Opera

Question 1

He kills Gesler with an arrow after Gesler forces him to shoot at an apple atop his son’s head

Answer 1

William Tell

Question 2

OPERATIC DEMISES: This Bizet femme fatale is stabbed to death outside a Seville bull ring

Answer 2

Carmen

Question 3

OPERATIC DEMISES: After delivering the head of John the Baptist, Herod orders his guards to crush her to death with their shields

Answer 3

Salome

Question 4

Wild animals lie down at Tamino’s feet when he plays the title instrument in Act I of this Mozart opera

Answer 4

The Magic Flute

Question 5

In operas by Richard Wagner, Brunnhilde is one of these 9 sisters who are warrior-maidens

Answer 5

the valkyries

Question 6

Canio has the tears of a clown in this opera in which he must make others laugh while his heart is breaking

Answer 6

Pagliacci

Question 7

On this stage as Cavaradossi, I sang farewell to Tosca in an opera by this composer

Answer 7

(Giacomo) Puccini

Question 8

The title of this Verdi opera is often translated as “the fallen woman”, referring to Violetta

Answer 8

La Traviata

Question 9

ORIGINAL OPERA TITLES: Rossini: “Guillaume Tell”

Answer 9

William Tell

Question 10

ORIGINAL OPERA TITLES: Mozart: “Le Nozze di Figaro

Answer 10

The Marriage of Figaro

Question 11

ORIGINAL OPERA TITLES: Offenbach: “Les Contes d’Hoffmann”

Answer 11

The Tales of Hoffman

Question 12

ORIGINAL OPERA TITLES: Wagner: “ Gotter-dammerung “

Answer 12

Twilight of the Gods

Question 13

ORIGINAL OPERA TITLES: Puccini: “La Fanciulla del West”

Answer 13

Girl of the Golden West

Question 14

THE DREADED OPERA CATEGORY: The character of Beckmesser in this composer’s “Die Meistersinger” is a caricature of music critics

Answer 14

Wagner

Question 15

THE DREADED OPERA CATEGORY: Beppe, a harlequin, is a character in this 1892 opera

Answer 15

Pagliacci

Question 16

THE DREADED OPERA CATEGORY: The land on which this London “Garden” opera house sits was once part of a monastery

Answer 16

Covent Garden

Question 17

THE DREADED OPERA CATEGORY: The only opera this Finn ever composed was “The Maiden in the Tower”

Answer 17

(Jean) Sibelius

Question 18

THE DREADED OPERA CATEGORY: Characters in this operetta include captain Richard Warrington & Marietta d’Altena

Answer 18

Naughty Marietta

Question 19

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: The Met archives include wardrobe from the 1890s, including the Mephistopheles costume from this Gounod work

Answer 19

Faust

Question 20

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: I’m in the bullring, site of the dramatic & fatal final scene in the Met’s production of this 1875 opera

Answer 20

Carmen

Question 21

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: In 1955, the Met made history with the debuts of its first African-American singers; the first man was Bobby McFerrin’s father Robert, and the first woman was this great contralto of the day

Answer 21

Marian Anderson

Question 22

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: As the duke, Luciano Pavarotti thrilled Met audiences with the aria “La donna e mobile”, which is so catchy that Verdi kept it out of rehearsals for this opera, so that it wouldn’t become known before opening night

Answer 22

Rigoletto

Question 23

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: It’s no surprise to see a stagecoach in this opera that Puccini was inspired to write during a visit to the U.S.

Answer 23

Girl of the Golden West (La fanciulla)

Question 24

OPUS & OPERA: This meanie in “Hansel and Gretel” was written for a mezzo-soprano but is sometimes sung by a tenor

Answer 24

the witch

Question 25

OPUS & OPERA: These are repetitions of a theme with changes; Paganini's Opus 9 is these on "God Save the King"

Answer 25

variations

Question 26

OPUS & OPERA: His sole opera, "Fidelio", tells a tale of a young woman disguising herself as a boy

Answer 26

Beethoven

Question 27

OPUS & OPERA: It's the title of Elgar's Opus 78 & of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, opus no. unknown, featuring actors on roller skates

Answer 27

Starlight Express

Question 28

OPUS & OPERA: His Opus 68 is "From the Bohemian Forest", composed around 1883

Answer 28

Antonin Dvorak

Question 29

OPERA LOVERS: After she declares her love for a toreador named Escamillo, she is stabbed to death by Don Jose

Answer 29

Carmen

Question 30

OPERA LOVERS: "I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'" & "Oh Lawd, I'm On My Way" are arias in the opera about this title couple

Answer 30

Porgy & Bess

Question 31

OPERA LOVERS: It's love at first sight for Sophie & Octavian in this "Knight Of The Rose"

Answer 31

Der Rosenkavalier

Question 32

OPERA LOVERS: In a Gluck opera with the help of the love god Amor, Orfeo attempts to bring her back from Hades

Answer 32

Eurydice

Question 33

OPERA CHARACTERS: In a rock opera this deaf, dumb & blind kid becomes a pinball wizard

