Can you name the 20 most performed operas in North America?

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(Warning: comments may contain spoilers)

Most Performed Operas Quiz

by ckrubin

Created Sep 30, 2009 in Music
Featured May 10, 2010
Game Plays 30,118

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Archived comments: show them

	A_Trep:	May 10th, 2010 at 16:35 GMT		9 points
	Please accept Die Zauberfloete

	Nikkidemas:	May 10th, 2010 at 16:37 GMT		13 points
	This quiz was so good, I almost peed my pants. I mean, "I liked it better than Pirates of Penzance".

	rockgolf:	May 10th, 2010 at 16:39 GMT		23 points
	That was fast. It now accepts Die Zauberflöte with and without the umlaut. Whatever flötes your böte.

	rockgolf:	May 10th, 2010 at 16:42 GMT		6 points
	As noted in Exackerly's archived comment, he's glad he go 'em all, but disappointed he didn't get Amahl.

	stlcards:	May 10th, 2010 at 16:49 GMT		4 points
	Thanks to "Trading Places" and "Seinfeld" for 2 of the 5 I got.

	chikka2:	May 10th, 2010 at 17:01 GMT		1 point
	Interesting there's no grand opera, though the accompanying picture depicts a wagnerian costume. Great quiz!

	bostoncane:	May 10th, 2010 at 17:11 GMT		5 points
	Thank you for giving us the composers, so I didn't have to worry with spelling the names of the Ring operas! I thought it was "I Pagliacci," though.

	Flick:	May 10th, 2010 at 18:16 GMT		4 points
	The picture that goes with this quiz is possibly the scariest thing I've seen in a long while!

	rudi:	May 10th, 2010 at 19:01 GMT		2 points
	please accept i Pagliacci

	sbelkoski:	May 10th, 2010 at 19:57 GMT		9 points
	Well I guess Bugs Bunny is the only one that performs Wagner anymore.

	midwesterndiva:	May 10th, 2010 at 20:02 GMT		1 point
	I'm so embarrassed. I wrote a report for school on La Traviata, but I didn't get it. Doh!

	evil_fruit_girl:	May 10th, 2010 at 20:50 GMT		3 points
	Sad to not see Wagner on the list, and I expected Carmen to be higher. Carmen has the best music ever written for an opera.

	john19:	May 10th, 2010 at 23:06 GMT		2 points
	Wouldn't have gotten any if I wasn't an Odd Couple fan.

	bibliomaniac15:	May 10th, 2010 at 23:14 GMT		-2 points
	Blah, can't spell these Italian names.

	JacketFan:	May 11th, 2010 at 00:09 GMT		-2 points
	Die Fledermaus is an operetta, definitely not an opera.

	tonybraintree:	May 11th, 2010 at 00:17 GMT		4 points
	Could someone tell me how Pagliacci is on this list without Cavalleria Rusticana? Is this list historical or current?

	mfisher64:	May 11th, 2010 at 01:09 GMT		3 points
	There appears to be an advertisement for Carmen above the quiz... That does help

	BroadwayBookworm:	May 11th, 2010 at 01:22 GMT		1 point
	I did try Cavalleria Rusticana, tonybraintree, with that same thought. Though, some companies do perform the two separately (most specifically I Pagliacci), so I can see how that one would make the list without the other one making it.

	dark_chocolate:	May 11th, 2010 at 01:50 GMT		0 points
	Just speaking of opera, there's the most adorable claymation of little dessert people marching and dancing and acting to what I believe is an aria from La Traviata....I'll try to get a link.....wait for it......

	RebeccaAMax:	May 11th, 2010 at 02:18 GMT		2 points
	Guys, it's not "I pagliacci." Srsly.

	Djibouti:	May 11th, 2010 at 03:33 GMT		1 point
	For the 91% of people who couldn't remember Il Trovatore, go watch A Night at the Opera. Be prepared to laugh. Don't forget the hard-boiled eggs

	RebeccaAMax:	May 11th, 2010 at 04:29 GMT		4 points
	Also, I suspect the reason no Wagner operas are on here is because this is a list of the most performed operas in North America and not in general. Europe, particularly the German-speaking bits of it, does loads of Wagner, but it doesn't fit the parameters of the quiz.

	riddler:	May 11th, 2010 at 14:14 GMT		-2 points
	Don't understand why you've left out "I" from "I pagliacci" - I know it's only "the", but you've included the definite article in LA boheme, LA traviata, IL trovatore...

