What is the most difficult aria for an operatic tenor?

[marlon]

Sounds like the acid tongue of Igor Stravinski

The Beethoven family had Dutch origins. You're not confusing Belgium and Holland are you?

Cosi Fan Tutti?

Carmen?

All correct and YES I mean the Flemish part because his family comes from Mechelen in the Flemish part of Belgium. It was his grandfather that moved to Bonn

marlon

 

[marlon]

7)Who is generally seen as the composer that wrote the very first opera in the Renaissance.
This one is bugging me.
I would have said Monteverdi, but the early/middle 17th century is hardly in the Renaissance; rather, it is Early Modern Era.

It was Monteverdi (1567-1643) and indeed i should have written early baroc in stead of Renaissance

marlon

 

[marlon]

Only questions 13 and 14 remain.

The answer to 13 is the fact that e Nozze Di Figaro contained a ballet/dance, which was banned from opera by emperor Joseph the second. he also banned the 'encores' because of the hughe success of this opera.

The answer to question 14 is : La Fille du régiment, written by Donizetti in 1840...belcanto at its best

regards

marlon

hope you all enjoyed it...

 

[arildno]

Thanks for a great quiz, marlon.

 

[marlon]

Thanks for a great quiz, marlon.

you are welcome...

marlon

 

[zoobyshoe]

All correct

Impossible. They're all wild guesses based on the merest whisp of information.

and YES I mean the Flemish part because his family comes from Mechelen in the Flemish part of Belgium. It was his grandfather that moved to Bonn

I picked the right composer, but for the wrong reason.

Soilwork, also guessed at Stravinsky for #5 before I did, I just noticed.

Can you answer any of the remaining 5 of the ones I posted? A couple of them are very guessable, even if you don't know the answer for sure.

 

[arildno]

2. This composer could conduct, but avoided it because he was tormented by the sensation that his head was becoming detached and floating away whenever he stood at the podium in front of an audience.

Max Bruch?
I've heard he was a shy and reclusive person; that's about the flimsiest argument I've ever made, but..

 

[zoobyshoe]

No, not Bruch. Big hint: Russian.

 

[fourier jr]

The trouble with this quiz is that it was clearly written by an opera freak.

Here are some quetions for non-opera freaks:


6. This extremely famous composer is complained about by vocalists to this day for having no sense of how to write for the human voice.

8. This part of his greater "keyboard study" ends abruptly, unfinished, right after the composer introduces his own name into the music.

6. i guess js bach. i read a preview of a performance of his b minor mass which said he was one of the most demanding composers when it came to singing

8. bach again. it's the last part of his art of fugue where he writes his name into the music. in german, b = b flat, a = a, c = c & h = b natural. i might have b & b flat backwards... the urban legend says that bach dropped dead in the middle of writing that piece, but it's much more likely that the last page just got lost. some think that bach left it unfinished on purpose as if to say "now it's your turn" since he liked puzzles so much.

 

[zoobyshoe]

6. i guess js bach. i read a preview of a performance of his b minor mass which said he was one of the most demanding composers when it came to singing

Good guess, but no. The composer I'm talking about is not complained about for being demanding but for not understanding the specific aethetics of the human voice. In other words, his understanding of the human voice as an instument was all wrong.

8. bach again. it's the last part of his art of fugue where he writes his name into the music. in german, b = b flat, a = a, c = c & h = b natural. i might have b & b flat backwards... the urban legend says that bach dropped dead in the middle of writing that piece, but it's much more likely that the last page just got lost. some think that bach left it unfinished on purpose as if to say "now it's your turn" since he liked puzzles so much.

Absolutely right! For bonus points, 1.) How do you say "Keyboard studies" in German, 2.) What are the four parts of Bach's "Keyboard Studies" and 3.) Do you happen to know the quirky/dramatic thing Glenn Gould did when performing this last bar of music for the video camera?

 

[fourier jr]

Good guess, but no. The composer I'm talking about is not complained about for being demanding but for not understanding the specific aethetics of the human voice. In other words, his understanding of the human voice as an instument was all wrong.


Absolutely right! For bonus points, 1.) How do you say "Keyboard studies" in German, 2.) What are the four parts of Bach's "Keyboard Studies" and 3.) Do you happen to know the quirky/dramatic thing Glenn Gould did when performing this last bar of music for the video camera?

1) keyboard = clavier, studies = ubung?
2) part 1 = keyboard partitas, part 2 = don't know, part 3 = orgelbuchlein, part 4 = goldberg variations
3) i know gould used to play with his face a few inches above the keys, conduct an imaginary orchestra & hum/sing along with the music but i haven't heard of anything that he used to do for one particular piece.

 

[brewnog]

6. This extremely famous composer is complained about by vocalists to this day for having no sense of how to write for the human voice.

I was going to say Bach too, until I saw that last post. Many singers comment that he did not seem to distinguish between composing for voices and instruments.

Any more clues on this one?

 

[zoobyshoe]

1) keyboard = clavier, studies = ubung?

