Composers Datebook 2006

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. A new opera had its premiere at the Paris Opera on March 16, 1894. It was titled "Thais," and was based on a novel by the French author, Anatole France Who composed this opera? Massenet Puccini Verdi Beethoven

2. Which of these artists made his last recordings on September 16th, 1920? Irving Berlin John Stierman George Gershwin Enrico Caruso

3. On July 8, 1882, George Percy Aldridge Grainger was born in Brighton, Victoria. Although born in Australia, Grainger died in America, at the age of 79. Where did Granger die? New Hampshire in 1963 New York in 1961 New Jersey in 1964 Great Britain in 1965

4. Best known for his waltzes, Strauss was in his mid 40s when he began composing operettas. This was his third and opened on April 5, 1874. Can you name this batty Strauss production? Zeus The Barber of Seville The Magic Flute Die Fledermaus

5. If you had attended the opening night of the musical, "Girl Crazy," on October 14, 1930, in New York City, you would have seen the Broadway debut of this popular blonde actress? Sylvester Sarah Brightman Ethel Merman Patti Lupone

6. On March 31, 1837, the Princess Cristina Belgiojoso-Trivulzio, scored the social coup of the season at her Parisian salon. It was a recital to aid Italian political refugees but was seen as a contest between the two leading virtuoso pianists of the day: Sigismund Thalberg and this Hungarian. Can you name him? Liszt Chopin Gottschalk Sati

7. "A General History of Music" was written by the 18th-century British musicologist Charles Burney. Where was he born? Oxford London Cambridge Shrewsbury

8. Had you lived in New York City in the latter half of the 19th-century and wanted entertainment on April 3, 1871, you could have seen at Lina Edwin's Theater, a musical burlesque entitled "Pluto," which the New York Times billed as a condensed and lightened version of this French composer's racy operetta, "Orpheus in the Underworld," Who was the composer in question? Offenbach Verdi Manet Gottschalk

9. On April 18, 1800, Beethoven appeared in Vienna as piano accompanist for the popular Bohemian virtuoso Johann Wenzel Stich, who went by the more marketable Italian stage name of Giovanni Punto. What instrument did the virtuoso play? saxophone viola de gamba horn flute

10. We're almost done with our musical tour. Where was Louis Moreau Gottschalk born? New Orleans Paris New York City London