	OwenHerring:	May 11th, 2010 at 15:55 GMT		1 point
	@riddler: the opera's title is 'Pagliacci' ie 'Clowns' not 'The Clowns'. And there's no character in it of that name, as some people think (I'm not saying you do).

	OwenHerring:	May 11th, 2010 at 16:00 GMT		0 points
	@chikka2: I'd be interested in your definition of 'grand opera'. The usual one is that there's no speech, as it's done in recitative. The only non-grand opera on this list is Die Fledermaus, though there is a version of Carmen with spoken dialogue.

	RebeccaAMax:	May 11th, 2010 at 19:25 GMT		1 point
	OwenHerring, grand opera is an actual genre, it includes the likes of Berlioz and Meyerbeer. It's not a synonym for "opera without dialogue."

	RebeccaAMax:	May 12th, 2010 at 05:45 GMT		1 point
	Also, is your username a Britten reference, or is it just happy coincidence that there are Britten operas Owen Wingrave and Albert Herring?

	OwenHerring:	May 12th, 2010 at 17:51 GMT		1 point
	@RebeccaAMax: I stand corrected, but on my side I have the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary which defines it as 'serious opera without spoken dialogue'. And yes, the origin of my name is as you suggest, but I'm not as much of a Britten fan as I thought I was at the time when I invented it. I'd be quite happy never to hear either of these operas again.

	RebeccaAMax:	May 12th, 2010 at 23:23 GMT		1 point
	Hmm, that's unfortunate. I'd never heard that definition. (Part of the problem, of course, is that we just haven't kept the genre definitions as part of our lexicon - opéra comique, for example.)

	daHOOK:	May 29th, 2010 at 02:17 GMT		1 point
	The italian names for 5 and 6 did not work.

	ashman:	Jul 2nd, 2010 at 19:25 GMT		1 point
	Rigoletto is still my favorite. The haunting final act with the thunderstorm and some of Verdi's best music seals it.

	wahpiangeidamnit:	Aug 17th, 2010 at 14:15 GMT		2 points
	Guys come on it's Pagliacci, not I Pagliacci. Society made it wrong, please don't support ignorance.

	currymuttonpizza:	Apr 10th, 2011 at 22:42 GMT		1 point
	Ooh, didn't even realize it's not "I Pagliacci." Still - it should accept "I Pagliacci" and show up as the correct answer, at least considering how many recordings, scores, and performances get it wrong. As long as the official answer doesn't have the article, I don't think it supports ignorance at all. ....All that aside, I want to shoot myself for missing Lucia di Lammermoor. It's the only one I missed. 'Swhat I get for the bad habit of associating Donizetti with only his comic operas...

	DesmondJones:	Apr 18th, 2011 at 23:28 GMT		2 points
	You should accept Madam as well as Madama butterfly

	pythonesque:	Apr 23rd, 2011 at 19:31 GMT		1 point
	Didn't realise La Cenerentola is in the top 20 most-performed list. I tried at least three variations of "William Tell" before I decided to put that in, thinking it was a long shot. It's one of my favourites. And with regards to Pagliacci, it's been paired with Puccini's Il Tabarro as well. But in any case it's probably more widely publicised than Cavalleria Rusticana, seeing as it was referenced once on The Simpsons. :)

	gigimacmurray:	Sep 4th, 2011 at 20:00 GMT		1 point
	Finally, an easy quiz for me (might have helped that I was an opera major/singer for years).

	Razorblade:	Nov 22nd, 2011 at 11:47 GMT		1 point
	15/20. Never heard of La Cenerentola

	Magnavox:	Mar 2nd, 2012 at 01:14 GMT		1 point
	Kept trying to type in different spellings and translations of La fille du régiment!

	Magnavox:	Mar 2nd, 2012 at 01:17 GMT		1 point
	You may remember Pagliacci and Faust from Disney's Make Mine Music! Willy the Whale performs the lead roles.