E-Matura | LiC | Multiple Choice | B1 | Genius

I first came across the name Alma Deutscher in the newspaper a few years ago. Although I am interested (0) atinforwith music, I had never heard of an English composer called Alma Deutscher before.

The article I read was about an opera she had composed, “Cinderella”. It was her first full-length opera and it was going to be put on in Vienna. You are perhaps (1) wonderingdecidingadmiringbelieving what makes that so unusual.

Well, if I tell you that Alma was born in 2005 and she completed work on her opera only ten years (2) latesucceedingfollowinglater, you will realize that Alma is no ordinary composer.

She is a genius. It is fairly common for gifted children to have their first music lessons at an early age but Alma was not much more than a toddler when she started playing the violin. It is hard to imagine (3) whywhenifhow a two-year-old can even pick up and hold a violin! Piano lessons soon followed.

Long before she was old enough to go to school, Alma was (4) making upgiving upcaring forlooking for her own tunes.

When she was only four, she began composing her first opera, which told the story of a pirate. Since then Alma (5) has writtenthought ofworked onhas designed short operas,

concertos and symphonies, as (6) likelyoftenwell assoon as appearing on stage as a musician herself.

She has performed with several famous conductors and orchestras in countries (7) onoverallall overin the world.

You may think that Alma is a lonely child, always surrounded by adults. There is no (8) hopedoubtwaywonder that she spends a lot of time with people who are older and more experienced.

She has a lot (9) of sharingaliketogetherin common with professional musicians; they are probably able to appreciate her in a way that most children who are less talented than her could not.

(10) HoweverEven thoughAbove allAlthough, Alma does have plenty of friends and enjoys doing the same things as other young teenagers.

(11) WhichWhatAnythingEverythingshe does not like is being compared to other child geniuses like Mozart, which is obviously something journalists are fond of doing. To see Alma for yourself, all you need to do is go to YouTube. You will not believe your eyes.