4/5 Interesting
  by A. Lupu (Rochester, MN USA)
Edgar is Puccini's second opera, and as such is should be seen as part of the learning curve to one of the most famous and loved opera composers in the 20th century.
This four-act production is as close as we can expect to the premier of the opera in 1889. The premier was not a success and rightly so. If you expect the "typical" Puccini hit, don't buy this Disc, but if you are interested in following the development of a great artist, this is for you. In act 3 you can appreciate the young Puccini's gift for melodies that, in subsequent operas, will conquer the world.

The singers are first class and the staging is very effective and appropriate. The sound and the images in the Blue-Ray disc are as good as you can get from a staged production.


5/5 Flawed, but a "new" Puccini opera that every Puccini lover should own.
  by Bryan Leech (Melbourne, VIC, Australia)
Before going any further, I would suggest you read the extensive and thorough review by G.P. Padillo for the DVD release of this performance. He has gone into great detail and provides an excellent outline of the opera and its history. I am writing this review, due to some differences in perception of the work and its performance.

It has been stated, in other sources, that Puccini lacked the ability to handle the drama of a story such as Edgar. In fact, the fault lies with the libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, as the story of Edgar bears weaknesses and some degree of illogicality in its structure. In the total perspective of the complete four act work that has now been returned to us, Puccini has provided an opera with a relatively good dramatic arc, and an opera that contains a good complement of attractive arias, an especially beautiful duet, and a large quota of excellent and appealing chorus work.

As other reviews have stated, the performance does not commence well. I would not say it takes the entire first act for everyone to get into their stride, but it takes a good 20 minutes at the least, and this includes the strings, which is a body that could be better coordinated in these early stages. But it all settles down into quite excellent performances from all soloists (I suspect it was recorded at one performance, rather than the usual two or three, allowing editing together the best sections). In this fairly lengthy work, it is well worthwhile putting up with the shaky start for all that follows.

The work starts slowly, sounding to me initially as if it could be more in the vein of "Rondine" , but Puccini manages his flawed libretto and progressively builds the dramatic intensity and flow of the opera, reaching a powerful and moving conclusion to what proves to be a quite dramatic work. After the shaky beginnings, all of the artists, as mentiond, perform well, with José Cura outstanding in his lead role as Edgar. Special mention should also go to the chorus. This work is laden with quite a lot of chorus singing, and the chorus members are very well up to the demands of the work -- something important for this opera if it is going to "come off".

Whilst I might look forward to a production with slightly higher standards in most departments, all aspects here are sufficiently good to give a competent presentation of a work that we have been denied for far too long.

On the technical side, both lighting, photography and editing seemed to speak more of a film background rather than recording stage productions, but while giving a different look, this aspect did not spoil the production in any way for me. There are a few Blu--ray releases that have a marginally sharper image, but this is still in the very good class. Sound, which is also of a high standard, is available in PCM stereo, as well as DTS--HD Master Audio 7.1. Image is 16:9.

So, as I said, while we may wish for a production at a slightly higher standard, after much reflection, I gave five stars as the production shows a well-unified concept, providing a worthwhile performance of an opera none of us has ever seen, yet should never have been lost. Despite the faults, when the performance came to an end, my immediate reaction was that I wanted to watch it all over again straight away. If you love Puccini, then buy this, forgive it its weaknesses, considering its entirety rather than picking at odd places. I think if viewed and listened to in this way, that is, as the complete work, rather than the sum of its parts, you will be very pleased to have it added to your collection.