Better Off in French Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pearl fishers

Here are the original lyrics of the duet from Bizet's opera "Les pêcheurs de perles" ("The Pearl Fishers"):
"Au fond du temple saint / Paré de fleurs et d'or / Une femme apparaît / Une femme apparaît / Je crois la voir encore / Je crois la voir encore / La foule prosternée / La regarde étonnée / Et murmure tout bas / Voyez, c'est la déesse / Qui dans l'ombre se dresse / Et vers nous tend le bras / Son voile se soulève / O vision ! O rêve / La foule est à genoux. »
Comparing the original lyrics and my translation, I conclude this duet is better off sung in French.
Georges Bizet (1838-1875) completed at least a dozen operas, of which "Carmen" and "Les pêcheurs de perles" are still regularly performed.
Toreadors are found in Bizet's other famous opera "Carmen". With the barber I refer to "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" (by Gioacchino Rossini). The minstrels appear in Richard Wagner's "Die Meistersänger von Nürenberg".

Answer: Lakme

Léo Delibes (1836-1891) left us four ballets and at least twenty operas or operettas. All the titles mentioned here are compositions by Delibes.
"The Bell Song" is one of the highlights from Delibes' opera "Lakmé". (To avoid unexpected errors on your display, I've left out the accent in the question.) Here are the original lyrics (without the coloratura "Ahs"): "Où va la jeune Hindoue? / Fille des parias / Quand la lune se joue / Dans le grand mimosa / Elle court sur la mousse / Et ne se souvient pas / Que partout on repousse / L'enfant des parias. "
The other highlight from this opera is the "Flower Duet", where two coloratura sopranos can show off their extreme talents.
"Coppelia" and "Sylvia" are ballets, "Le roi l'a dit" is an opera - all composed by Léo Delibes.

Answer: Christoph Willibald von Gluck

Gluck (1714-1787) was a German composer, but he wrote music in Italian and French style. He left us about 40 operas, of which over 20 operas have Italian libretti. Only one of his operas is in German, the rest are in French.
In 1767 he witnessed the premier night of his opera "Alceste" (with the Italian libretto). The French version debuted in 1776. The story is that king Admetus is dying, and his wife Alceste is informed by the gods of the underworld that only a voluntary sacrifice of another human can save Admetus. In the aria I've translated here, Alceste promises to sacrifice herself: "Divinités du Styx / Ministres de la Mort / Je n'invoquerai point / Votre pitié cruelle / J'enlève un tendre époux / A son funeste sort / Mais je vous abandonne / Une épouse fidèle. » In the last act, Admetus hears from Alceste's sacrifice and decides to follow her into death.
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) wrote the music to about ten operas with German libretti. He never composed to a French text. Weber's best known opera is probably "Der Freischütz".
Kurt Weill (1900-1950) left us a dozen operas, a few operettas and about a dozen musicals. His best known work is arguably "Die Dreigroschenoper".
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) was a Spanish composer, who created one opera and some zarzuelas, as well as instrumental music. His most popular aria is the "Ritual Fire Dance" from "El Amor Brujo".

Answer: Charles Gounod

The aria mentions the name of one of the protagonists: Marguerite is indeed the name of the woman beloved by the title character, Dr. Faust. In this specific aria at the start of the third act, Dr. Faust visits Marguerite's residence, but she's not home. Meanwhile, Mephisto (the devil) finds a gift box for Marguerite at Faust's request.
Here are the original lyrics : "Quel trouble inconnu me pénètre? / Je sens l'amour s'emparer de mon être. / Oh Marguérite, à tes pieds me voici. / Salut, demeure chaste et pure / Salut, demeure chaste et pure /Où se devine la présence / D'un âme innocent et divine / Que de richesse en cette pauvreté / En ce réduit, que de félicité. »
Charles Gounod (1818-1893) is best remembered for his opera "Faust" and for his transcription of Bach's composition "Ave Maria". He left us about a dozen operas and at least twenty masses.
Don't give me the routine of muttering "I know who composed this opera - his name starts with a G" - for all the red herrings point in the same direction.
André Grétry (1741-1813) was an inhabitant of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and thus is now considered a Belgian (avant la lettre). He left us about seventy operas.
Pierre Gautier (1642-1696) was a French opera composer. Alas, his two operas were lost over time.
Jean Gilbert (1879-1942) was a German composer born as Max Winterfeld. He left us more than fifty operettas.

Answer: Manon

Jules Massenet (1842-1912) wrote the music for over 30 operas, of which "Manon" is one of the most performed ones. The lyrics I translated come from the second act of "Manon". The original lyrics were "Adieu, notre petite table / Qui nous réunit si souvent / Adieu notre petite table / Si grande pour nous cependant / On tient, c'est inimaginable / Si peu de place, en se serrant / Adieu notre petite table / Un même verre était le nôtre / Chacun de nous quand il buvait / Y cherchait les lèvres de l'autre / Ah pauvre ami qui m'aimait / Adieu notre petite table / Adieu ! »
Once more, I get the feeling that the lyrics sound better off in French than in English.
The story of "Manon" had already inspired Fromental Halévy and Daniel Auber. After Massenet, Giacomo Puccini made another opera adaptation of the story.
The red herrings are also libretti used by different composers. "Othello" has been set to music by Gioachino Rossini and by Giuseppe Verdi. "Orfeo" and the counterpart "Eurydice" have inspired (among others) Claudio Monteverdi, Christoph Willibald von Gluck, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini. "Armida" (in Italian) or "Armide" (in French) or "Rinaldo" (the male counterpart of Armida) finally is the title of operas by various composers, such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Geroge Frederic Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, Joseph Haydn and Antonin Dvorak (and many more).

