Franco Alfano is best known for his completion of Turandot. Most Puccini fans hate it but I have always admired it so I welcomed this chance to hear some Alfano in his own right. Cyrano de Bergerac stars the indefatigable Plácido Domingo as the eponymous nasally-challenged soldier and poet. Domingo gamely wears the required prosthetic nose and I was surprised that it did not affect his singing voice. Sondra Rodvanovsky is a rather matronly Roxane, the oblivious object of Cyrano's passion. Arturo Chacón-Cruz is the nice but dim Christian, the object of Roxane's affection.
This lavishly-staged production, from Valencia, closely follows Rostand's play. Alfano's librettist Henri Cain has managed admirably to retain the gist of the play while shaping it to a manageable 2-hours or so opera. I was reminded of Fawlty Towers' "Don't mention the Germans" by the scene in which Christian is warned, on joining the regiment that: "There is one thing we don't mention " In the ensuing scene he finds himself repeatedly alluding to Cyrano's nose.
So far, I have not mentioned the music. For the first three scenes it struck me as adequate but not particularly musical. Things look up in scene four where Roxane gets her big aria. The final scene between the widowed Roxane and the dying Cyrano is truly moving. I had to wipe the tears from my eyes, as one should in any decent opera.
In summary, Alfano's opera is not a forgotten gem but it does make an effective evening's entertainment, musically, dramatically and visually.
This lavishly-staged production, from Valencia, closely follows Rostand's play. Alfano's librettist Henri Cain has managed admirably to retain the gist of the play while shaping it to a manageable 2-hours or so opera. I was reminded of Fawlty Towers' "Don't mention the Germans" by the scene in which Christian is warned, on joining the regiment that: "There is one thing we don't mention " In the ensuing scene he finds himself repeatedly alluding to Cyrano's nose.
So far, I have not mentioned the music. For the first three scenes it struck me as adequate but not particularly musical. Things look up in scene four where Roxane gets her big aria. The final scene between the widowed Roxane and the dying Cyrano is truly moving. I had to wipe the tears from my eyes, as one should in any decent opera.
In summary, Alfano's opera is not a forgotten gem but it does make an effective evening's entertainment, musically, dramatically and visually.