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Quiz about Opera Since the Second World War
Quiz about Opera Since the Second World War

Opera Since the Second World War Quiz


Opera is sometimes said to be a dying art. This quiz hopes to show the reverse, by highlighting some of the composers worldwide who have added to the repertoire, from the 1940s into the first years of the twenty-first century.

A multiple-choice quiz by stedman. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
stedman
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
146,872
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
10 / 15
Plays
1095
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 87 (9/15), Guest 159 (8/15), Guest 166 (9/15).
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Question 1 of 15
1. The first indisputable operatic masterpiece to be premiered after the Second World War ended in Europe was by the 31-year old Benjamin Britten. What was its name? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. Which composer's final opera, premiered in 1948 at the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad, was entitled "The Story of a Real Man", and tells the uplifting and patriotic story of a Soviet airman during the Second World War? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. The career of the German composer Hans Werner Henze really took off with the premiere of his opera "Boulevard Solitude" in 1952. On which story by the Abbe Prevost was it based; one which had previously inspired well-known operas by Massenet and Puccini? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. Which 1969 opera by Krzysztof Penderecki (born 1933) was based on a play by John Whiting about the events leading up to the execution of the seventeenth century French priest, Father Grandier? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. Which German composer has, since 1977, been working on a cycle of seven operas, one for each day of the week, and which are collectively known as "Licht" ("Light")? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. Which Hungarian composer wrote the opera "Le Grand Macabre", which was premiered in Stockholm in 1978? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. The French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-92) wrote only one opera, which was first performed in 1983 when he was aged 76. As befitted a devout Roman Catholic, it dealt with the life a well-known religious figure - but which one? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. Luciano Berio (1925-2003) wrote the opera "Un re in ascolto" ("A King Listens") in collaboration with a distinguished Italian novelist. What was the name of his librettist on this occasion? Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. Which Australian composer's work includes the opera "Voss", based on the novel by Patrick White and first performed in 1986? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. This question shows that not all opera composers are men, and not all British composers are English! The Scottish composer Judith Weir wrote an opera in 1990 based on folktales from her native country. What is the name of this opera? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. The following four operas were all written by the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke (1934-98). Which of them has a leading character who sings only one word (if you can even call it that) throughout the entire opera? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. Which Finnish composer, born in 1935, has written several operas, including "Kullervo", based on the Finnish national epic, and "King Lear", based on Shakespeare? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. The well-known American composer Philip Glass has written a number of operas that have been performed all over the world. One of the more recent examples, "The Voyage", was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in New York, to commemorate which notable event in American history? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. The Danish composer Poul Ruders wrote an opera based on the novel "The Handmaid's Tale", premiered by the Royal Danish Opera in 2000. Which Canadian novelist wrote the original book on which it is based? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. Moving finally into the twenty-first century, what is the title of the opera by the English composer Nicholas Maw that was given its world premiere at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in December 2002? The title is perhaps better known as the subject of a 1982 film starring Meryl Streep. Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 24 2024 : Guest 87: 9/15
Mar 15 2024 : Guest 159: 8/15
Feb 13 2024 : Guest 166: 9/15
Feb 08 2024 : calmdecember: 15/15

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The first indisputable operatic masterpiece to be premiered after the Second World War ended in Europe was by the 31-year old Benjamin Britten. What was its name?

Answer: Peter Grimes

The first performance of "Peter Grimes" took place at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London on the 7th June 1945, only a month after VE Day (8th May). It was conducted by Reginald Goodall, who is now best remembered for his Wagner performances with English National Opera in the 1970s and 80s. Another conductor involved in the premiere was Edward Downes, who played the horn in the orchestra.
2. Which composer's final opera, premiered in 1948 at the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad, was entitled "The Story of a Real Man", and tells the uplifting and patriotic story of a Soviet airman during the Second World War?

