The Grand Opera Test.: The Grand Opera

By Alan Cox

The Grand Opera Test is a fun book intended to test your knowledge of opera; its composers and music. The hundred questions are followed by the answers together with a commentary on each one.

It is intended as the first volume highlighting general opera but will soon be followed by other books focusing on just one composer. So keep your eyes (and ears) open.

So, sit down, put on some Mozart or Puccini. Write down the answers, score yourself and see if you are 'pessimo' (terrible), or 'meraviglisa'.

Buona fortuna.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alan Cox
• Release date: May 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224413331

Alan Cox

Alan is the founder of the life coaching company: Life Coaching: Empowering Gay Men

Book preview

FOREWORD:

My childhood would never have included anything to do with ‘opera.’ It was considered far too elitist and just ‘snobby.’ I missed out.

Opera should be inclusive and very much of the people when performed. While walking around the streets two hundred and fifty years ago you would have heard people whistling various arias and some composers such as Mozart were considered almost as pop idols. The arias were literally the pop songs of the time.

My first encounter with opera came when I was 23, just finishing university. I had started a relationship with someone and he played Madama Butterfly on an old record player – it was January 1990. I was entranced. Puccini knew how to draw on every heart string and although I didn’t shed an actual tear I was still moved. Many years later I did shed a tear when I watched Anthony Minghella’s production at the ENO and witnessed the ‘blood’ from Butterfly’s kimono spread across the stage.

Then I discovered Mozart! My first encounter was when I went to see a production of Cosi fan tutte in Chelmsford and sat agape watching four singers playing badminton while singing at the same time. That was literally beyond my comprehension and they even managed to keep the whole game going without dropping the shuttlecock once!

Then move on twenty-five years. I believe deeply that opera can bring light out of darkness and can be uplifting and inspiring. This was proven to me in Prague when I went to see Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre on the 29th October, 2021. Millions of people had been living literally in darkness due to covid but the Czech government allowed people to attend if they had been vaccinated and could prove it. There was a real buzz in the air. The attendees were dressed to the nines and fortunately I had had the foresight to pack a jacket and smart trousers.

It was already dark outside and we walked into a magnificent vision of chandeliers and people quietly laughing and relaxed. Just seeing that literally swept away so many of the chains that had bound us during covid.

Then there was the inside of the auditorium. To be able to sit in a theatre seat again surrounded by other people. My goodness. There was an announcement that the evening’s performance was being held on the actual anniversary of the premier in 1787. I was literally sitting fifteen metres from where Mozart had stood.

Then darkness. The curtain came up and we were transfixed by the production. The forceful acting, soaring singing and the comedic elements which at times turned almost farcical. Then the curtain came down once more and we had to move back into the present.

So, my message is that opera can and should be for everyone. My first love had a copy of Kobbe’s ‘Complete Opera Book’ and I read it like a novel. I am far from being an expert in opera, its history or indeed can’t even read music. But I know what I like and what appeals to my heart. What draws me from that darkness into the light.

So, I decided to compile a book. It’s this one. It’s not a serious test to see how well you know this wonderful art form. It’s not judgemental and goodness I know my result would probably be pessimo.

There are 100 questions with a space between each one. If you have a paper copy of this book then you can write your answer between each one. If you have an electronic copy of this book then you can jot down your answers on a piece of paper. Then you can refer to the answers further on and produce a score. I have given you one hundred questions so you can end up with a percentage. Also, together with the answers are various snippets. Sometimes they are a synopsis of the opera or an insight into one particular aria or a biography of the composer. They are just designed to give you additional information.

I hope you enjoy working through this book.

As they say in Italian: Buona fortuna.

ALAN COX

Whitstable, England.

May 2024.

QUESTIONS:

What is considered the first opera?

Who is often credited as the father of opera?

What is the term for the person who writes the words (libretto) of an opera?

Which opera features the famous aria Nessun Dorma?

Who composed The Marriage of Figaro?

What is the traditional Japanese theatrical form that influenced Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly?

Which opera tells the story of the doomed love affair between Carmen and Don José?

In which Italian city does the opera La Traviata take place?

Who composed The Barber of Seville?

What is the name of the Valkyrie who is the protagonist of Wagner's opera Die Walküre?

Which opera features the aria Largo al factotum?

Who composed the opera Rigoletto?

What is the title of the opera often referred to as the Scottish Opera by Giuseppe Verdi?

Which opera is based on the play Othello by William Shakespeare?

What is the name of the priestess in Bizet's opera The Pearl Fishers?

Which composer wrote the Ring Cycle, a series of four epic operas?

In which opera does the character Mephistopheles appear?

Who composed the opera Tosca?

Which opera features the famous Habanera?

What is the name of the Queen of the Night's famous aria in Mozart's The Magic Flute?

Who composed Pagliacci?

What is the name of the ship in Wagner's opera The Flying Dutchman?

Which composer wrote the opera Norma?

Who composed La Bohème?

What is the name of the opera featuring the aria Una furtiva lagrima?

Which opera is set during the French Revolution?

Who composed Aida?

What is the name of the heroine in Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly?

Which opera features the famous Triumphal March?

What is the title of the opera featuring the aria Vissi d'arte?

Who composed Eugene Onegin?

What is the name of the opera based on the legend of Tristan and Isolde?

Which opera features the aria La donna è mobile?

Who composed Orfeo ed Euridice?

What is the title of the opera featuring the aria O mio babbino caro?

Which opera is based on the life of the Roman Emperor Nero?

Who composed Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)?

What is the name of the opera set