Opera Flashcards
Most popular operas and composers
1935 opera that takes places in the 1920s in Charleston, South Carolina. It features an all-black cast and tells the story of a disabled street beggar who falls in love with a woman in a toxic relationship. The woman’s violent/possessive lover is a drug dealer called “Crown.”
“Summertime”
“Bess, You Is My Woman Now”
Porgy and Bess
American Composer: George GERSHWIN (1898-1937)
1875 opera set in southern Spain about the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy. José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties, yet loses the gypsy’s love to the torero (bullfighter), Escamillo, after which José kills her in a jealous rage.
“Habanera” (A Cuban Dance)
“Toreador Song”
Carmen
French Composer: Georges BIZET (1838-1875)
1874 German libretto where Dr. Falke gets revenge on rich man Eisenstein. Eisenstein’s wife, Rosalinde, disguises herself at a party, where he tries to seduce her. Later when Eisenstein reports to jail for insulting a civil servant, Rosalinde shows up and reveals he was tricked. Dr. Falke arrives and laughs with everyone.
“Ach, ich darf nicht hin zu dir” (Oh, I Can’t Go to You)
“Adele’s Laughing Song” or “Mein Herr Marquis”
Die Fledermaus (The Bat)
Austrian composer:
Johann STRAUSS II (1825-1899)
“Frülingsstimmen” (The Voices of Spring)
1881 French libretto which premiered four months after the death of its composer. The story begins in an eccentric workshop in Paris, where an inventor creates a mechanical doll named Olympia. The opera’s lead character, a poet called Hoffmann, thinks the girl is the inventor’s daughter and falls in love with her.
“Les oiseaux dans la charmille” (The Birds in the Arbor)
Les contes d’Hoffman (The Tales of Hoffman)
German-born French composer: Jacques OFFENBACH (1819-1880)
1791 “Singspiel” opera (spoken word + singing) that concerns the initiation of Prince Tamino. The Queen of the Night asks him to rescue her daughter, Pamina, from the high priest, Sarastro. Tamino comes to admire the high ideals of Sarastro, and he and Pamina both join the priest’s community, while the Queen and her allies are vanquished.
“O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn” (Oh, Don’t Tremble, My Dear Son)
“Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen” (Hell’s Vengeance Boils in My Heart)
“Ach, ich fühl’s, es ist verschwunden” (Oh, I Feel It, It’s Gone)
“Papagena, Papageno”
Die Zauberflüte (The Magic Flute)
Austrian (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
“Le nozze di Figaro”
1786 comic opera that tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer, Count Almaviva. He tries to seduce Susanna but gets a lesson in fidelity.
“Sull’aria” (On the Air)
Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Austrian (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
“Die Zauberflüte”
1918 comic opera based on an incident mentioned in Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy.’ The title character has been consigned to the eighth circle of hell (with other forgers and cheats) for disguising himself as a recently deceased aristocrat. The opera is the third and final part of Puccini’s Il trittico (The Triptych) – three one-act operas with contrasting themes, originally written to be presented together.
“O mio babbino caro” (Oh, My Dear Father)
Gianni Schicchi
Italian composer: Giacomo PUCCINI (1858 - 1924)
“La bohème”
“Madame Butterfly”
1896 four-act opera set in Paris around 1830. It shows the Bohemian lifestyle of a poor seamstress, Mimi, and her artist friends. Mimi becomes sick with consumption (tuberculosis) and dies in the final act.
“Quando m’en vo” (When I Go)
“Sì, mi chiamano Mimì” (Yes, They Call Me Mimi)
La bohème
Italian composer: Giacomo PUCCINI (1858 - 1924)
“Gianni Schicchi”
“Madame Butterfly”
1853 opera originally titled “Violetta,” after the main character. It tells the story of the tragic love between the courtesan Violetta and the romantic Alfredo Germont, played out against the hypocrisy of upper-class fashionable society. Alfredo and Violetta’s love threatens to shame his family.
“Libiamo ne’ lieti calici”
La traviata
Italian composer: Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
1689 opera that recounts the love of the Queen of Carthage for a Trojan hero. When the Trojan abandons her, the Queen is left in despair. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil’s ‘Aeneid,’ an epic poem that was written between 30-19 BCE.
“When I am laid in earth” (Dido’s Lament)
Dido and Aeneas
English composer: Henry PURCELL (1659-1695)
1904 three-act opera mentioned constantly in trivia. It’s about a young Japanese woman, Cio Cio San (Americans say her name like “cho cho”), who falls in love with an American man she only knows as a pen pal. When he comes to visit her in Japan, she’s overjoyed, but when she finds out he’s married, she kills herself.
“Un bel dì, vedremo” (One Fine Day, We’ll See)
Madame Butterfly
Italian composer: Giacomo PUCCINI (1858 - 1924)
“La bohème”
“Gianni Schicchi”
Performed in 1600, and generally regarded as the earliest surviving opera, this libretto is based on books X and XI of Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ (an epic poem written in 8 CE). It recounts the story of the legendary musician Orpheus who visits the underworld to help his injured wife, whose name is the opera’s title.
“The Messenger Scene”
Euridice
Italian composers: Jacopo PERI (1561-1633) Giulio Caccini (1551-1618)
1835 tragic opera that takes place in the 17th century. The story concerns the emotionally fragile Lucy Ashton (Lucia) who is caught in a feud between her own family and that of the Ravenswoods. The setting is the Lammermuir Hills of Scotland (Lammermoor).
“The Mad Scene of Lucia”
“Il dolce suono…” (The Sweet Sound)
Lucia di Lammermoor
Italian composer: Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848)
1893 fairy-tale opera based on a Grimm brothers’ story. The story follows two siblings sent to the forest to look for strawberries, but in the forest lives an evil Gingerbread Witch who likes to eat children. The opera has been associated with Christmas since its earliest performances, and today, it is still most often performed at Christmas time.
“Abendsegen”
Hansel and Gretel
German composer: Engelbert HUMPERDINCK (1854-1921)
1828 comic opera which takes place in France, around the year 1200. A young count wants to win the love of Countess Adèle, while most of the town’s men are away at the Crusades. Shenanigans involving mistaken identity and wooing ensue. The story also contains a “breeches role,” because a woman plays a male character called Isolier. At the end of the story, Isolier tricks the Count into flirting with him, because the Count thinks Isolier is Adèle.
“En proie à la tristesse”
Le compte Ory
Italian composer: Gioachino ROSSINI (1792-1868)
“The Barber of Seville”
