Classical Music Flashcards
The Three Tenors consisted of Placido Domingo Jose Carreras and which Italian singer who was known as the “King of the High Cs”?
LUCIANO PAVAROTTI
Which section of an orchestra typically includes flutes oboes clarinets and bassoons?
WOODWIND
Who left his position of principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic to become Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra in September 2017?
SIMON RATTLE
Which Spanish operatic soprano recorded Barcelona in a duet with Freddie Mercury in 1987?
MONTSERRAT CABALLE
In Western musical notation the staff or stave is a set of how many horizontal lines?
FIVE
In 2013 who became the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the Proms? She also conducted the Last Night in 2015.
MARIN ALSOP
Which is the lowest female singing voice?
CONTRALTO
Formed by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1946 which orchestra is based at Cadogan Hall in Chelsea?
ROYAL PHILHARMONIC
Which Italian tenor recorded Sacred Arias the biggest selling classical album by any solo artist in history in 1999?
ANDREA BOCELLI
Known as “Flash Harry” who was chief conductor of the Proms from 1948 until his death in 1967?
MALCOLM SARGENT
Which musical direction indicates that a passage is to be played in a moderately slow tempo; faster than adagio but slower than allegretto?
ANDANTE
Which violinist born in New York to a Jewish family had a recording contract with EMI that lasted 70 years and is the longest in the history of the music industry?
YEHUDI MENUHIN
Italian for ‘The Phoenix’ which opera house in Venice has lost the use of three theatres to fire the first in 1774?
LA FENICE
Which English cellist whose career was cut short by multiple sclerosis is most famous for her iconic recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor and was married to Daniel Barenboim?
JACQUELINE DU PRE
Claudio Abbado served as music director of which opera house in Milan from 1968 to 1986?
LA SCALA
Which Venezuelan conductor and violinist is the music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar and the Los Angeles Philharmonic?
GUSTAVO DUDAMEL
Born in Caernarvonshire which bass-baritone was initially associated with the roles of Mozart particularly Figaro and Don Giovanni in the 1990s?
BRYN TERFEL
Which instrument which looks similar to an upright piano but sounds like a glockenspiel features prominently in Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker?
CELESTA
Italian for ‘in the manner of the chapel’ what name is given to vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment or a piece intended to be performed in this way?
A CAPPELLA
Born in China in 1982 who was motivated to learn the piano after watching the Tom and Jerry episode The Cat Concerto which features the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt?
LANG LANG
Which English conductor and cellist was particularly associated with the Halle Orchestra in Manchester which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 and conducted for the rest of his life?
JOHN BARBIROLLI
Found mainly in Bali and Java what is the name of the Indonesian orchestra composed mainly of percussion instruments?
GAMELAN
Which musical direction means that a piece is played by plucking the strings with the finger instead of using the bow as on a violin?
PIZZICATO
Notably associated with the operas of Richard Wagner which musical term refers to a recurring theme associated with a particular person place or idea?
LEITMOTIF
Which style of Western art music composed from approximately 1600 to 1750 followed the Renaissance era and was followed in turn by the Classical era?
BAROQUE
Who succeeded Peter Maxwell Davies as Master of the Queen’s Music in 2014?
JUDITH WEIR
What term is used for a portion of a concerto in which the orchestra stops playing leaving the soloist to play alone in free time?
CADENZA
Handel’s Messiah is an example of which large-scale musical work for orchestra and voices typically a narrative on a religious theme performed without the use of costumes scenery or action?
ORATORIO
Which large conical-bore brass instrument derives its name from an Ancient Greek word meaning ‘well-sounding’ or ‘sweet-voiced’?
EUPHONIUM
Which 2000-seat opera house was the primary home of the Paris Opera and its associated Paris Opera Ballet until 1989 when the Opera Bastille opened?
PALAIS GARNIER (OR OPERA GARNIER)
Which ancient wind instrument typically has an oval body with finger holes and a projecting mouthpiece and is traditionally made of ceramic?
OCARINA
Opera North is an English opera company based in which city?
LEEDS
First held in 1963 an international piano competition (which was won by Murray Perahia in 1972) has been held every three years in which English city?
LEEDS
Who was the first conductor of BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1930 to 1950?
ADRIAN BOULT
Which instrument is known as a telenn in Breton cláirseach in Irish clàrsach in Scottish Gaelic and telyn in Welsh?
CELTIC HARP
What was the stage name of Carlo Broschi an Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera?
FARINELLI
The sackbut is the predecessor of which modern musical instrument?
TROMBONE
Which youth orchestra based in Seville consists of musicians from countries in the Middle East and was founded by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said in 1999?
WEST-EASTERN DIVAN
In America it is known as a ‘whole note’. What is it known as in Britain?
SEMIBREVE
Which Scottish classical violinist won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 2004 at the age of 16?
NICOLA BENEDETTI
Who succeeded Colin Davis as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2007 and in 2015 became principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic?
VALERY GERGIEV
Orchestras normally tune to a concert A played by which instrument?
OBOE
In 1988 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the ‘Royal’ title upon which orchestra?
CONCERTGEBOUW
From the Italian for ‘joke’ what name is given to a lively humorous musical composition or movement commonly in quick triple time?
SCHERZO
Which instrument was first produced by converting one of the keys of a chalumeau into a register key probably by German instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner?
CLARINET
On a modern grand piano with three pedals what name is given to the middle pedal?
SOSTENUTO
Who founded the Glyndebourne Opera House and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera at his home in Sussex in 1934?
JOHN CHRISTIE
Which composer and musician was the first person to hold the title of Master of the King’s Music from 1625 to 1666?
NICHOLAS LANIER
Giving its name to a large lake in Japan which short-necked fretted lute is often used in narrative storytelling?
BIWA
Which chord made up of the notes F B D♯ and G♯ is so named as it is heard in the opening phrase of a Wagner opera which premiered in 1865?
TRISTAN CHORD
