Opera Quiz For July

July's opera quiz is upon us! Each month, A Passion for Opera with Peter Fox Smith offeres a different "mystery voice" (with a clue or two) and invites you to guess what great operatic voice it is.

This month's singer was born in Spain to Andalusian parents. Her early education took place at a convent, and then as a young lady she entered the Conservatory in her native Barcelona to study singing. She made her American debut in 1915 as Charlotte in Massenet's Werther at the Chicago Opera, where she also sang the fiery title role in Bizet's Carmen. (In fact, one of the recordings Peter and Sam played last Saturday was this singer's recording of "les tringles des sistres" from Carmen.)

Our singer was noted especially for her powerful chest register, and an extremely flexible upper voice that could easily scale the florid passages of Romantic opera. Above all, she was individual and creative in her style.

She made more than 200 recordings in her career, both operatic and in a vast song repertory in Catalan, Spanish, French, Italian and English, as well as pieces from zarzuela and even operetta.

Those are the clues.

Are you ready for the answer? This month's opera quiz 'mystery voice' is...Conchita Supervía!

Thanks to everyone who sent in guesses, the winner of this month's opera quiz is Vesna Danilovic of Buffalo, New York. Congratulations! She will be receiving an inscribed copy of Peter Fox Smith's book A Passion for Opera.

Listen in next month for a chance to guess the August 'mystery voice' on the opera quiz.

Opera Quiz For June

It's time for the latest installment of VPR Classical's opera quiz! Each month, A Passion for Opera with Peter Fox Smith invites you to listen in and identify a different mystery voice.

The subject of this month's quiz was born in Spain to parents who were theater performers, and the family moved to Mexico when he was 8. He attended the Mexico City Conservatory originally as a student of piano and conducting, but it didn't take long for his vocal talents to be discovered. It was a quick ascent from there to international recognition.

Our singer has been a major figure on opera stages since 1959, singing in every major opera house in the world. He's also a favorite performer at the Metropolitan Opera, having appeared there in more than 600 performances of 42 different roles since his Met debut in 1968.

Recent years have also seen him step into leading directorship roles at opera houses in Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.

Peter Fox Smith and Sam Sanders selected an unusual aria for the hint on this month's quiz: on last week's show our mystery voice was heard singing the "prize song" from Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg.

It's a little unusual because, for the most part, the mystery voice is better known for his work in Italian Romantic operas.

By now you probably realize that the answer to this month's opera quiz is...Plácido Domingo!

Thanks to everyone who sent in guesses, the winner of this month's opera quiz is Kathryn Tolbert of Westminster West, VT. Congratulations! She will be receiving an inscribed copy of Peter Fox Smith's book A Passion for Opera.

Listen in next month for another chance to guess the mystery voice on the opera quiz.