Members of the Singing Magnezit choir as well as fans of music and singing from Satka, Bakal and Mezhevoy have played their openings: the musical quiz The Opera Queen’s Move was held for the first time as part of the Elena Obraztsova International Festival of Classical Music “Carmen”.

The musical quiz dedicated to the 85th anniversary of Obraztsova’s birth took place on December 1 in Art-Satka and turned out to be every bit as memorable, multi-faceted and exciting as the life and work of the great opera singer. The quiz was designed by Lyudmila Trusova, a teacher at the Mezhevoy Children’s Art School.

- “I’m glad that the musical experiment, which was organized in Satka for the first time, will take place specifically within the walls of our art space. Every one of us has won already by having dared to come here and answer the questions of the quiz. The Opera Queen’s Move is an event where participation may be more important than winning. I’m sure that our interactions are going to give as a whole sea of positive emotion and new discoveries. Good luck with the game, everyone,” said Elena Subbotina, Head of the Culture Department of Satka Municipal District and the head of the panel of judges for the quiz.

Before starting the musical battle, the players gave names to their teams. Some of the names resonated with the festival’s themes: “The Carmen Planet”, “Roses”, “Carmencitas”. The combined teams “The Open Secret” (members of the Signing Magnezit choir), “The Image”, “The Accord” and “Friendship” (pupils of V. G. Nekrasov Secondary School No. 4) were competing as well. The latter team was just playing for fun since they were late with their application and registration.

The quiz consisted of 10 rounds that included all kinds of problems. The participants were guessing the names of operas and individual opera arias from short videos and audio records, brief descriptions and sets of pictures. One of the games involved correcting mistakes made by Baron Munchausen in the program of the musical theater. There was a separate unit with questions about the life and work of Elena Obraztsova, so the players and the audience learned a lot of interesting facts about her by answering those questions.

The Black Box game was the most fun. The teams were answering all together and before the host Nikita Savrulin could finish saying the questions. Sometimes, like in a popular TV-show, the answers were given after just three “notes” (the very first words)!

The winner of the musical quiz, who received the main prize (the invitations to the concert “Under Pushkin’s Star” by the Chelyabinsk Chamber Choir Named After V. Mikhalchenko, which took place on December 3 as part of the Carmen Festival) was the combined team “The Carmen Planet”. The team “The Accord” (Mezhevoy) which took the second place, received tickets to the New Year performance at the Magnezit Cultural Center. The players of the team “The Open Secret” who finished 3rd, received unfinished rose-shaped brooches that can be painted. The combined team “Carmencitas” (Satka, 4th place) was awarded a gift card for a cotton toy making master class, while the team “The Image” (Bakal, 5th place) received a gift card for a pottery art master class. The combined teams “Roses” and “Friendship” received prizes as well. All the participants of the musical quiz also received Carmen Festival bracelets and badges. But the actual main prize of the day was the positive emotions and experiences from the incredibly exciting game as well as from the performances by Vadim Zamaliyev and Tatyana Uskova.

– “I learned about the quiz from social media and decided to go there immediately but as a spectator. But one of the teams happened to be missing a player, and I was invited to take their place. I accepted and didn’t regret it. The questions were most interesting, and some were too hard for me. However, now I know a lot about the world of music and the work and career of Elena Obraztsova. I’d like to thank the organizers for an edifying and entertaining event that filled us with positivity for the whole of next week,” said Svetlana Astakhova (the team “The Carmen Planet”). – “Our special thanks to the artists, whose musical performances made the quiz truly festive.”

– “Our team has worked hard to prepare for the quiz. We read about Elena Obraztsova’s life and career. Although we didn’t make the top three teams today, we’ve had a lot of fun participating in such an unusual musical competition. We’ve become more erudite,” added Yulia Chugayeva (the team “The Image”).

Source: Magnezitovets Photo by: Vasily Maksimov.