Attentive readers will know that I am an apologist for Puccini's second opera, which I enjoy more than some of those that followed it. In fact, I think its third act is pretty damn wonderful. Well, now the joke's on me, because here, for the very first time in any recording medium, is the original four-act version of Edgar. Apparently Puccini scholar Linda B. Fairtile had been reconstructing the work's original version when Simonetta Puccini, the composer's granddaughter, came along and revealed the existence of the complete score. This four-act version was performed only a few times in 1889 before it was set aside. The production preserved on this DVD, then, was the first in 119 years.  The revised three-act version is a sometimes-weak opera with several flashes of greatness. The four-act version is weaker yet, with fewer flashes. I'm not against unearthing a composer's earlier thoughts for scholarly reasons, or if something good ended up on the proverbial cutting-room floor, but doing so just because one can seems disrespectful, like going through a neighbor's recycling bin. Furthermore, Puccini didn't just delete material when he revised the score, he also rewrote it, making it more effective. One example of this comes in act III, when the disguised Edgar and Frank bribe the gypsy Tigrana with jewels into denouncing Edgar, who is believed to have died honorably in battle. In the original version, this scene is (unfortunately) almost charming. In the revised version, it is exciting and disturbing. It is the latter version that serves the plot--such as it is--better. Puccini knew what he was doing. Possibly the only compelling reason to perform the original version is to hear anticipations of later operas in material Puccini deleted. For example, the Edgar-Fidelia duet in the last act contains music that ended up in the final duet for a certain Mario Cavaradossi and Floria Tosca 11 years later.  For no apparent reason other than visual appeal, Director Lorenzo Mariani has updated the action from the 1300s to the Risorgimento. This makes the characters' often-incomprehensible behavior even more difficult to reason away. In the first act, the stage is covered with artificial grass, and the effect is rather nice. The grass never goes away, though, and it is a little hard to explain why, in act II, the patrons of a high-tone spa-cum-casino are up to their ankles in greenery. Apart from these idiosyncrasies, this is a very handsome production, and no one need feel that their eyes were cheated once the final curtain comes down. The direction, like the costuming, is all primary colors. Only an idiot could miss the point that Fidelia is good and pure, and that Tigrana is bad and lustful. (I guess even the characters' names chase away subtlety!)  Musically, this Edgar gets a solid B grade, meaning that it could have been much worse but probably would have been a lot better 50 years ago. José Cura's Carreras-with-squillo voice is in excellent shape here, but this is a role that doesn't give him any plums--indeed, these all go to Fidelia--and he looks and sounds a little disengaged. Still, I have not heard much of this tenor for a decade, and it's good to know that he's still going strong. I've seen Amarilli Nizza elsewhere, and I like her. She looks a little like Mirella Freni, and has a voice that is somewhat like Freni's and somewhat like Renata Scotto's. Unfortunately, she is not nearly as exciting as either of those estimable ladies at their best, and so her portrayal of Fidelia is like a watercolor when one was hoping for an oil painting. She almost rises to the occasion in her two act-III solos, but her failure to sell either of them completely just increases my frustration. As Tigrana, Julia Gertseva similarly makes all the right moves without making any of them convincing. There's nothing wrong with her voice; all she needs (and I have seen her Forza Preziosilla and heard her Werther Charlotte) is for someone to light a fire underneath her. Marco Vratogna's Frank is ho-hum too. (Here he looks disconcertingly like the late Shel Silverstein.) "Nice voice," one thinks, "but where's the fire?" That, many will say, encapsulates the problems the verismo repertoire has been having for the last 30 years. Maybe it isn't the fault of these singers. Maybe it's the time in which we are living. Conducting like Yoram David's doesn't help. Opera is theater, after all, and if conductors don't play the music as if they are in love with it, giving it every last drop of effort, why should we believe in Tosca, let alone Edgar? Yoram does nothing wrong here, other than not pretending that the score isn't an endless string of musical thrills and credible dramatic situations.  Visually and sonically, the DVD's production values are beyond reproach. I haven't seen the Blu-ray version, but I have listed it above for those who might want it.  I am going to repeat what I've been saying all along: if you are interested in this opera, the recording of choice is the live three-act version with Scotto and Carlo Bergonzi, galvanically conducted by Eve Queler. Scotto and Bergonzi might be a little old for their roles, but their dedication makes it easy to suspend disbelief. Of course, that Sony recording is out of print, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is reissued, like so many older Sony operas have been in the past few years. --Fanfare, Raymond Tuttle, Jan-Feb 2010