Correct! Der Clavierubung (sometimes seen as: Klavierubung)

2) part 1 = keyboard partitas

,
Right.

part 2 = don't know

Italian concerto, and Overture in the French Style (Usually included with the French Suites)

part 3 = orgelbuchlein

I'm actually fuzzy about what specific organ pieces are in part III, but you're probably right.

part 4 = goldberg variations

Right.

I made an error in asserting that Art of Fugue was part of the Clavierubung.

3) i know gould used to play with his face a few inches above the keys, conduct an imaginary orchestra & hum/sing along with the music but i haven't heard of anything that he used to do for one particular piece.

After dramatically punching out Bach's name with his right hand, Gould reaches over with the left, grabs his own right wrist, and holds the hand there, physically restraining himself from playing any further.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Any more clues on this one?

Although this composer had a tremendous success with one vocal composition, he didn't write nearly as much for voice, proportionately, as most famous composers.

 

[arildno]

On 2) again:
I don't remember which Russian composer who was injured by a grenade; I suppose it's him.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I was going to say Bach too, until I saw that last post. Many singers comment that he did not seem to distinguish between composing for voices and instruments.

Vocalists, and I used to know quite a few, speak of the human voice as an "instrument" like any in the orchestra. I often heard them things like "My instrument isn't suited for that piece. That piece needs a lighter instrument." and things like that. Take two sopranos, for example: one may have an "instrument" better suited to Mozart, and the other better suited to Wagner.

The composer I am referring to is complained about, not for being difficult to sing but for producing music for the human voice that doesn't take advantage of the particular things the voice had to offer as an instrument. At the same time, everyone agrees that he was especially gifted in his writing for woodwinds.

 

[zoobyshoe]

On 2) again:
I don't remember which Russian composer who was injured by a grenade; I suppose it's him.

Excellent guess, but no. I think you're talking about Shostakovich. You would expect what I described from a composer with a piece of schrapnel in his head, but it was, in fact, someone else. The composer I'm referring to was riddled with anxieties of all kinds.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Here. I have ploverized these other two a bit to provide more clues. New clues are in red[/color].

4. As a child, this Romantic composer, who is well known for his lieder[/color] is said to have been asked what he wanted to be. Pointing to a picture of Beethoven he replied: "I want to be that man."

7. This famous 20th century[/color] pianist's recording[/color] carrear was punctuated by an exceptionally satisfying symmetry.

 

[arildno]

Excellent guess, but no. I think you're talking about Shostakovich. You would expect what I described from a composer with a piece of schrapnel in his head, but it was, in fact, someone else. The composer I'm referring to was riddled with anxieties of all kinds.

Okay, here's another guess:
Did he die on the same day as Josef Stalin?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Okay, here's another guess:
Did he die on the same day as Josef Stalin?

No, the composer I'm thinking of did his work at an earlier time in Russian history.

 

[arildno]

Hmm..
I know of Rachmaninoff, Borodin and some guy whose name starts with a G...

 

[zoobyshoe]

Hmm..
I know of Rachmaninoff, Borodin and some guy whose name starts with a G...

Who would you say is the most famous Russian composer of all?

 

[arildno]

Oh dear, it's Tschaikovsky, right?
(It fits with him being neurotic)

 

[zoobyshoe]

Oh dear, P.T., right?

Correct. He once wrote a letter (don't know to whom) confessing that while he was recently conducting he had to use his non-baton hand to hold his head from floating up and off his body. Terrific stage fright.

 

[brewnog]

Vocalists, and I used to know quite a few, speak of the human voice as an "instrument" like any in the orchestra. I often heard them things like "My instrument isn't suited for that piece. That piece needs a lighter instrument."

Pretentious twonks!

 

[zoobyshoe]

Pretentious twonks!

Operatic circles are where the term "diva" originated.

 

[fourier jr]

7. This famous 20th century pianist's recording carrear was punctuated by an exceptionally satisfying symmetry

doh! now I get it. although glenn gould recorded the goldberg variations in 1954 (for cbc, a recording that nobody knows about) it was his 1955 recording that made him famous. the goldberg variation were also the last thing he recorded, completed a couple months before he died in ~1981.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Correct, Fourier jr!

 

[Kenneth Mann]

Same here. I've never actually sat through an entire opera.

What I recommend for those who are uninitiated to opera, is usually "I Pagliacci". It's very short, quite melodic and has an interesting plot.

KM

 

[zoobyshoe]

What I recommend for those who are uninitiated to opera, is usually "I Pagliacci". It's very short, quite melodic and has an interesting plot.

I'm not what you'd call "uninitiated". I attended Oberlin College, which you may know has a fairly prestigious conservatory of music. I did a lot of tech work on Operas, and knew half the voice majors in the conservatory. When I said I've never sat through a whole one, it wasn't for lack of oportunity. It was a deliberate choice. I just can't warm up to those silly plots, and get exited about the whole opera atmosphere as some people do.

Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, I absolutely love Gilbert and Sullivan. But, of course, that is supposed to be silly.