Edgar (opera)

Edgar is an opera in three acts (originally four acts) by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, based on the play in verse La Coupe et les lèvres by Alfred de Musset. First performance: Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 21 April 1889.

Related Topics:
Opera - Giacomo Puccini - Libretto - Ferdinando Fontana - Play - Alfred de Musset - Teatro alla Scala - Milan - 21 April - 1889

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Edgar, Puccini's second opera, was composed on a commission from the publisher Ricordi after the successful reception of his first stage work, Le villi. The original version had four acts and was well received. In the autumn of 1891, Puccini revised the work, cutting the last act and producing a three-act version which will be again corrected in 1905. Some of the music that was cut in the new version was reused in his opera Tosca and became the beautiful duo, «Amaro sol per te m'era il morire!» (Act III). The funeral march from act three was played at Puccini's funeral, conducted by Arturo Toscanini.

Related Topics:
Le villi - Tosca - Arturo Toscanini

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Parallels to Bizet's Carmen are numerous. Both operas feature a confused young man (tenor: Edgar, Don José) who is struggling to choose between the pure chaste love of his home town girl (soprano: Fidelia, Micaëla) and the consuming passion of an exotic gypsy (mezzo-soprano: Tigrana, Carmen). Both also feature a secondary love interest for the gypsy (baritone: Frank, Escamillo).

Related Topics:
Bizet - Carmen

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