Here is a selection of just nine of Dr. Patrick Fazzari's many favorite operas. His knowledge and passion for this art form was impressive; whether at a live Metropolitan Opera performance or at home with his own recordings library, his intense enjoyment was always palpable. Giuseppe Verdi was by far his most revered composer; La Traviata his preferred opera; Verdi's Requiem his favorite musical setting of the Catholic mass; Renata Tebaldi and Renée Fleming his favored sopranos; and in recent years, Giuseppe DiStefano was his preferred tenor (followed by Luciano Pavarotti). Opera - significant throughout Fazzari's life for its profound beauty and power - is even one of the themes in his novel, CHAPEL OF ST. DISMAS.