1.Where would you find two singers in trash cans this summer? 2023 Classical quiz of the year In György Kurtág’s Endgame, based on Samuel Beckett"s play, which had its UK premiere at the Proms Outside Arts Council England, protesting the funding cuts At Edinburgh fringe, in a festival show on the Royal Mile that invited passersby to take part in opera karaoke Reveal 2.Which of these conductorial comings and goings was not announced this year? Barenboim conducting in 2021 Christian Thielemann is to replace Daniel Barenboim as general music director of Berlin State Opera Kahchun Wong is to replace Sir Mark Elder as the Hallé"s new principal conductor Jakub Hrůša is to replace Sir Antonio Pappano as music director at the Royal Opera House Reveal 3."My appearance was obviously totally irrelevant. I’m supposed to be 4.9bn years old, so I would hardly look like some beautiful young thing," said actor Rose Knox-Peebles, responding to a reviewer who claimed she looked "a fright" in which production? not Rose Knox-Peebles Decked out in a union jack and boots, she was representing the figure of Albion in David Alden"s staging of Peter Grimes for the English National Opera She played Erda (Earth) in Barrie Kosky"s staging of Das Rheingold for the Royal Opera House She was in the role of forest witch Ježibaba in Antonín Dvorak"s Rusalka, part of Glyndebourne"s summer festival season Reveal 4.What’s the link between Paul McCartney, Liverpool and a musician who died this year? Paul McCartney 2023 Opera singer Keel Watson, who was part of McCartney"s backing band in the early 90s when the ex-Beatle performed a week of concerts at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Carl Davis, who worked with McCartney on the composition of his Liverpool Oratorio in 1991 Yuri Temirkanov, who taught Vasily Petrenko, former chief conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; Petrenko was featured in an exhibition of photographs about musicians in the city by Paul"s daughter, Mary McCartney Reveal 5.Following an alleged assault on a singer, conductor John Eliot Gardiner took some time out this year to focus on “his mental health while engaging in a course of counselling”. What was the work he had been conducting? John Eliot Gardiner Monteverdi"s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda Berlioz"s Les Troyens Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth Reveal 6.Laura Bowler’s Advert premiered at Huddersfield contemporary music festival in November. Which of the following was not part of the new work? Laura Bowler at Huddersfield contemporary music festival She puts on boxing gloves to spar with a member of the ensemble She is tattooed live on stage She pours (what appears to be) blood over a slice of white bread and eats it Reveal 7.Which conductor composed a Magnificat for his partner, which had its London premiere earlier this month with the BBC Symphony Orchestra? BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Ryan Wigglesworth Sakari Oramo George Benjamin Reveal 8.In a Proms first, the festival headed to Newcastle for a weekend of concerts in July. Which pop star performed with the Royal Northern Sinfonia? Proms at Sage Gateshead Sam Fender Let"s Eat Grandma Self-Esteem Reveal 9.Carmarthen-Japanese sumo tuna tartare with avocado, edamame beans and wasabi, served with deep-fried cockle popcorn and a mango egg; bara brith with Caerphilly cheese and fig jam, served with brie ice cream on crumbled bara brith and poached figs ... What is the significance of this menu? Server with tray It is the first and third courses of opera singer Wynne Evans"s winning meal on Celebrity MasterChef The words form part of the libretto of Philip Venables" and Ted Huffman"s The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions, which premiered at the Manchester international festival in June This is what Bryn Terfel ate when he was invited to dinner at Buckingham Palace after his coronation performance Reveal 10.Film-maker Christopher Nupen died earlier this year. Which of these artists did he not work with during his award-winning five-decade career? Christopher Nupen (left) with Daniel Barenboim and Sir Adrian Boult Jacqueline du Pré Patricia Kopatchinskaja Daniil Trifonov Reveal 11.Who is the odd one out? Tarik O’Regan, Roxanna Panufnik, Roderick Williams, Shirley Thompson, Patrick Doyle, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sarah Rodgers, Judith Weir Judith Weir on stage at the 2023 Proms Andrew Lloyd Webber because all the others had works performed at the BBC Proms this year Sarah Rodgers, because the others were commissioned to write new works for the coronation Trick question: none. They"re the eight composers of the music picked by Radio 3 controller Sam Jackson for his Desert Island Discs Reveal 12.Birmingham Contemporary Music Group commissioned a large-scale choral work from Christian Mason celebrating what? Finchley Children’s Music Group perform in the world premiere of The Singing Tree, at Birmingham Town Hall. Chocolate cake Birds Trees Reveal 13.Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World by Leah Broad was published in March. It"s a history of Ethel Smyth, Doreen Carwithen and Rebecca Clarke - who is the book"s fourth subject? Karis Tucker as Thurza in The Wreckers by Ethel Smyth, at Glyndebourne festival 2022. Nadia Boulanger Elizabeth Maconchy Dorothy Howell Reveal 14.The building formerly known as Sage Gateshead was rechristened this year. What is it now known as? Sage Gateshead Aviva Studios The Glasshouse International Centre for Music The Greenhouse Music Centre Reveal 15.This year, two mainstream movies, Maestro and Tár, focused on conductors real and imaginary. The symphonies of which composer played a central part in both film"s soundscapes? Cate Blanchett in Tár Mahler Beethoven Bernstein Reveal 16....talking of Bernstein, which work of his was produced by the Welsh National Opera earlier this year, of which our reviewer said: "Some of the grotesque characterisations might have made even Bernstein raise an eyebrow, though he would not have disapproved of the chutzpah" quiz question in 2023 classical music quiz West Side Story Candide Trouble in Tahiti Reveal 17.What was unusual about Iván Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra"s Prom on Sunday 13 August? The Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Iván Fischer The musicians were placed throughout the main arena and the stalls of the Royal Albert Hall It was the first ever audience choice prom, with the works selected by the audience in the hall that afternoon Fischer was unable to get to London due to a cancelled flight, so the French horn player - a trainee conductor - conducted the orchestra Reveal 18.In March, the English National Opera staged Korngold"s The Dead City (Die Tote Stadt). Based on Georges Rodenbach’s 1892 novel Bruges-la-Morte, what famous film did the source text also inspire? The Dead City, English National Opera 2023 Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo Jacques Demy"s Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) Martin McDonagh"s In Bruges Reveal 19.Keir Starmer revealed that he played the flute, violin and piano as a boy, and was a junior scholar at the Guildhall School of Music in London. What work did he say he likes to listen to after a difficult day at Westminster? Keir Starmer Elgar"s Enigma Variations Mahler"s second symphony, the Resurrection Beethoven’s fifth piano concerto, the Emperor Reveal 20.Which BBC ensemble was suddenly defunded only to be given a reprieve and a bonus Proms appearance with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra? Applause BBC Symphony Orchestra BBC Big Band BBC Singers