That it remains so nearly 60 years later and in the face of much estimable competition suggests that from the start it was considerably more than a worthy addition to the burgeoning catalog of complete operas filling record-store shelves in the years following the introduction of the LP.

WSJ: Maria Callas | Puccini's Tosca | The Measure of a Diva | Masterpiece by David Mermelstein

Participants noted most archives don't have an exhaustive catalog of everything in their collections, and Landau and Savedoff exploited that vulnerability to steal documents without leaving a record.

WSJ: National Archives discusses stolen documents case