Franco Alfano by Teatro Grattacielo in the fall of 2013. In "Fanfare" 's issue of September/October 1998-99, it was asserted that Alfano's reputation suffers because of several things. Firstly, that he should not be judged as a composer on the basis of the task he was given in completing "Turandot" (La Scala, 25 April 1926). Secondly, that we almost never hear everything he wrote for "Turandot" since the standard ending heavily edits Alfano's work. Thirdly, [...]it is not his conclusion that is performed in productions of "Turandot" but only what the premiere conductor Arturo Toscanini included from it... Puccini had worked for
Manon Lescaut (Puccini) compositions for strings: the quartet "Crisantemi" (January 1890), three "Menuets" (probably 1884) and a "Scherzo" (1883?). The love theme comes from the aria "Mentia l'avviso" (1883). Puccini's publisher, Ricordi, had been against any project based on Prévost's story because Jules Massenet had already made it into a successful opera, "Manon", in 1884. While Puccini and Ricordi may not have known it, the French composer Daniel Auber had also already written an opera on the same subject with the title "Manon Lescaut", in 1856. Despite all the warnings, Puccini proceeded. "Manon is a heroine I believe in and therefore she cannot