HAPPY HOLIDAYS
A QUIZ FOR THE WEEKEND, and beyond!
Test of your knowledge of geography as well as your familiarity with national music styles
and famous operatic arias!
Here are 6 holiday photos, 6 pieces of music from 6 different countries and snippets of arias from 6 different opera characters…… but they are all muddled up.
WHICH ONE GOES WITH WHICH?
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In case anyone is still wondering about the correct answers – here they are: Picture/Music/Character
1. Greece/Hawii/Ruggiero
2. Italy/Ireland/Sesto
3. France/Mexico/Carmen
4. Hawii/Italy/Octavian
5. Mexico/France/Orphee
6. Ireland/Greece/Romeo
WELL DONE to those who tried ( and in some cases, tried and tried again! ) The amount of sheer determination was admirable.
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Whether your holidays are a distant memory or are yet to come …..
Whoa! You’ve found your muse, Eyes!
I’m too bedazzled and befuddled and sleepy to have a proper go at the moment, but here is initial reaction:
1. That couldn’t be Ruggiero getting nostalgic about Hawaii while lounging around on Santorini, Greece, could it?
2. I’m seeing the Fontana di Trevi in Rome, but the air is somehow smelling either Scottish or Welsh. Can’t quite tell at the moment. I’m in a haze (your island is always full of haze)!
3. Is that France? But what the heck is Carmen doing there and why is she sounding like a Mexican???
4. No, no, no. There is no such thing a s a surfing Italian! Not even if he’s riding a Hawaii-size wave!!
5. I might just need to read up on the Aztec Mexican myth to decode the francophile opera character hiding in this clip…
6. Can’t tell you how weird it is to be looking at a Stonehenge-ish plot in Scottland or Welsh while Zorba the Greek keeps yanking on my ears. He yanks so persistently I can’t decipher the hidden aria at the moment (I just keep seeing Anthony Quinn dancing about in my head and it really ruins everything)!
Not a very good attempt, but it’s 1:15AM here and my brain is half asleep (that’s the current excuse anyhow). Will have to come back and improve on it later. Thanks for all the work you put into this. That musta been quite a project!!!
Happy weekend and happy Proms to you!
Smorgy was the first one to attempt this marathon and I witheld the ideas in case any of you others were influenced. I’m not saying anything one way or the other. Anyone agree with anything here?
ah, my morning music… i can recognize not a thing yet nor a tune / pix. but it reminded sooooo much of paul mauriat, whose orchestra was a constant on the cassette player when i was growing up (dad was/is a huuuuge fan of his)
… and there’s “tosca” in there? but teacher, i’ve never listened to tosca before!
No Tosca, I’m afraid – I don’t know it well enough to work in a tune.
i just gonna stay in my little corner here, given i can’t hear nada. if i have to force out tunes, it’d be
2) top of the world, by carpenters!
4) row row your boat gently down the stream
ALL suggestions are looked at with equal seriousness!
Well Miss what a beast of a quiz ! Very hard to determine the tune from the twiddly bits ! Here is my effort for what it is worth –
1) Ruggerio – Hawaii – Santorini/Greece
2) Sesto ? – Ireland- Fontana di Trevi/Rome
3) Carmen – Italy – France ( or Cardiff they have onion sellers there too )
4) Ariodante – Spain – California
5) Orfeo – France – Macchu Piccu/Mexico
6) ?? – Greece- England
Do I get extra marks for spelling my name correctly ??
Excellent effort young Sarah but you only get extra marks if your name is in joined-up writing. Miss is waiting for some kind of agreement between all you girls before she issues the test results. So come on, combine ideas!
Ok… a 2nd go in Photo – Flavor – Character:
1. Greece – Hawaii – Ruggiero? (Verdi prati?)
2. Italy – Scottish – Sesto? (Deh per questo istante solo?)
3. France – Mexican – Carmen (though I first thought of il duca di Mantua’s La donna e mobile until I heard the Habanera descending scale… gotta go with the gal!)
4. Hawaii – Italian – Ariodante? (Dopo notte?)
5. Mexico – French – Orphee a perdu son Eurydice
6. Scottland – Greek – Romeo?
Hey, Sarah’s got good ears!
Hmm. Looks like you gals are well on the way but it may need Specialist British Ears to sort out any British connections?. Full marks for persevering young Smorg!
By Jove I think I may have it ! A British connection you say ? Well if the character in question 6 is Nerone then is the connection the delightful Le Prince Charmant ( sigh ! ) Alice Coote ?? Possibly ?? Am I right Miss ?
Regretfully, young Sarah, there is no link with Miss Coote – we must do something about these crushes of yours!
The British connection is purely a geographic one and there is no Nerone to be seen although an English literary genius may have a characterful appearance.
Another wildly improbable guess – is the geographical connection Llangollen as you might hear the different musical styles at the International Eisteddfod ? The literary connection might be William Wordsworth who was known to visit the Ladies there ??
Ingenius thinking but the literary connection is not Romantic in any sense – even the Ladies! The geographic issue may be confusing to our sisters from “abroad” who are not familiar with the delightful scenery of these islands.
How about Edinburgh ( festival ) and Alexander McCall Smith ??
Topical but we are looking at a Midlands author of an Italian Romance.
I’ve got it Miss! It’s that film with Leo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet based on that song by Dire Straits ?
p.s to Smorg thanks for earlier compliment but what I hear & what it actually is are usually two entirely different things !
OK, this is getting a little tortuous so I’m going off to think of some clues. See everyone soon!
Some more guesses based on written clues
1) Ruggerio’s aria – Sta nell Ircana
2) horticultural connection – Violetta ?
3) Druids would visit the standing stones wasn’t Norma a druidess ??
