An opera that's a good introduction to the genre is Puccini's La Bohème.

A group of "bohemians" living on the edge in Paris in the 1850s. Artist types. Rodolfo (tenor) is a poet and aspiring playwright, Marcello (baritone), Rodolfo's roommate, is a painter (CLICKY). They have two close buddies, Schaunard (baritone), a musician (although it's never made specific what instrument he plays or how he expresses his music), and Colline (bass), a philosopher, who wears a big coat with many pockets in which he carries a whole library of books.

Twentieth century equivalents, a group of beatniks or hippies.

Rodolfo meets Mimi (soprano), the girl who lives upstairs, and they immediately fall in love (CLICKY). She makes a meager living by sewing artificial flowers. But she's frail and a bit sickly. In the harsh Parisian winter, living in a cold and drafty garret is not good for Mimi. Never made specific, but the assumption is that Mimi suffers from "consumption" (tuberculosis).

Marcello also has a girl friend, Musetta (soprano). She's a chronic flirt, and this drives Marcello crazy. But she has a good heart.

Act II. The gang whoopin' it up at the Café Momus on Christmas eve (CLICKY). Mimi's and Rodolfo's first date.

And in the final act (Act IV), the guys clowning it up (CLICKY) before Musetta knocks on the door and tells them that Mimi is down below, too sick and weak to climb the stairs.

Spoiler alert! Just before the final curtain: Mimi dies in Rodolfo's arms (CLICKY).

No kings, pharaohs, great battles, no complicated plot. Just a small group of ordinary people, easy for anyone to relate to. Kind of a tear-jerker ending, but absolutely gorgeous music, and with a halfway decent cast of singers, it would be hard to screw it up.

It was the first opera I was introduced to, and the first opera I actually saw live, on stage. Highly recommended for those new to opera. Warm plunge.

Don Firth