Operatic History in the Eighteenth Century

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. In 1867, Emile Jonas composed an opera named “Marlborough s’en va-t-en guerre” (“Marlborough Heading for War”). Lord Marlborough has a family name that is quite well known. (Marlborough is the estate he was given by the British monarch). What is the full name of the first Duke of Marlborough? John Cockerill John Churchill John Dunlop John Roberts

2. In 1894, Henry de Koven completed an operetta named after a Scottish person. Although popular history portrays this Scot as a national hero, he was probably only a petty criminal. Who was this member of the McGregor clan? You have to give only the (two-part) name he is best known by. Answer: (Two Words – Three Letters Each)

3. In 1784 Giovanni Paisiello composed a ”heroic-comical drama” named “Il Re Teodoro in Venezia” (“King Theodor in Venice”). This opera tells about a self-proclaimed king who visited Venice in 1736. King Theodor (originally a mere baron) reigned over a Mediterranean island where a much better known general and statesman was born in 1769. What was this Mediterranean island ruled by King Theodor? Crete Gran Canaria Capri Corsica

4. The opera “Die Geigenbauer von Cremona” (“The Violin-Makers of Cremona”) by Jenö Hubay (aka Eugen Huber) was first performed in 1894. It tells the story of the most important family of violin-makers. What is their family name, from which is derived the name of the most valuable type of violin? Stradivari Sax Steinway Silbermann

5. 1922 saw the first night of Leo Fall’s operetta named after the best known mistress of the French King Louis XV. This lady was born Jeanne Poisson. What is the title King Louis gave her, which is also the title of Fall’s operetta? Madame de Maintenon Madame de Pompadour Madame de Verteuil Madame de Montespan

6. Giuseppe Mosca completed in 1824 an opera named after the king who rule Prussia from 1740 until 1786. What was the first name of this king belonging to the Hohenzollern dynasty? William Frederick Charles Joseph

7. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov composed in 1898 an opera named “Mozart i Salieri” (“Mozart and Salieri”). According to this opera and the theatre play it was based upon, Salieri murdered Mozart in 1791. According to actual historical knowledge, was Salieri guilty as charged (beyond reasonable doubt)? Yes No

8. Pietro Mascagni completed in 1921 an opera by the name “Il Piccolo Marat” (“Little Marat”), named after the French revolutionary killed in 1793 in his bathtub. Peter Benoit had already named in 1876 one of his compositions after Marat’s murderer. Who did kill Marat? Maximilien de Robespierre Charlotte Corday Georges Danton Joséphine de Beauharnais

9. In 1900, Lothar Kempter completed an opera named “Les Sans-Culottes” – the nickname of the French Revolutionary soldiers. Jacques Offenbach had already composed an opera in 1869 named after the Flemish peasants who fought the “sans-culottes” in the Peasants’ War of 1798. What did the French call their opponents? It is also the title of Offenbach’s opera. Le Marais L’Etranger La Cinquième Colonne Les Brigands

10. Albert Lortzing completed in 1841 an opera named after a notorious Venetian womanizer who was born in 1725 and died in 1798. His occupation was not always clear: sometimes he talked about digging a canal through the Pyrenees, then again he said he would try to found a soap factory in Poland, he developed the French lottery, and he spent several years in jail. In 1758, he undertook a diplomatic mission for the French Thesaurus. What is the name of this adventurer and womanizer? Answer: (Two Words – First and Last Name, or Last Name Only)