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robdotcalm
Jan 28, 2008, 5:19 AM
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Registered: Oct 31, 2002
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During its broadcast season (December-April) the Metropolitan Opera often has a quiz on its Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts based on questions sent in by the radio audience. A panel of opera experts attempts to answer the questions. The questions below, which I submitted, were used during the 1997-98 season and for which I received some nice booty. The Met website, http://www.metopera.org, has listings for the current season including it’s new program of HD broadcasts in movie theatres around the country as well as vocal excerpts of the season’s operas.
I thought it would be fun to see how many questions get answered here. The questions are given in order of increasing difficulty (my opinion).
Cheers, Rob.calm
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Grand Opera and Grand Climbing, The Quiz
1. Who climbs a high rock to get the gold he sees glistening in the sunlight?
2. Who climbs the craggy mountain to find the woman who will be his wife?
3. The young lady, who is saved from a potentially fatal fall in the Swiss Tyrol prior to the start of the opera, promptly fell in love with her rescuer. What is the opera and what are the names of the lady and her rescuer?
4. The protagonist journeys to the top of a high peak in the Harz Mountains to participate in a celebration. Who is this man and what is the name of the opera?
5. If you’ve got something of value to hide from the authorities, the mountains are good place to be. Who are hiding out there? Bonus question: What mountains?
6. If you’re going to climb down a steep cliff, you should be belayed by a safety rope. What tragedy ensued when a young fellow neglected to do this?
7. Although it never appears in the action, a young soldier is in love with an Austrian princess he saved from an avalanche. What are the names of the soldier and the princess?
8. Solo climbing a big mountain is dangerous and can leave those left behind wondering if the climber will ever return. This can lead to bad decisions. Who is the climber and in what opera?
9. Who gets caught in an avalanche of flaming lava caused by throwing a rock into the crater?
10. At the end of this opera, the hero is caught in a fatal avalanche and the heroine jumps of the cliff formed by the snow. Who are these people.
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kriso9tails
Jan 28, 2008, 7:16 PM
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i can't answer many off the top of my head... I'm also still bitter towards opera since I had to waste my ticket for Italian Girl in Algiers Saturday night because I couldn't stop coughing.
2. Don't remember what Wagner re-names him (Sigmund?) but it's Sigurd, also known as Sigfried.
4. Faust. I had to look up that it was Walpurgisnacht though.
7. Not sure, but it sounds similar to William Tell. I thought he saved her from drowning though.
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robdotcalm
Jan 29, 2008, 4:35 AM
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kriso9tails wrote: i can't answer many off the top of my head... I'm also still bitter towards opera since I had to waste my ticket for Italian Girl in Algiers Saturday night because I couldn't stop coughing. 2. Don't remember what Wagner re-names him (Sigmund?) but it's Sigurd, also known as Sigfried. 4. Faust. I had to look up that it was Walpurgisnacht though. 7. Not sure, but it sounds similar to William Tell. I thought he saved her from drowning though.
Very good.
2. It is Siegfried.
4. Faust is right
7. Guillaume (William) Tell is right on. And it was an avalanche. Good answer. The panel of experts missed that one.
A prize is in order. Send me a PM with your land address, and I’ll send you a copy of
Rock Climbing at Vedauwoo, Wyoming
Sorry you missed Italiana. My wife and I were in NY in the beginning of the month and saw Romeo and Juliette, Walkure, and War and Peace at the Met. A friend of ours from Loveland sang Capulet in R&J. It was a great way to start the year as well as being in Times Square on New Years Eve and doing some bouldering in Central Park.
Cheers,
Rob.calm
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kriso9tails
Jan 31, 2008, 6:25 AM
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Cool. I've been considering Wyoming for a potential road trip stop.
I know that opera's not the most popular thing these days, but I'm a little surprised there weren't more answers.
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robdotcalm
Feb 1, 2008, 3:35 AM
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If you’re coming this way this summer consider Central City Opera: http://www.centralcityopera.org. They have a neat schedule, Lucretia, West Side Story and Susannah and the Elders as well as one of the most interesting opera houses in the country going back to the gold mining days of the late 1800s.
Let me know if you’re coming and maybe we can get together.
The book will be shipped out tomorrow. Maybe some other opera cognoscenti can answer some more of the questions and receive a free copy of Rock Climbing at Vedauwoo, Wyoming
.
Cheers,
Rob.calm
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‘Tis better to have trad and failed then not to have trad at all.
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