This set is a facsimile reprint of 44 orchestral scores of selected operas. The scores are authoritative -- either the composer's autograph manuscript or a manuscript or printed copy, preferably one corrected or supervised by the composer. Opera scores that are readily available in other sources have not been included, and comic opera of the period and the operas of the German Romantic tradition were omitted with a few exceptions. All titles appear in CRLCATALOG.