Answer 33

Tommy

Question 34

OPERA CHARACTERS: In a Wagner opera it's heads up for Jochanaan, who is this biblical figure

Answer 34

John the Baptist

Question 35

OPERA CHARACTERS: In a Franz Lehar opera, Hanna Glawari, who recently lost her banker-husband, is this title character

Answer 35

The Merry Widow

Question 36

OPERA PEOPLE & PLACES: "Cavalleria Rusticana" takes place on this large Italian island

Answer 36

Sicily

Question 37

OPERA PEOPLE & PLACES: A soprano plays the title bird in "The Nightingale", based on a tale by this Danish author

Answer 37

Hans Christian Andersen

Question 38

OPERA PEOPLE & PLACES: "Azora" concerns the romantic entanglements of a daughter of this Aztec emperor

Answer 38

Montezuma

Question 39

OPERA PEOPLE & PLACES: The title character of Bellini's "Norma" is one of these British pagan priest(esse)s

Answer 39

a Druidess

Question 40

OPERA PEOPLE & PLACES: "Belisario" takes place in this eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived the fall of the west

Answer 40

the Byzantine Empire

Question 41

This title character is sent to fetch Isolde, his uncle King Mark's intended bride

Answer 41

Tristan

Question 42

She's a slave to Amneris, an Egyptian princess

Answer 42

Aida

Question 43

Alban Berg's 1937 opera is a real doozy, or a real this, the double-talk name of its title character

Answer 43

Lulu

Question 44

Gingerbread figures turn back into boys & girls when the witch's spell is broken in this opera

Answer 44

Hansel and Gretel

Question 45

The Met's production "Enchanted Island" is a version of "The Tempest", & the costume I'm wearing belongs to this magician, who rules the island

Answer 45

Prospero

Question 46

In a costume from a 2009 production I'm Escamillo, the toreador who wins the heart of this gypsy girl

Answer 46

Carmen

Question 47

The title character disguises himself, but not very well, in "Le comte Ory", the first opera created in French by this composer whose last opera was "William Tell"

Answer 47

(Gioachino) Rossini

Question 48

The costume worn by this character may not seem to go with his title profession, but in his first scene he sings "Largo al factotum" and explains that he's also the apothecary, gardener & wig maker

Answer 48

the Barber of Seville

Question 49

This cape was worn by Enrico Caruso as the Duke of Mantua in this Verdi opera, the role in which he made his Met debut way back in 1903

Answer 49

Rigoletto

Question 50

This helmet is a fitting accessory from a production of this Wagner work in which the knight's arrival in a swan boat is one of opera's great entrances

Answer 50

Lohengrin

Question 51

OPERAS WITH CHARACTER: Cio Cio San, a young Japanese woman

Answer 51

Madame Butterfly

Question 52

OPERAS WITH CHARACTER: Jemmy, a Swiss boy used as a target stand

Answer 52

William Tell

Question 53

OPERAS WITH CHARACTER: Mozart's Queen of the Night, a sorceress

Answer 53

The Magic Flute

Question 54

OPERAS WITH CHARACTER: Daland, a captain of the high seas who meets a mysterious stranger

Answer 54

The Flying Dutchman

Question 55

OPERAS WITH CHARACTER: Kurwenal, a servant accompanying his knight & master to pick up a new bride

Answer 55

Tristan und Isolde

Question 56

THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: In 1973, "The Magic Flute", which included a queen character, was the first performance given here, & in the hall on opening night was this woman, who officially opened the Opera House

Answer 56

Queen Elizabeth

Question 57

THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: To compensate for the high ceilings in the concert hall, acrylic rings were hung to reflect the sound of the instruments back to the orchestra & to improve this, from the Greek for "to hear"

Answer 57

the acoustics

Question 58

THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: In March 2010, just shy of 90, this sitar virtuoso performed on the opera house stage with his daughter Anoushka in his "Farewell to Australia" tour

Answer 58

Ravi Shankar

Question 59

THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: As the story goes, Danish architect Jorn Utzon's winning design for the opera house was saved from the rejection pile by this famed architect from Finland

Answer 59

(Eero) Saarinen

Question 60

THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: In September 2009, this 65-year-old dame of Maori descent thrilled audiences here on the Opera House stage, singing Strauss & Puccini

Answer 60

(Kiri Te) Kanawa

Question 61

The "Hexenritt", or "Witches' Ride", is sung in Act III of this 1893 fairy tale opera

Answer 61

Hansel and Gretel

Question 62

In "La boheme" the poet Rodolfo falls in love with this seamstress who suffers from tuberculosis

Answer 62

Mimi

Question 63

Carl Maria von Weber's 1826 opera about this king of the fairies was subtitled "or, the Elf King's Oath"

Answer 63

Oberon

Question 64

In 1961, as Venus in "Tannhauser", Grace Bumbry became the first black diva to sing at this Wagner festival

