves her. She, dressed as Elizabeth, hears words of love from Carlos which were intended for Elizabeth. Furious, she is set on exacting revenge. She puts a picture of Carlos in the Queen's jewel case, which King Philip finds. It is then that he sings "Elle ne m'aime pas (she does not loves me)"/ "Ella giammai m'amò (she never loved me)". Elizabeth then dismisses Eboli from her service. When Carlos and the Queen meet before the tomb of Emperor Charles V - Carlos' grandfather (of whom there are stories that he is not dead, but really a monk in the monastery)- acknowledging that their love can only be fufilled in heaven, King Philip then enters with the Grand Inquisitor and guards, demanding his son's death. As the guards move to seize the lovers, Charles V's tomb opens and a figure in monk's clothing emerges and takes Carlos away, to the astonishment of all.