I am not an opera fan...but...

I'd recommend La Traviata by Verdi as a good starter.

is worth getting to know. Claudio Abbado's version with Vienna Philharmonic on DG is the one with which I'm most familiar. It was inspired by the spirit of the American and French revolutions. Lorenzo da Ponte, a defrocked priest, wrote the libretto while a fugitive just one step ahead of Venetian and Austro-Hungarian authorities, and Mozart wrote the score. Eventually, da Ponte escaped to the land of the brave and home of the free, and I like to think that Mozart would have followed him there, had he lived. Recommend you familiarize yourself with the libretto which is a critique of aristocracy.
Jay

One of the finest recordings of opera music I have ever heard is a relatively recent release titled "Arias for Farinelli", featuring arias that were performed by Carlo Farinelli (1705-1782), a castrato virtuoso. The arias are sung by Vivica Genaux, who has an extraordinarty coloratura mezzo-soprano voice, with accompaniment by the Akademie fur Alte Musik (of Berlin). The recording is on the Harmonia Mundi label, and is available in both CD format (HMC-901778) and SACD format (HMC-801778).

A number of my friends who are not opera buffs have raved about the recording (several even asked me to make CD copies), and after many listenings I still find it thrilling.

Newbee, I have ordered LaBoheme on your recommendation. Thanks for the suggestions guys. Maybe I should have named this thread "Opera for People Who Don't Love Opera " or "Opera for People who Know There Is Something to Opera but Haven't Figured It Out Yet"

NOTE: Above message is about Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.
Jay