Answer: Giacomo Meyerbeer

The aria I've translated is from Meyerbeer's opera "L'africaine", which premiered in 1865. Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was a German composer of Jewish descent, and his last opera premiered posthumously. Meyerbeer left about 16 operas, of which "L'africaine" was not yet completed at the time of his death. His friend François-Joseph Fetis made the finishing touch to the opera.
The aria I've translated is a hymn sung by Vasco da Gama to the country of his beloved Sélika (the title role). The original lyrics are as follows: "Pays merveilleux, jardin fortuné / Temple radieux, salut / O paradis, sorti de l'onde / Ciel si bleu, ciel si pure / Dont mes yeux sont ravis / Tu m'appartiens / O nouveau monde / Dont j'aurai doté mon pays / A nous ces campagnes vermeilles / A nous cet Eden retrouvé / O trésors charmants/ O merveilles, salut / Monde nouveau, tu m'appartiens / Sois donc à moi, o beau pays / Monde nouveau, tu m'appartiens / Sois donc à moi ! "
The red herrings also refer to operas with a first night in 1865. Verdi released "Macbeth" in 1865, and Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" was also first performed in 1865. Less known is the Polish opera "Strazny Dwor" (translated would that be "The Haunted Manor"), arguably the best opera composed by Stanislaw Moniuszko.

Answer: Camille Saint-Saens

Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) was a prolific composer, who left us about 14 operas, six ballets, and of course the suite "Carnaval des Animaux".
Saint-Saens composed "Samson et Delilah" between 1867 and 1876. But when he completed the work, not a single opera house in France was interested in staging this opera. That's why it had a first night in Germany, with a libretto that was hastily translated into German.
The French lyrics to the aria I've quoted are as follows : "Printemps qui commence / Portant l'espérance / Aux coeurs amoureux / Ton souffle qui passe / De la terre efface / Les jours malheureux / Tout brûle en notre âme / Et ta douce flamme / Vient sécher nos pleurs /Tu rends à la terre / Par un doux mystère / Les fruits et les fleurs. "
Maurice Abravanel (in 1936), Louis Forestier (in 1946) and Georges Prêtre (in 1963 and in 1970) were conductors who made recordings of the full opera "Samson et Delilah". Other noted recordings were conducted by people such as Daniel Barenboim and James Levine.

Answer: Ambroise Thomas

Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896) is the only French composer mentioned here. He left us over 20 operas, of which "Mignon" is the one that is best known to the public - it has been recorded many times.
In the opera, Mignon is an orphan adopted by gypsies. A rich student by the name of Wilhelm Meister sets her free and brings her to an Italian castle which seems very familiar to her. The aria I've translated is sung by Wilhelm when he has to leave her : "Adieu, Mignon, courage. / Ne pleure pas! / Les chagrins sont vite oubliés à ton age / Dieu te consolera ! / Dieu te consolera ! / Mes voeux suivront tes pas. / Mes voeux suivront tes pas. / Ne pleure pas ! / Puisses-tu retrouver ta famille et patrie / Puisses-tu rencontrer en chemin le bonheur / Je te quitte à regret / Et mon âme attendrie / partage ta douleur."
Aleksandr Taneev (1850-1918) was a Russian composer, who completed two operas. Antonio Teixeira (1707-1774) was a Portuguese composer, mostly of masses and motets. He did leave us three operas. Armen Tigranyan (1879-1950) was an Armenian composer who left us four operas.

Answer: Maurice Ravel

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) is the composer we were looking for. He's better known for his "Bolero", but that song is purely instrumental.
Here are the original lyrics: "J'ai pas envie de faire ma page / J'ai envie d'aller me promener / J'ai envie de manger tous les gâteaux / J'ai envie de tirer la queue du chat / et de couper celle de l'écureuil." This last sentence I've translated a bit more animal-friendly "to coif the squirrel" instead of the original (cutting the squirrel's tail).
In the aforesaid children's opera the child will soon be accused by each piece of furniture of being a bit nasty.
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) was a Baroque opera composer. I've found no interesting lyrics to any of his operas. Messiaen (1908-1992) was a modern opera composer, most famous for "Saint François d'Assise". Eric Satie (1866-1925) was a French pianist and composer, best known for his "Gymnopédies".

Answer: Jacques Offenbach

The original lyrics to this can-can out of "Orphée aux Enfers" may seem a bit boring: "Le bal est original / D'un gallop infernal / Donnons tous le signal / Vive le gallop infernal / Donnons le signal / D'un gallop infernal." Literally translated into English this would be "The dance is the origin / of a hellish gallop / Let's all give the sign / Long live the hellish gallop / Let's give the sign / To a hellish gallop." But the literal translation doesn't fit rhyme and rhythm, hence my very personal interpretation in the question.
Offenbach (1819-1880) was a prolific composer of operettas and operas. He first used the can-can in his opera "Orphée aux Enfers", a comic opera set among the Olympic gods. It must be quite a disconcerting sight to see suddenly these well known gods and goddesses burst out in such a crazy dance - but that's not all that caused outrage. While in the original version men and women both danced on this merry tune, the dance became infamous in the performances by all-female dance troops who performed amazing high kicks.
There is an urban legend that some of these dancers would perform the show without any underpants. Maybe it's sheer male imagination, but the labour regulations by the Moulin Rouge company explicitly impose the wearing of (clean) underpants - which would probably only have been written down because the company owners knew of some incidents.
Auber (1782-1871) composed almost 50 operas, of which I'll mention "La muette de Portici". Debussy (1862-1918) left us over 140 compositions, most notably the opera "Pelléas et Mélisande" and the instrumental works "La mer" and "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune". Vincent d'indy (1851-1931) was another prolific composer, whose legacy are about 120 compositions (mostly piano songs).