Don, keep going! I'll have to look for that recording of the duet from Pearl Fishers, another one of my favorites even though I've never seen the opera. And the quartet from Rigoletto...you don't have to be able to understand the words to feel the intense emotion of that one. (That's another story of muder, intrigue and betrayal...look it up, I don't want to spoil it for you.)

Once when I went to Madama Butterfly in Louisville the diva got sick and couldn't finish, so Edith (oh dear, I forgot her name) just happened to be on call and sang from a podium from the side of the stage while the original diva acted the part. No one minded because her voice was sheer magic. And the flower duet was beautiful.

The only voice I have trouble appreciating is a bass voice. I heard Don Carlo (that's an opera) which had some nice showcasing of the bass, but usually the leading man is a tenor.