FIGARO FACTOR
Quiz: W.A. Mozart's Operas
by Kevin Shihoten

1. His first opera was...
 
Mitridate, re di Ponto ('Mithridates, King of Pontus')
Apollo et Hyacinthus
La finta semplice ('The Pretended Simpleton')
Die Zauberflöte ('The Magic Flute')
2. Misfortune befalls this opera's central character, a womanizer who claims to have seduced and left thousands of women.
 
Scipio
Mitridate
Don Giovanni
Kalaf


3. Its libretto based on the second play of a trilogy by French writer Beaumarchais (1732-1799), is the sequel to Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and the sixth most performed opera in the U.S. *
 
Le Nozze di Figaro ('The Marriage of Figaro')
Wozzeck
Cosi Fan Tutte ('All Women do the Same')
Idomeneo, re di Creta ('Idomeneus, King of Crete')
4. Mozart reportedly composed this opera during a period in which he doubted his wife's fidelity.
 
Lo sposo deluso ('The Deluded Bridegroom')
Il Pastor Fido (The Faithful Shepherd')
La finta semplice
Cosi Fan Tutte
5. The Queen of the Night's 'Vengeance Aria' comes from this allegorical singspiel (also Mozart's penultimate opera).
 
Zaide
Die Zauberflöte
Don Giovanni
Il re pastore ('The Shepherd King')
 
6. In this opera set in Persia, a Spanish lady Konstanze and her English servant Blonde are held against their will by the Pasha Selim, who seeks the noblewoman's love.
 
Die Entführung aus dem Serail ('The Abduction from the Seraglio')
Il sogno di Scipione ('The Dream of Scipio')
Der Schauspieldirektor ('The Impresario')
Lucio Silla ('Lucius Sulla')
7. This opera centers on two competing prima donnas who drive their producer mad.
 
L'oca del Cairo ('The Goose of Cairo')
Tannhäuser
Der Schauspieldirektor
Zaide
8. This opera concerns a king who is mentioned in the writings of Homer and Virgil.
 
Idomeneo, re di Creta
Bastien und Bastienne
Carmen
Apollo et Hyacinthus
9. His last opera was...
 
Ascanio in Alba
Die Zauberflöte
La clemenza di Tito ('The Clemency of Titus')
Die Entführung aus dem Serail


* Cornerstones. Opera America Web Site. Available at operaworld.com. Accessed 31 August 2006.

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