Answer: Sergey Prokofiev

Prokofiev's final opera, based on a novel by Boris Polevoy, is probably his least performed. He chose the subject deliberately as one that would appeal to the Communist authorities, and this perhaps did not help its chances abroad.
3. The career of the German composer Hans Werner Henze really took off with the premiere of his opera "Boulevard Solitude" in 1952. On which story by the Abbe Prevost was it based; one which had previously inspired well-known operas by Massenet and Puccini?

Answer: Manon Lescaut

Henze, who was born in 1926, has to date (2003) composed 15 operas in total, including "The Bassarids" and "The English Cat". He claims that his latest, entitled "L'Upupa and the Triumph of Filial Love", will be his last. It received its world premiere at Salzburg on August 12th 2003.
4. Which 1969 opera by Krzysztof Penderecki (born 1933) was based on a play by John Whiting about the events leading up to the execution of the seventeenth century French priest, Father Grandier?

Answer: The Devils of Loudun

Penderecki's opera was premiered in Hamburg in June 1969. Whiting's play was itself inspired by an earlier novel by Aldous Huxley. The actual events on which these various treatments were based also inspired Ken Russell's 1971 film "The Devils", which had music by Peter Maxwell Davies - who wrote the opera "Resurrection". "The Black Mask" is another Penderecki opera, and "The Fiery Angel" is by Prokofiev: like "The Devils of Loudun", it features a chorus of hysterical nuns.
5. Which German composer has, since 1977, been working on a cycle of seven operas, one for each day of the week, and which are collectively known as "Licht" ("Light")?

Answer: Karlheinz Stockhausen

The first opera in the cycle, "Donnerstag" ("Thursday") was given its premiere in 1981 at no less a venue than La Scala, Milan. To date, "Samstag" ("Saturday"), "Montag" ("Monday"), "Dienstag" ("Tuesday") and "Freitag" ("Friday") have been performed. "Mittwoch" ("Wednesday") is awaiting its first complete performance (two dates having been announced and then cancelled), while "Sonntag" ("Sunday") is nearing completion. Stockhausen's avowed intention that the operas should eventually be given together, on successive days of the week, is looking increasingly unlikely.

But whatever you think of the operas as music, you have to admire the composer's ambition and dedication to a project whose scale dwarfs even Wagner's "Ring".
6. Which Hungarian composer wrote the opera "Le Grand Macabre", which was premiered in Stockholm in 1978?

Answer: Gyorgy Ligeti

Ligeti (born in 1923) revised the opera extensively in 1997. Whatever the musical merits of this revision, one can only regret the change of names of two major characters: the lovers who in 1997 are called Amanda and Amando, were in 1978 known as Clitoria and Spermando... Of the other composers mentioned here, Kodaly's opera "Hary Janos" is best known outside Hungary from the delightful suite drawn from it, and Bartok's "Duke Bluebeard's Castle" is a one-act masterpiece. Kurtag is a contemporary and friend of Ligeti, but has not to date written an opera.
7. The French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-92) wrote only one opera, which was first performed in 1983 when he was aged 76. As befitted a devout Roman Catholic, it dealt with the life a well-known religious figure - but which one?

Answer: Saint Francis of Assisi

Messiaen's five-hour opera "Saint Francois d'Assise" was premiered at the Opera National de Paris on November 28th 1983. No less an operatic figure than Richard Wagner contemplated an opera on the life of Jesus of Nazareth, while Saint Teresa and Pope Pius IV appear respectively in the operas "Four Saints in Three Acts" by Virgil Thomson and "Palestrina" by Hans Pfitzner.
8. Luciano Berio (1925-2003) wrote the opera "Un re in ascolto" ("A King Listens") in collaboration with a distinguished Italian novelist. What was the name of his librettist on this occasion?

Answer: Italo Calvino

"Un re in ascolto" was first performed at the Kleines Festspielhaus, Salzburg, in August 1984, with a plot very loosely derived from Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Eco and Sanguinetti, like Calvino, were friends of Berio and collaborated with him on other works, while Moravia wrote the libretto for Mario Peragallo's 1954 opera "La Gita in Campagna".
9. Which Australian composer's work includes the opera "Voss", based on the novel by Patrick White and first performed in 1986?

