Quiz of the Day
Opera & Classical Music
Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Mozart's The Magic Flute premiered on 30 Sep 1791 — questions on great composers, operas, orchestras and classical masterpieces
1. Which composer wrote the opera 'The Magic Flute', which premiered on 30 September 1791?
- Joseph Haydn
- Antonio Salieri
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart's 'Die Zauberflöte' (The Magic Flute) premiered in Vienna just weeks before his death in December 1791. It is a Singspiel, meaning it mixes sung numbers with spoken dialogue. The famous Queen of the Night aria demands a soprano reach a stratospheric high F above high C.
2. In an orchestra, which instrument traditionally sounds the note to which the other players tune?
- Violin
- Oboe
- Flute
- Trumpet
The oboe plays a concert A (440 Hz) at the start of a concert, and the rest of the orchestra tunes to it. The oboe is used because its penetrating, stable tone is easy to hear over other instruments and its pitch is relatively unaffected by temperature changes. The principal oboist gives the note, first to the winds and then to the strings.
3. Which Italian composer wrote the operas 'La Bohème', 'Tosca' and 'Madama Butterfly'?
- Gaetano Donizetti
- Giuseppe Verdi
- Giacomo Puccini
- Gioachino Rossini
Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) is one of the most performed opera composers in the world. His final opera, 'Turandot', was left unfinished at his death and completed by another composer. 'La Bohème' later inspired the hit Broadway musical 'Rent'.
4. How many symphonies did Ludwig van Beethoven complete?
- Nine
- Seven
- Twelve
- Five
Beethoven completed nine symphonies, the last of which introduced a choir singing the 'Ode to Joy'. By the time he wrote the Ninth Symphony he was almost completely deaf. The 'Ode to Joy' theme is now the official anthem of the European Union.
5. The four-note opening motif 'da-da-da-DUM' famously begins which Beethoven symphony?
- Symphony No. 9
- Symphony No. 5
- Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral'
- Symphony No. 3 'Eroica'
The four-note motif that opens Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is among the most recognizable phrases in all of Western music. It is often described as 'fate knocking at the door', though this label came from Beethoven's assistant rather than the composer himself. During World War II the rhythm matched Morse code for the letter V (for Victory) and became a symbol of Allied resistance.
6. What is the highest female singing voice type in opera?
- Contralto
- Mezzo-soprano
- Alto
- Soprano
The soprano is the highest of the standard female voice types and usually sings the leading heroine's role in opera. Within the category there are subtypes such as coloratura and dramatic soprano, suited to different kinds of music. The equivalent highest natural male voice is the tenor.
7. Which composer created the four-opera cycle known as 'The Ring of the Nibelung'?
- Gustav Mahler
- Richard Wagner
- Richard Strauss
- Johann Strauss II
Richard Wagner's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' is a cycle of four operas that take around 15 hours to perform in total. Wagner had a special opera house built at Bayreuth, Germany, specifically to stage his works. The famous 'Ride of the Valkyries' comes from the cycle's second opera, 'Die Walküre'.
8. Which family of instruments in a standard orchestra is the largest in number of players?
- Strings
- Brass
- Woodwind
- Percussion
The string section — violins, violas, cellos and double basses — typically makes up more than half of a symphony orchestra's musicians. A large orchestra may include 60 or more string players. The violins are usually split into two groups, called first and second violins.
9. The famous 'Hallelujah' chorus comes from which oratorio by George Frideric Handel?
- Samson
- Israel in Egypt
- Solomon
- Messiah
Handel composed 'Messiah' in just about three to four weeks in 1741. The 'Hallelujah' chorus closes its second part, and audiences traditionally stand during it — a custom said to date from an early London performance. Unlike an opera, an oratorio is performed without costumes, scenery or staged action.
10. Which Russian composer wrote the ballets 'Swan Lake', 'The Nutcracker' and 'The Sleeping Beauty'?
- Igor Stravinsky
- Sergei Prokofiev
- Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky wrote all three of the most beloved classical ballets in the repertoire. 'The Nutcracker' features the delicate 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy', which uses an instrument called the celesta, then brand new. 'Swan Lake' was a failure at its 1877 premiere and only became a classic after the composer's death.
11. A concerto is a musical work that features which of the following?
- A singer with piano only
- A solo instrument with orchestra
- A choir singing unaccompanied
- An orchestra with no soloist
A concerto typically showcases a solo instrument — such as a piano or violin — accompanied by and contrasted with a full orchestra. Many concertos include a cadenza, a brilliant passage where the soloist plays alone to display their virtuosity. The form was central to composers from Vivaldi and Mozart through Rachmaninoff.
12. Which Baroque composer, an ordained priest nicknamed 'the Red Priest', wrote the violin concertos known as 'The Four Seasons'?
- Antonio Vivaldi
- Georg Philipp Telemann
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Arcangelo Corelli
Antonio Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' is a set of four violin concertos, each depicting a season of the year with musical imagery like birdsong, storms and icy winds. Vivaldi was an ordained priest nicknamed 'Il Prete Rosso' (the Red Priest) for his red hair. He wrote around 500 concertos during his lifetime.
13. In Verdi's opera 'Rigoletto', which tenor aria's title translates as 'Woman is fickle'?
- Nessun dorma
- E lucevan le stelle
- La donna è mobile
- Che gelida manina
'La donna è mobile' is sung by the Duke of Mantua and is one of the most instantly recognizable tenor arias in opera. Verdi reportedly kept the melody secret until the last moment before the 1851 premiere, fearing it would be copied and sung around Venice's streets. His fears were justified — audiences were humming it the very next day.
14. The term 'a cappella' describes music performed in what manner?
- Without instrumental accompaniment
- At a fast tempo
- Very loudly
- Using only string instruments
'A cappella' is Italian for 'in the manner of the chapel' and refers to singing without any instrumental accompaniment. The style has deep roots in church and choral music, where the human voice alone was often preferred. Today the term also describes modern vocal groups who recreate instrumental parts using only their voices.
15. Which composer, nearly blind toward the end of his life, wrote 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' and the 'Brandenburg Concertos'?
- Henry Purcell
- George Frideric Handel
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Domenico Scarlatti
Johann Sebastian Bach was a towering figure of the Baroque era, celebrated for his mastery of counterpoint and harmony. 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' is a collection of preludes and fugues in every major and minor key, showing off a new approach to tuning. Bach came from an enormous musical family and fathered 20 children, several of whom became noted composers themselves.