 Certainly the foundation of a successful opera company in the 1950s by an American woman would have been highly unusual.The works chosen by Mrs Pettitt for her first four seasons did not stray from the standard canon of favorites.After "Hänsel und Gretel", a well-known piece then—with which she and her audience were familiar—the next three seasons were devoted to Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte", "Magic Flute", and "Marriage of Figaro".