Answer 64

Bayreuth

Question 65

Twilight of the Gods" is the last part of this composer's "Ring" cycle

Answer 65

Wagner

Question 66

In an opera based on a fairy tale, this title girl gives the prince one of a pair of bracelets before leaving the ball

Answer 66

Cinderella

Question 67

Coppelius & Dr. Miracle appear in "The Tales of" him

Answer 67

Hoffmann

Question 68

This Beethoven opera was based on a play called "Leonore"

Answer 68

Fidelio

Question 69

Bellini title gal who's high priestess of a Druid temple in Gaul

Answer 69

Norma

Question 70

19TH CENTURY OPERA: When this opera opens, a cigarette girl tells soldiers she is looking for a corporal named Jose

Answer 70

Carmen

Question 71

19TH CENTURY OPERA: He began writing "Die Meistersinger" in 1845 as a companion piece to "Tannhauser", but didn't finish it until 1867

Answer 71

(Richard) Wagner

Question 72

19TH CENTURY OPERA: In this 1892 Leoncavallo opera, the clowns enter an Italian village in a parade led by a donkey cart

Answer 72

19TH CENTURY OPERA: In this 1892 Leoncavallo opera, the clowns enter an Italian village in a parade led by a donkey cart

Question 73

19TH CENTURY OPERA: This Rossini opera was first performed under an Italian title meaning "Almaviva, the useless precaution"

Answer 73

The Barber of Seville

Question 74

19TH CENTURY OPERA: When 1st produced, this Verdi opera known as "the strayed one" was a failure, due in part to contemporary costumes

Answer 74

La Traviata

Question 75

OPERA CHARACTERS: In various versions of "Othello", she's smothered, strangled or stabbed to death

Answer 75

Desdemona

Question 76

OPERA CHARACTERS: Yum-Yum, who is due to marry Ko-Ko, falls in love with the minstrel Nanki-Poo in this operetta

Answer 76

The Mikado

Question 77

OPERA CHARACTERS: A one-act opera based on an episode in "Great Expectations" is called this woman's "Wedding night"

Answer 77

Miss Havisham

Question 78

OPERA CHARACTERS: This widower & hunchback is the court jester to the Duke of Mantua

Answer 78

Rigoletto

Question 79

OPERA CHARACTERS: Characters in this John Adams opera include Chou En-lai, Chairman Mao & Henry Kissinger

Answer 79

Nixon in China

Question 80

SHAKESPEAREAN OPERAS: It's full of magic: | "Stormen" & several called "Der Sturm"

Answer 80

The Tempest

Question 81

SHAKESPEAREAN OPERAS: Shifting the title's focus: | "Jessika"

Answer 81

The Merchant of Venice

Question 82

SHAKESPEAREAN OPERAS: An enchanting work: | "The Faery Queen"

Answer 82

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Question 83

SHAKESPEAREAN OPERAS: Love that sparring: | "Beatrice et Benedict"

Answer 83

Much Ado About Nothing

Question 84

SHAKESPEAREAN OPERAS: What a farce: | "Sir John in Love" & several called "Falstaff"

Answer 84

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Question 85

In Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Maid of Pskov", this notorious 16th c. czar destroys the city of Novgorod

Answer 85

Ivan (the Terrible)

Question 86

In "Maria Stuarda", this queen signs Mary Stuart's death warrant after being called a bastard

Answer 86

Queen Elizabeth I

Question 87

On Feb. 26, 1776 a fire destroyed Milan's Royal Ducal Theatre; this replaced it

Answer 87

La Scala di Milano

Question 88

This Gian Carlo Menotti TV opera features a crippled boy, his mother & 3 kings: Kaspar, Melchior & Balthazar

Answer 88

Amahl and the Night Visitors

Question 89

This Johann Strauss opera has appeared in several English versions, including "Night Birds" & "Rosalinda"

Answer 89

Die Fledermaus

Question 90

In a Rossini opera this Swiss patriot is forced to shoot an apple placed on his son Jemmy's head

Answer 90

William Tell

Question 91

This opera ends with the title madam committing hara-kiri

Answer 91

Madame Butterfly

Question 92

Don Jose is bewitched by this title gypsy girl

Answer 92

Carmen

Question 93

This title slave & Pharaoh's daughter Amneris are both in love with Radames

Answer 93

Aida

Question 94

Count Almaviva attempts to thwart this opera's title marriage

Answer 94

The Marriage of Figaro

Question 95

OPERA GLOSS: This term for the principal female singer of an opera company is Italian for "first lady"

Answer 95

prima donna

Question 96

OPERA GLOSS: A ballabille is a section of dance music: Verdi used one in "Macbeth" to describe the dancing of them

Answer 96

the witches

Question 97

OPERA GLOSS: A barcarolle has a lilting rhythm, suggesting the songs of these Venetian singers

Answer 97

gondoliers

Question 98

OPERA GLOSS: A piece of orchestral music played between 2 scenes of an opera

Answer 98

an interlude (or intermezzo)