Q 01/05

The Italian word 'opera' literally means what?

A) A song

B) A work

C) A voice

D) A play

Answer · why

B) A work

It comes from the Latin opera, which is also the plural of opus.

Q 02/05

Jacopo Peri's Dafne, generally considered the first opera, was produced in which city around 1598?

A) Venice

B) Rome

C) Florence

D) Naples

Answer · why

C) Florence

It grew out of the Camerata de' Bardi, a circle of humanists trying to revive Greek drama, and the music is now lost.

Q 03/05

Which Monteverdi work of 1607 is the earliest opera still regularly performed?

A) L'incoronazione di Poppea

B) Il ritorno d'Ulisse

C) L'Orfeo

D) Euridice

Answer · why

C) L'Orfeo

It was written for the Gonzaga court at Mantua; Peri's Euridice of 1600 survives but is rarely staged.

Q 04/05

The world's first public opera house, the Teatro San Cassiano, opened in 1637 in which city?

A) Vienna

B) Milan

C) Venice

D) Florence

Answer · why

C) Venice

It was the first to admit a paying audience, launching the idea of an opera 'season' during Carnival.

Q 05/05

What is the text of an opera called?

A) Cantata

B) Libretto

C) Recitativo

D) Partitura

Answer · why

B) Libretto

The word means 'little book'; Wagner was unusual in writing his own.