Opera quiz

More questions about Opera

These visible examples show the question style. LearnClash turns the full topic into ranked duels and spaced repetition.

1. 1 Easy

   Why was the opera Turandot left unfinished by Puccini?

   Answer: Death of the composer

   Why: At the 1926 premiere Toscanini stopped after Liu's death and said: here the opera ends, because here the maestro died.

2. 2 Medium

   Which structural problem did Puccini fix after Butterfly's 1904 premiere?

   Answer: Its over-long second act

   Why: At La Scala the audience answered the dawn birdsong whistles with animal noises; the split version triumphed in Brescia on 28 May 1904.

3. 3 Hard

   Which opera features a character who literally sells his soul to the devil?

   Answer: Faust

   Why: Dresden first billed Gounod's 1859 opera as Margarethe in 1861, and it was so popular at the Met that the house was nicknamed the Faustspielhaus.

4. 4 Easy

   Why does the hero Orfeo travel to the underworld in opera?

   Answer: Retrieve his wife

   Why: The oldest surviving opera, Peri's Euridice of 1600, tells this rescue; Gluck's 1762 version even lets Amore bring her back to life.

5. 5 Medium

   What title is given to Richard Wagner's massive set of four connected operas?

   Answer: The Ring Cycle

   Why: Wagner spent 26 years writing the Ring; a full cycle runs about 15 hours across four nights, first staged complete at Bayreuth in August 1876.

6. 6 Hard

   What takes Don Giovanni's hand in the opera's final scene?

   Answer: A stone statue

   Why: The statue's icy grip chills Giovanni, yet he adamantly refuses to repent, until flames and demons carry him down to hell.