Franco Alfano (1876-1954)

 

Cyrano de Bergerac - Opera in four acts

 

Manuela Uhl, Soprano

Jennifer Arnold, Mezzo-Soprano

Susanne Bernhard, Soprano

Roman Sadnik, Tenor

Wolfgang Newerla, Baritone

Simon Pauly, Baritone

Paul McNamara, Tenor

Matthias Klein, Bass Baritone

Bernd Gebhardt, Bass Baritone

Konstantin Heintel, Baritone

 

Kiel Opera Chorus; Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra/  Markus Frank

 

Today the name Franco Alfano is associated almost exclusively with one composition, Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot, which he completed in 1924 after Puccini’s death and at the request of Arturo Toscanini and the composer’s son.

 

Despite being one of the most successful opera composers of the early twentieth century (his opera Resurrezione witnessed more than a thousand performances in Italy during the 1950s), memory of Alfano’s own music has shrivelled to a mere footnote in music history.

 

The much-praised rediscovery of Alfano’s opera Cyrano de Bergerac at the Kiel Opera has offered CPO both the opportunity to continue the collaboration with a wonderful opera house as well as rescuing a masterpiece of music theatre from oblivion. 

 

Cyrano, composed during 1933-35, is a marvellous piece of musical writing with a wealth of vibrant melodies and tone colours that can be grasped in full only on repeated hearing. This live recording from the Kiel Opera House under the conductor Markus Frank is a dazzling new addition to the opera section of the CPO catalogue. There is no competition in the current RED catalogue for this work.

 

CPO 2cds 9999092