12 minutes ago, drpaladin said:

Attending one of Richard Wagner's works expecting the light and lively fare of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas would be a huge mistake.

And many Germans loved the Wagner operas, while most in England enjoy the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.  

15 minutes ago, Gary L said:

I suspect that younger generations might never even have heard of Gilbert and Sullivan. I will ask my great nieces!  Personally, for light musical entertainment it’s got to be Wagner…. 

Many operettas also have spoken dialogue, and then the next step would be musicals, and that's where you'd find most young people having an awareness of many of the popular musicals.  

Warner Bros. 1957 cartoon, What’s Opera, Doc?, directed by Chuck Jones and starring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, was a parody of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, was the first cartoon to be deemed “culturally significant” by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1992.

Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody is the closest I’m likely to get. 

7 hours ago, drpaladin said:

For many, snippets of opera and classical music from cartoons, movies, and ads is all they get.

The Metropolitan Opera in New York has been broadcasting live performances on radio since 1931. Most of the performances are the Saturday matinee, but they sometimes broadcast the opening night performance of the new season.

9 minutes ago, JamesSavik said:

 

A classic cartoon that was my first introduction to opera.  Opera wasn't playe4d in our house and   my grandfather said 'If I was to hear                    that kind of caterwauling I'll step on a cat's tail."  He even left the room when Ed Sullivan had an opera singer on his show.  As you can tell, he wasn't a veryh openminded person.