It's a selection (58) of opera librettos in the last half century. However it isn't just a summary of what's going on in that or another opera. There are rather different viewpoints for different musical stage works with a lot of composers' thoughts and what critics and operagoers say. There are operas by John Adams (5), Péter Eötvös (6), Philip Glass (8), Hans Werner Henze (5). Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies, Aulis Sallinen and Tan Dun are represented each with four operas. Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Mauricio Kagel, György Ligeti - with their single opera each. There are given short biographical scetches for composers and lists of their stage works.