When people say they are “going to the opera,” the chances are pretty good that they will be taking in one or another piece from the standard repertoire. That’s what I call the sixty-or-so operas that are most often staged by any decent company. In my lifetime, this standard repertoire has expanded and shrunk — some few works have entered in for a short while others are dropped. But the list of the most popular works — all masterpieces that have stood the test of time — remains pretty much the same. The oldest opera in this repertoire is — …
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