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Edgar es la segunda ópera de Giacomo Puccini. Estrenada el 21 de abril de 1889 en el Teatro La Scala de Milán. Continuaron representaciones en el Teatro Comunale de Ferrara (1892), en el Teatro Real de Madrid (1892) y en el Teatro de la Ópera de Buenos Aires (1905).
Luego del éxito de su primera ópera Le Villi, Ricordi comisionó a Puccini la creación de esta ópera. El libreto estuvo a cargo de Ferdinando Fontana (el mismo poeta que había provisto el texto de la primera obra), quien se basó en La coupe et les lèvres, una obra de Alfred de Musset. La primera versión, de cuatro actos, tuvo un recibimiento cordial pero no caluroso. Un año después del estreno, en enero de 1890, se publicaba una segunda versión con otro final para el segundo acto. Puccini revisó la obra otra vez en otoño de 1891, eliminando el último acto, y una vez más en 1905. La forma final de la ópera tuvo mucho menos éxito que la primera.
La marcha fúnebre del tercer acto de Edgar fue interpretada durante el funeral de Puccini, bajo la dirección de Arturo Toscanini.
La historia tiene mucho parecido con la de Carmen de Georges Bizet. Ambas óperas presentan a un hombre confundido, que debe escoger entre el amor casto de una joven de su pueblo y la pasión desbordada de una exótica gitana.
Puccini utilizó parte de la música que cortó de la obra en Tosca, convirtiéndola en el dúo Amaro sol per te m’era il morire! del tercer acto.
[edit]Synopsis (three-act version)
Place: Flanders.
Time: 1302.
[edit]Act 1
Fidelia gives an awakening Edgar a sprig of almond blossoms, but leaves when she sees Tigrana approaching. Tigrana tries to tempt Edgar to return to their life of debauchery, but fails when Edgar avows he loves Fidelia's purity. Frank, who has always loved Tigrana, enters, but when he cannot win her affections, he berates her, and they argue.
After Tigrana mocks the villagers at prayer, they order her to leave the village. She retreats to Edgar's house, where he defends her from the angry crowd. He announces that he will go with her, and burns down his house before leaving. Frank attempts to stop them, and is wounded in a duel with Edgar. The villagers curse the fleeing lovers.
[edit]Act 2
Edgar has left the wild orgy in Tigrana's house. He is tired of his life of debauchery and longs to return to Fidelia. Tigrana comes to him to entice him back to the party, but, just as she is about to succeed, a platoon of soldiers arrives. Edgar is surprised that Frank is leading them, and asks for forgiveness. Frank grants it happily because the fight actually had broken the hold Tigrana had on him. To escape from Tigrana, Edgar joins the platoon, despite her pleading. Tigrana swears revenge as the men leave her.
[edit]Act 3
A large funeral procession carries the body of Edgar, who has fallen in battle. Frank and the crowd praise Edgar as a hero, but the monk who heard Edgar's dying confession denounces him. He reveals Edgar's sins and debauchery, and the crowd, easily swayed, curses Edgar. Only Fidelia stands up for Edgar and vows that she will meet him in heaven.
After the crowd leaves, Tigrana enters, crying. She is upset that no one will see her weeping for Edgar. Frank and the monk ask her to denounce Edgar, but she resists until they offer her jewels. The crowd returns. The monk claims that Edgar betrayed his country for some gold, and Tigrana reluctantly confirms this. The soldiers try to desecrate the body and discover it is only a suit of armor. The monk reveals that he is Edgar and goes to leave with Fidelia, the only one who remained true to him. The vengeful Tigrana stabs and kills Fidelia. Edgar weeps over the lifeless body as the soldiers capture Tigrana, and the crowd prays.
PUCCINI: EDGAR - LEVI ( Varady, Tanner, McCormick, Jenis)
FIDELIA Julia Varady
TIGRANA Mary Ann McCormick
EDGAR Carl Tanner
FRANK Dalibor Jenis
GUALTIERO Carlo Cigni
Maitrise de Radio France
Choeur de Radio France & Orchestre National de France
YOEL LEVI
http://www.4shared.com/file/131251314/cac2ba1b/Edgar_Levi_CD1.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/131291533/a7eddc89/Edgar_Levi_CD2.html
Dos óperas con la misma trama (en la época de las Cruzadas, la heroína, Zaira, secuestrada por el Sultán de Jerusalem, se está enamorando de su captor (y es correspondida), mientras su hermano, también prisionero, le reprocha que esté dejando de lado su fe cristiana y el recuerdo de su padre.
