FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!

What Happens at the Opera ... Trivia Quiz

... does not always stay at the opera. Here are ten instances of operatic oddities. Can you match the situation described with the opera in which it occurs?

A matching quiz by PearlQ19. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
PearlQ19

Time
6 mins

Type
Match Quiz

Quiz #
390,904

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
200

Awards
Editor's Choice

(a) Drag-and-drop from the right to the left, or (b) click on a right side answer box and then on a left side box to move it.

Questions		Choices
1. A magic bullet shoots not the intended target (a white dove) but the marksman's bride-to-be as well as another marksman hiding up a tree. Needless to say, these three are neither lined up in a straight line nor in any other way as close to each other as to make such a trajectory plausible.		Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose)
2. After suffering from her husband's philandering ways for years, a countess sets a trap, disguises herself as her husband's latest love interest, and, after he has tried to seduce her, reveals herself ... to a great scene of reconciliation and happiness.		Der Freisch�tz (The Marksman)
3. Two men want to find out if their respective betrothed are truly loyal to them. So the obvious way to go is to announce their departure, come back in disguise, and woo the respective other's bride. All without being recognized, of course.		G�tterd�mmerung (Twilight of the Gods)
4. Elvira loses her mind over the fear that her lover might be unfaithful to her when all he did was save the life of a king's widow by interceding on her behalf. After a great mad scene, Elvira's lover comes back to explain it all and her reason is miraculously restored.		Les p�cheurs des perles (The Pearl Fishers)
5. A desperate gypsy woman, seeking revenge for her mother, kidnaps the son of a count, intending to burn him at the stake ... but in a temporary state of insanity burns her own son instead! Realizing her mistake, she proceeds to raise the kidnapped boy as her own.		Il trovatore (The Troubadour)
6. After two lifelong friends have sworn to renounce the woman they both love, one of them breaks that vow. Enraged, the other orchestrates the couple's arrest, as the woman is a priestess and not allowed to be touched. But he has a surprise change of heart when it turns out all of a sudden that the woman once saved his life (a fact never mentioned before).		Cos� fan tutte (Women Are Like That)
7. A Greek king returns home in a storm and, to assuage Poseidon, promises to sacrifice the first person he meets on the shore to the god. Needless to say, that person is his only, much beloved son.		La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny)
8. Talk about coincidence: As two star-crossed lovers plan to elope, an accidentally dropped gun kills the woman's father. Her brother vows revenge. Later on, the brother finds a new best friend, who of course is none other than the man he swore to kill. And when the disillusioned main character chooses to retire to a monastery, he just so happens to pick the one where his long-lost love is living in disguise as a hermit.		Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
9. Believing her husband to return unexpectedly, a Field Marshal's wife hastily disguises her young lover as a chambermaid to avoid discovery. Her country cousin, a baron, enters the scene ... and propositions the chambermaid.		I puritani (The Puritans)
10. In one of the installments of Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelung," Siegfried is tricked into forgetting his marriage to Br�nnhilde and falling for the only woman in the entire Ring cycle who is not already related to him by blood or marriage.		Idomeneo

Select each answer

1. A magic bullet shoots not the intended target (a white dove) but the marksman's bride-to-be as well as another marksman hiding up a tree. Needless to say, these three are neither lined up in a straight line nor in any other way as close to each other as to make such a trajectory plausible.

2. After suffering from her husband's philandering ways for years, a countess sets a trap, disguises herself as her husband's latest love interest, and, after he has tried to seduce her, reveals herself ... to a great scene of reconciliation and happiness.

3. Two men want to find out if their respective betrothed are truly loyal to them. So the obvious way to go is to announce their departure, come back in disguise, and woo the respective other's bride. All without being recognized, of course.

4. Elvira loses her mind over the fear that her lover might be unfaithful to her when all he did was save the life of a king's widow by interceding on her behalf. After a great mad scene, Elvira's lover comes back to explain it all and her reason is miraculously restored.

5. A desperate gypsy woman, seeking revenge for her mother, kidnaps the son of a count, intending to burn him at the stake ... but in a temporary state of insanity burns her own son instead! Realizing her mistake, she proceeds to raise the kidnapped boy as her own.

6. After two lifelong friends have sworn to renounce the woman they both love, one of them breaks that vow. Enraged, the other orchestrates the couple's arrest, as the woman is a priestess and not allowed to be touched. But he has a surprise change of heart when it turns out all of a sudden that the woman once saved his life (a fact never mentioned before).

7. A Greek king returns home in a storm and, to assuage Poseidon, promises to sacrifice the first person he meets on the shore to the god. Needless to say, that person is his only, much beloved son.

8. Talk about coincidence: As two star-crossed lovers plan to elope, an accidentally dropped gun kills the woman's father. Her brother vows revenge. Later on, the brother finds a new best friend, who of course is none other than the man he swore to kill. And when the disillusioned main character chooses to retire to a monastery, he just so happens to pick the one where his long-lost love is living in disguise as a hermit.

9. Believing her husband to return unexpectedly, a Field Marshal's wife hastily disguises her young lover as a chambermaid to avoid discovery. Her country cousin, a baron, enters the scene ... and propositions the chambermaid.

10. In one of the installments of Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelung," Siegfried is tricked into forgetting his marriage to Br�nnhilde and falling for the only woman in the entire Ring cycle who is not already related to him by blood or marriage.

