Ariadne auf Naxos is a very funny opera that is replete with moments of great depth and beauty, written in Richard Strauss's best fin de siecle mode. It could only take place in the 18th century, when flighty aristocrats were the chief patrons of the arts and opera seria was the reigning form; it could only have been written in the 20th. Strauss was a master of orchestration, explore what he did and how with the full score. (But bear in mind that a full score is not usually the best one for a singer to learn or use while staging an opera.) This is a Dover score, which means that it's a reprint of an older German original, at a very reasonable price.