Extra marks to Student Sarah for studying during her lunch break.
Ruggiero’s aria – correct! but was that an informed guess, being one of the most famous?
Horticultural connection – way off beam, although it may involve a flower.
No Druids either – a simple though deadly Romance.
P.S. The written clues may be throwing people off track. It may be better to rely on your ears!!
Oooh! New clues!
Only have enough time to look around for stone formations in Scotland and Ireland at the moment, so I’ll modify #6′s photo as Ireland (Poulnabrone?), which would mean that Sesto’s aria in #2 is in the Irish style…
Gotta come back for the horticultural clue and more listening for #4 aria later.
Oh, Smorgy, I love your determination.
and so early in the morning for you! You are indeed correct on the Irish double. In fact your search has been more specific than mine – I do not know the exact location but I will find out. I would say that #4 is by far the most difficult hidden tune and it will be interesting to see who cracks it first. It is, however, one of the most beloved scenes in Whiteshirt history. 
I’m glad you started a new box- the ones above where getting very skinny!
Poulnabrone Dolmen, Co Clare was indeed the dolmen or portal burial in the Irish picture.
http://www.dochara.com/places-to-visit/megalithic-sites/dolmens-or-portal-tombs/
#4… the chromatic intro as Octavian walks in with the silver rose!!
Now #6…. Hmmm.
#6. it was just the uncertainty of yours and Sarah’s answers that made me withold the “correct” response!
Someone make a BOLD statement about the last clip.
ROMEO ! But Smorg said this & I alluded to it before Miss !
Quite right, young Sarah but there was hesitation and a modicum of doubt in the phraseology of the answers. Excellent work both of you. I shall recommend you for the music and geography prizes at the end of term. Bonus prizes to anyone who can name all 6 arias.
Er.. er..er..her….
1. la bocca vaga
2. Deh per questo
3. Habanera
4. presentation of the rose
5. J’ai perdu son Eurydice
6. Deh, tu bell’anima
But I’m a trained lab nerd, matie, I’ve gotta have my ????
No need for ??? , apart from #1 and #6 so we are not quite there yet. I seem to remember there is a certain Dr. on the east coast who has been listening to these operas rather a lot – perhaps she will know?
Thank you to the folks who have joined in and put in huge amounts of time and effort to make this game successful.
Heh, heh, I’ll watch from the sideline now. There’s only a few choices left for Ruggiero arias after the ones that had been ruled out.
And Romeo, too.
Hey, thanks a bunch for putting all this together, Eyes. It’s really good fun. I got to learn more about the regions of Europe and the UK and their local music, too. You don’t get that from high school geography class!
Before this quiz I only knew of Stonehenge and the Easter Island columns when it comes to stone formations, now I see you guys have them all over the Brittish Isles! And they look different from region to region indeed. How interesting! ONe of these days I must get to that side of the pond and seriously sight see. 
You’re giving me the travel bug!
Also… darn, you’re a crack composer! It’s really cool how you so deftly integrate arias into these different styles of music. I’m lovin’ it.
hihi, i heard someone calling my name… i listened TEN times to that last tune, can’t hear a thing
, and then i looped to 1st tune for a few times…. no hope from me! it’s like i give you an essay in vietnamese and ask you which regional accent you can detect from reading it! 
Oh, Dr. T , I didn’t mean to cause stress!!! … this is meant to be fun.
No. 1 aria was Sta nell Ircana as Student Sarah suggested but she guessed from the written clues and I was hoping someone could actually hear it!
No. 6 aria was Romeo’s Vieni in me riposa.
I obviously disguised some too well and will learn for the future. Here’s a hint for the future …. I usually do an introduction, then the tune to guess and leave with a finishing tag.
Thank you for persevering – it could be that your ears are so tuned to high quality orchestral sounds that my synthesized ones don’t mean much. Please don’t give me a Vietnamese essay to read
ah, no stress, it’s fun indeed
. though i realized i was highly-easily distracted by the particular sound which you hear A LOT in all paul mauriat’s songs . i didn’t want to just toss out tunes and was determined to “find” them, until i thought of vietnamese essay for you 
ps- my ears are tuned enough to now be able to recognize the piccolo
. actually i’m not a fan of indiscriminate piccolo, just that particular recording, it was used to fit the exact purpose (to my brain) and it did very well (for my brain) what I wanted to imagine.
I’m really glad you are enjoying these musical flights of fancy but I have to admit to having huge amounts of help from Mr, Yamaha when it comes to the composition! We are indeed fortunate in having so much ancient history in our landscape . I love visiting such places but have never seen the one in the photo. I feel a little trip coming on!
Thank you for compiling such an interesting quiz ! I am quite pleased that I got 3 of the arias by ear including the first one but as I am only in WS kindergarten I was not familiar with the last opera however I have now obtained a copy of it & it had rather a fetching
cover ( VK & Mei ) . Thanks Teach !
Join the club of WS kindergarten students! I thought I was the newbie. But don’t you enjoy the homework? I’ve been swotting up on Capuleti also and the versions on YT by Smorg and Thadieu, complete with playlists, are really worth a listen. I’ve been following with a score and making comparisons.
Really pleased you enjoyed the quiz – it makes it worth the effort.
yay, welcome Sarah to WS-dom! took me nearly 1 year to acclimatize to WS goodness
, and that cover VK & Mei also got me started with madness posts on fb about i capuleti! i soo impressed that both you and Smorgy can hear though that clip! Take your time to browse through Anik’s old stuff too, exceptional content 
(so sad purity’s stuff is gone offline, waaah)
Teacher, must be from listening intently to your homework, just woke up from a dream where i had an assignment to SING a clip from I capuleti! with a role i never recognized, was soo sweatingly worrying
Singing the answer? What an excellent idea!