This series introduces, in words and music, the plot and background of the major operas. Using the principal themes and arias, taken from the Naxos recording of the complete work, Thomson Smillie is informative yet entertaining, enabling the listener to get more from this remarkable art form. Verdi's Falstaff repays careful study with real pleasure. It is opera's happiest irony that the great Italian master should cap a career -- distinguished for...