Most Recent Scores

Oct 22 2024 : Guest 137: 8/10
Sep 14 2024 : jwwells: 10/10

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Der Freisch�tz (The Marksman)

"Der Freisch�tz" ("The Marksman", sometimes also referred to as "The Hunter's Bride") is a quintessential German Romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber. Famous pieces include the Huntsmen's chorus "Was gleicht wohl auf Erden dem J�gervergn�gen", the bridesmaids' song "Wir winden dir den Jungfernkranz," the tenor aria "Durch die W�lder, durch die Auen," and the creepy Wolf Glen scene which involves dark magic as the opera's villain, Kaspar, is casting the magic bullets. Agathe, the bride-to-be, survives, by the way, being protected by her bridal bouquet of white roses blessed by a hermit living nearby.

Answer: Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)

I find it incredibly sad that the witty, resourceful, sparkling character that is Rosina in "Il barbiere di Siviglia" and her dashing, thoroughly smitten admirer "Lindoro," a.k.a. Count Almaviva, grow up to become the people we see in "Le nozze di Figaro." But there you have it: Rosina loves her husband so much that she will forgive him just about anything, including first-hand experience of how he is wooing another woman.

But that is a common trope in opera that always seems to reinforce the bond between the estranged couples in question. I still can't help but think that the young Rosina we meet in "Il barbiere" would have chased the unfaithful Count through the entire garden while brandishing a heeled shoe or something like that.

Answer: Cos� fan tutte (Women Are Like That)

A beloved Mozart opera, "Cos� fan tutte" features a lot of sweet music, especially duets and quartets, and a convoluted story of suspected unfaithfulness eventually coming true, but only through the actions of the men who suspected it in the first place. I have never liked this opera much despite some really nice melodies. Maybe I'm too modern for that kind of plot.

Answer: I puritani (The Puritans)

"I puritani" by Vincenzo Bellini has one of the weakest plots I have ever encountered in opera, but it features some really nice bel canto music and an effective mad scene. Numerous world-famous sopranos have recorded this opera, including Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caball�, Mirella Freni, Edita Gruberov�, and Anna Netrebko.

Answer: Il trovatore (The Troubadour)

Mind you, that is only the prologue of the opera! "Il trovatore," while one of the most famous Verdi operas, is also by far the most complicated. So complicated, in fact, that in his satirical "opera guide," Austrian singer and comic Leo Slezak merely comments: "Even I have no idea what is going on in this opera."

Answer: Les p�cheurs des perles (The Pearl Fishers)

"Les p�cheurs des perles" is an early work by Georges Bizet which was not very successful when it was first performed. Bizet, of course, went on to compose the opera that is widely regarded as the most popular opera in the world: "Carmen." After Bizet died, some of his earlier works were reinstated.

The original score of "Les p�cheurs des perles" is lost, so all performances of the opera are reconstructions based on a surviving piano score. While not the strongest in terms of plot, "Les p�cheurs des perles" features two well-known concert pieces: the bass/tenor duet "Au fond du temple saint" and the incredibly tender and beautiful serenade "Je crois entendre encore." The general exotic tone of the score (the story is set on Ceylon) and the lively, extended choir scenes also add to the atmosphere of the work.

Answer: Idomeneo

Not an unexpected development considering this is Greek drama. "Idomeneo" is a late Mozart opera and more in the vein of "Don Giovanni" than "Cos� fan tutte."
In 2006, a production of "Idomeneo" in Berlin (Germany) caused a storm of controversy when it became known that one scene would show the main character carrying the severed heads of Poseidon (who is always referred to as "Neptune" in the libretto), Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad (meant to symbolize the people's liberation from gods and idols). The production was canceled.

Answer: La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny)

Make no mistake: "La forza del destino" is a beautiful opera! Famous excerpts include Leonora's aria "Pace, pace mio Dio" and the scene "Il santo nome di Dio Signore"/"La vergine degli angeli" with Padre Guardiano, the abbot of the monastery, and the rest of the monks accepting Leonora in the hermitage.

It is a frequently performed opera, and the overture is also often performed separately as a concert piece.

Answer: Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose)

Cross-dressing happens frequently in opera, and when boys are dressed up as girls they invariably end up pursued by a lustful man. Just ask Cherubino from "Le nozze di Figaro."
Like Cherubino, the role of Octavian (the young lover in question) is a "trouser role," meaning it is always played by a woman. So we have a woman playing a man who, at least in one scene, is disguised as a woman. I wonder just what may have inspired "Victor/Victoria."

Answer: G�tterd�mmerung (Twilight of the Gods)

Let's examine that claim, shall we?
Siegfried is the grandson of Wotan. Br�nnhilde and the other Valkyries are daughters of Wotan and Erda, making them half-sisters to Siegfried's parents, Siegmund and Sieglinde; ergo: aunts to Siegfried. Siegmund and Sieglinde are twins, so Siegfried's mother is also his aunt. The goddesses Fricka (Wotan's wife) and Freia are sisters, making them Siegfried's (step-)grandmother and grand aunt, respectively. Erda, the primordial mother, is Siegfried's mother-in-law.
One could argue, of course, that neither the Norns nor the Rhinemaidens are related to Siegfried, but (a) that would ruin the joke, and (b) they are personifications of concepts (Fate and Nature) and would therefore not be considered women in the traditional sense.
Except for unnamed members of the choir and the Forest Bird, that covers all female roles in the Ring cycle. Opera comedians are usually having a field day with this constellation.

Source: Author PearlQ19

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.