Answer: Richard Meale

Meale's second opera, "Mer de Glace" ("Sea of Ice"), was first performed in 1991 by Australian Opera at the Sydney Opera House. As an aside, in the 1960s Patrick White himself worked for a while with Peter Sculthorpe on a projected opera, which sadly failed to come to fruition.
10. This question shows that not all opera composers are men, and not all British composers are English! The Scottish composer Judith Weir wrote an opera in 1990 based on folktales from her native country. What is the name of this opera?

Answer: The Vanishing Bridegroom

"The Vanishing Bridegroom" was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, in October 1990 by Scottish Opera, and given by the same company at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in December of the same year. "Blond Eckbert" (1993) is also by Weir, but based on a story by Ludwig Tieck. Of the other two operas, "Gawain" is by Harrison Birtwistle and "New Year" is by Michael Tippett.
11. The following four operas were all written by the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke (1934-98). Which of them has a leading character who sings only one word (if you can even call it that) throughout the entire opera?

Answer: Life With an Idiot

Vova, the "Idiot" of the title, sings only the word "Ekh". The opera tells how Vova is sent to live in the home of the opera's protagonist, known only as "I", where he seduces first "I"'s wife and then "I" himself. In the end, it is "I" who ends up in an asylum.

The opera was premiered in 1998 by Netherlands Opera, conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich. "Gesualdo" and "Historia von D. Johann Fausten" were both premiered within a month of each other, in 1995. "The Eleventh Commandment" is a much earlier work, completed in 1962, and has yet to be staged.
12. Which Finnish composer, born in 1935, has written several operas, including "Kullervo", based on the Finnish national epic, and "King Lear", based on Shakespeare?

Answer: Aulis Sallinen

Other operas by Sallinen include "The Red Line" and "The King Goes Forth To France". The three other composers listed have all produced distinguished operas, notably Aho's "Before We All Have Drowned" (1999) and Saariaho's "L'amour de Loin" (2000). Merikanto's masterpiece, "Juha", is strictly speaking outside the ambit of this quiz, since it was composed in 1923, but it was not given its stage premiere until 1963.
13. The well-known American composer Philip Glass has written a number of operas that have been performed all over the world. One of the more recent examples, "The Voyage", was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in New York, to commemorate which notable event in American history?

Answer: The quincentenary of Columbus's discovery of America

Christopher Columbus is believed to have first sighted land on 12 October 1492, and it was 500 years to the day, on 12 October 1992, that Glass's opera had its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House. "The Met" did commission an opera for its own centenary in 1991, but this was John Corigliano's "The Ghosts of Versailles".
14. The Danish composer Poul Ruders wrote an opera based on the novel "The Handmaid's Tale", premiered by the Royal Danish Opera in 2000. Which Canadian novelist wrote the original book on which it is based?

Answer: Margaret Atwood

Ruders' opera was given its UK premiere by English National Opera at the London Coliseum in April 2003, and its US premiere by Minnesota Opera the following month. No-one has as far as I know tried to set any of the works of Salman Rushdie or Martin Amis to music.

However, two of Doris Lessing's novels have been turned into operas by Philip Glass: "The Making of the Representative for Planet 8" in 1986, and "The Marriages Between Zones 3, 4 and 5" in 1997.
15. Moving finally into the twenty-first century, what is the title of the opera by the English composer Nicholas Maw that was given its world premiere at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in December 2002? The title is perhaps better known as the subject of a 1982 film starring Meryl Streep.

Answer: Sophie's Choice

Both the film and the opera were based on the novel by William Stryon. Although some critics felt that the opera's four-hour length told against it, and were not entirely convinced by its approachably tonal musical language, "Sophie's Choice" was a sell-out at all performances.
Source: Author stedman

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