CHAPTER 44 Multimedia Hits: Verdi and Italian Romantic Opera
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which nineteenth-century opera singer made a great impression in America by performing both opera excerpts and parlor songs?
a. Louise Bertin c. Giuseppina Strepponi
b. Jenny Lind d. Clara Schumann
2. The singing star Giuseppina Strepponi helped launch ________ career.
a. Gaetano Donizetti’s c. Richard Wagner’s
b. Vincenzo Bellini’s d. Giuseppe Verdi’s
3. Italian comic opera is called
a. opera seria. c. opera buffa.
b. opéra comique. d. Singspiel.
4. Which of the following were leading composers of Italian opera?
a. Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini c. Bellini, Lind, Strepponi
b. Bizet, Rossini, Bellini d. Strepponi, Donizetti, Bellini
5. Which of the following composed The Barber of Seville and William Tell?
a. Donizetti c. Bellini
b. Bizet d. Rossini
6. The term bel canto refers to
a. a female singer who performs male roles.
b. the standard form of nineteenth-century Italian arias.
c. a style of singing that features agility and purity of tone.
d. the new melodic recitative of the nineteenth century.
7. Which of the following was a widely beloved nationalist opera composer?
a. Verdi c. Brahms
b. Chopin d. Liszt
8. Verdi’s opera Nabucco was hugely popular in Italy because it
a. was interpreted as a symbol of Italian independence.
b. had raunchy dance scenes.
c. contained popular tunes.
d. was based on Roman history.
9. Which of the following operas were written by Verdi?
a. Il trovatore, Aida, Rigoletto c. Carmen, Aida, Il trovatore
b. Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, Aida d. Aida, Dido and Aeneas, Rigoletto
10. Which Verdi opera was commissioned for a performance in Cairo to mark the opening of the Suez Canal?
a. Il trovatore c. Carmen
b. Rigoletto d. Aida
11. ________ was Verdi’s last opera, which he completed at age eighty.
a. Macbeth c. Aida
b. Rigoletto d. Falstaff
12. Which of the following wrote the play that was the source of Verdi’s inspiration for Rigoletto?
a. T. A. Hoffmann
b. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
c. Victor Hugo
d. Arrigo Boito
13. The librettist for Verdi’s Rigoletto was
a. Boito. c. Metastasio.
b. Piave. d. Goethe.
14. Who dies at the end of Rigoletto?
a. Rigoletto c. Sparafucile
b. the duke of Mantua d. Gilda, Rigoletto’s daughter
15. Which of the following characterizes “La donna è mobile,” from Verdi’s Rigoletto?
a. It is in strophic form. c. It has a triple meter.
b. It is an aria about seduction. d. All answers shown here.
16. The ensemble that follows “La donna è mobile” in Act III of Rigoletto is a(n)
a. duet. c. sextet.
b. quartet. d. octet.
17. The leading form of musical theater in China is called ________ opera.
a. Hong Kong c. Beijing
b. Shanghai d. Kaohsiung
18. Which of the following are characteristic of Beijing opera?
a. stylized gestures c. colorful costumes
b. dance d. All answers shown here.
19. Which of the following describes The Story of the Red Lantern?
a. It was considered to be a model play.
b. It was based on the story of Rigoletto.
c. It failed to foster the ideals of communism.
d. All answers shown here.
20. Which of the following is an ethereal-sounding bowed-string instrument?
a. pipa c. shakuhachi
b. erhu d. yang qin
21. Who managed singer Jenny Lind’s 1850 American tour?
a. Gaetano Donizette c. P. T. Barnum
b. Vincenzo Bellini d. Stephen Foster
22. Composer Giuseppe Verdi’s career was launched with the help of Italian singing star
a. Louise Bertin. c. Giuseppina Strepponi.
b. Jenny Lind. d. Clara Schumann.
23. Verdi was born in
a. France. c. Spain.
b. Italy. d. Egypt.
24. What is the setting for Rigoletto?
a. a Renaissance-era ducal court in northern Italy
b. modern-day Italy
c. nineteenth-century Italy
d. southern Italy
25. Which of the following is a kind of hammered dulcimer?
a. pipa c. shakuhachi
b. erhu d. yang qin
26. Which of the following is a plucked lute?
a. pipa c. shakuhachi
b. erhu d. yang qin
TRUE/FALSE
1. Women achieved prominence during the Romantic era as opera singers.
2. Bellini, the first major composer of Romantic Italian opera, is celebrated for his music for William Tell.
3. Verdi’s operas stirred a revolutionary spirit within the Italian people.
4. Verdi’s Aida is an example of exoticism because of its Egyptian setting.
5. The aria “La donna è mobile,” from Verdi’s Rigoletto, is set in simple, strophic form with a refrain.
6. In Rigoletto, Verdi turns away from tuneful melodies to heighten the dramatic action.
7. Opera has been a leading form of entertainment in China for centuries.
8. The Cultural Revolution movement in China placed a high priority on Chinese opera.
9. The Story of the Red Lantern was considered to be a model play by the Chinese communist government.
10. The Chinese plucked lute is called the erhu.
11. P. T. Barnum promoted Giuseppina Strepponi’s 1850 American tour.
12. Jenny Lind’s 1850 tour emphasized the flexibility between art and popular music in nineteenth-century North America.
13. Opera buffa is the Italian version of comic opera.
14. Bel canto is Italian for “beautiful singing.”
15. Verdi left his fortune to a home for aged musicians.
16. Verdi wrote nine operas.
17. A play by Victor Hugo was the inspiration for Rigoletto.
18. The yang qin is a kind of hammered dulcimer.
19. The Story of the Red Lantern is a political manifesto against the communist party in China.
20. Nabucco and The Story of the Red Lantern both became rallying cries in the nationalistic movements of their respective countries.
ESSAY
1. Discuss the success that women achieved as operatic singers during the nineteenth century. Include descriptions of specific singers’
careers.
2. What are the principal characteristics of nineteenth-century Italian opera? Name the major composers and several representative
works.
3. Why do Verdi’s operas have such enduring popular appeal? Cite examples from the textbook.
4. Discuss the similarities and differences between Rigoletto and The Story of the Red Lantern.
5. Discuss how Verdi’s operas and The Story of the Red Lantern represent ideas of nationalism.
