Edited by Linda B. Fairtile (2026)
Two-volume set: full score + critical commentary included, pp. XL, 1115
NR 142284
The critical edition of Edgar by Giacomo Puccini restores the opera in its complex transitional phase, taking as its point of reference the performances in Lucca in 1891—the composer’s final attempt to refine the work in its original four-act form. As no complete orchestral score from this stage has survived, the edition offers a critical reconstruction based on a range of contemporary sources—manuscripts, performance materials, and printed vocal scores—carefully selected and integrated to provide a coherent and musically reliable text.
The result is an Edgar markedly different from the later three-act version: a score rich in revisions, structural reworkings, and refined orchestral solutions that reveal Puccini’s compositional workshop in action. Particular importance is given to the 1890 printed vocal score, which serves as the primary source for the vocal parts and overall structure. The orchestration is drawn from surviving portions of the 1891 Lucca manuscript score, as well as Puccini’s autograph (including the recently rediscovered second and fourth acts). Where necessary, the edition includes reconstructed orchestral passages, all fully documented in the critical commentary.
The appendices and critical notes also present a wide range of alternative readings drawn from authoritative sources, offering scholars and performers valuable insight into the work’s evolution and its historically attested variants. This edition thus represents not only a major contribution to Puccini scholarship, but also a unique opportunity to rediscover Edgar in its most complex and least familiar form.