This grand opera features an alto saxophone solo in its Act II banquet scene after the title character’s drinking song, “Ô vin, dissipe la tristesse” (“oh VAHN, dee-SEEP-uh la tree-STESS-uh”). For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this 1868 opera that its composer wrote after Mignon (“meen-YONE”). This opera’s Act IV mad scene begins with the recitative “À vos jeux, mes amis” (“ah voh ZHUH, may zah-MEE”).
ANSWER: Hamlet (by Ambroise Thomas)
[10e] Ambroise Thomas’s (“ahm-BWAHZ toh-MAH’s”) use of the saxophone in Hamlet may have influenced this student of his, who featured saxophone solos in his operas Hérodiade (“ay-ROH-dee-ahd”) and Le roi de Lahore (“luh RWAH duh la-OAR”). This composer is best known for his violin solo “Méditation.”
ANSWER: Jules Massenet
[10m] Massenet’s most famous saxophone part accompanies this character as she reveals her anguish to her sister Sophie in the aria “Va! Laisse couler mes larmes” (“Va! LESS-uh COO-lay may LAR-muh”). In the next scene, the title tenor sings “Pourquoi me réveiller?” (“pore-KWAH muh ray-vay-YAY”) to this woman.
ANSWER: Charlotte [or Lotte] (from Werther)
<IZ, Classical Music and Opera>