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Giacomo Puccini operas
• Le Villi (1884)
• Edgar (1889)
• Manon Lescaut (1893)
• La bohème (1896)
• Tosca (1900)
• Madama Butterfly (1904)
• La fanciulla del West (1910)
• Il trittico (Il tabarro, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi) (1918)
• Turandot (1926)

“Edgar” by Giacomo Puccini

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Premiere / date of written: 21 April 1889

Edgar is an operatic dramma lirico in three acts (originally four) by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, freely based on the play in verse La Coupe et les lèvres by Alfred de Musset.

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History

September 5, 1891 A substantially revised version of Giacomo Puccini's "Edgar" was performed at the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca after the unsuccessful original production at La Scala.

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Similar Theme

  • Carmen (1875) — Georges Bizet Both put a man between different ideas of love and freedom, with sexual attraction pulling the story toward violence and death.
  • Tannhäuser (1845) — Richard Wagner Both contrast sensual attraction with a more idealized kind of love. Wagner ties that conflict to guilt and redemption; Edgar treats it as personal instability.

Good Next Choice

  • Le Villi (1884) — Giacomo Puccini Le Villi is Puccini's earlier first opera and makes an interesting companion to Edgar. Both show him experimenting before his mature dramatic style was settled.
  • Manon Lescaut (1893) — Giacomo Puccini Manon Lescaut is where Puccini's mature voice becomes much easier to recognize. It keeps the destructive pull of desire but gives the central relationship far greater focus.
  • La bohème (1896) — Giacomo Puccini La bohème is a good comparison for how far Puccini moved toward simpler, more believable characters and much tighter dramatic storytelling.
  • Tosca (1900) — Giacomo Puccini Tosca shows the later Puccini handling violence and sexual power with much greater economy. Almost nothing in Tosca is allowed to wander.

Tags

Genre: Verismo
Style / Movement: Late Romantic
Structure: Full-length Through-composed
Source: Based on literature Based on a play
Theme: Tragic love
Discovery: Deep cut

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