Search - Giacomo Puccini, Opera Orchestra of New York, New York City Opera Children's Chorus :: Puccini - Edgar / Scotto, Bergonzi, Killbrew, Sardinero, OONY, NYCO Children's Chorus, Eve Queler

BEAUTIFUL

William Thon | Granada Hills, CA USA | 03/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have loved Tosca and Torandot and now I have a new love, EDGAR. I have no idea why this opera is not more well known. The recording is crisp and well mixed. Puccini's masterful creation Edgar, once again boggles the mind with his touching of the soul. The lead tenor is so good I can say that no one compares. Maybe they do not preform this opera because the tenor part is very difficult to sing. This opera is full of romanticism and vitality, I can see it being popular ten thousand years from now."

For the Completist

James Walters | 01/12/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One can already see where Puccini was headed when listening to Edgar- still, one is glad that his taste in libretti or perhaps his ability to get a decent one improved after this one. The story is completely ridiculous, even for an opera. The fact that the bad female character is named Tigrana and the good female character is named Fidelia tells you what level of literary sophistication you're dealing with.This is more of a number opera than Puccini wrote later, with arias and even a old-fashioned Verdi-style quartet. The baritone gets a very nice aria, but the soprano gets the best one, "Addio, mio dolce amor" that Leontyne P. recorded on her Diva album, and for some insane reason Renee Flemming did not record on her latest album.The recording quality is good and you shouldn't be scared away by the fact that it's live. Bergonzi sings like a champ, and Scotto is triumphant in the big aria-- they try their best to invest the 2-dimensional characters with some life. Queller conducts well, but without as much dynamic thrust as you want- but really, the libretto is awful and Puccini still had much to learn about constructing a good piece of theater. Things get sloppy and unfocused in Act 4- it sounds as though they ran out of rehearsal time."

How has this been overlooked?

James G. Kilbourne | Hollywood, CA | 02/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What an amazing piece of work! The young Puccini was much more Wagnerian in vision, but less of the master theatre man he was to be. In LeVilli and Edgar, he battles with rewards of the soul vs. those of the flesh. The music is rhapsodic, immense- inspired. If I had never had heard the name Puccini and stumbled upon this music, it would be one of handful of great works that I would turn to again and again.

The libretto is no masterpiece, but it isn't as bad as some imply. The music is heroic, sublime..some of his greatest.The music is a masterpiece. Someone HAS to perform this onstage.

In this live performance, Bergonzi is wonderful, despite missing one of the most intensely dramatic high C endings in opera. Scotto is at her best; totally involved, singing some of the most glorious soprano music you could ever hope to hear."