Q 01/05

Tamino, the hero sent to rescue Pamina, is what by birth?

A) A duke

B) A prince

C) A count

D) A peasant

Answer · why

B) A prince

A prince, the handsome kind fairy tales require, yet his rescue story turns into a string of ordeals he must pass on the way to enlightenment.

Q 02/05

What reward does the Queen of the Night promise Tamino if his rescue mission succeeds?

A) Half of her kingdom

B) A chest of silver

C) The captive as his bride

D) A seat on her throne

Answer · why

C) The captive as his bride

The captive as his bride. It is an easy promise for the Queen to make, since her real aim, which comes out in Act 2, is to see Sarastro dead.

Q 03/05

Why can Tamino not contradict Papageno's boast of having killed the monster?

A) He had fainted

B) He was blindfolded

C) He had run away

D) He was under a spell

Answer · why

A) He had fainted

He had fainted. The hero collapses in the first minutes of the opera and wakes beside the dead beast, so the first passer-by is free to claim the kill...

Q 04/05

The Magic Flute is a Singspiel. What does that form combine?

A) Recitative and dance

B) Singing and spoken dialogue

C) Ballet and chorus

D) Puppetry and song

Answer · why

B) Singing and spoken dialogue

It was a popular German form, unlike Mozart's Italian operas with sung recitative.

Q 05/05

What kind of theatre staged The Magic Flute's 1791 premiere?

A) Palace

B) University

C) Suburban

D) Monastery

Answer · why

C) Suburban

Suburban. An old friend of Mozart ran a company there that played operas in German, and Mozart composed this one for that troupe.