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
Enrico Alfano the Italian newspaper "La Stampa", Alfano did spent six or seven years in prison, where he earned his initiation as a "camorrista", which gave him the "right" to demand a "tangente", protection money, from the merchants in the neighbourhood he controlled. Both sources agree that Alfano imposed his position when he defeated the Camorra head, the "capintesta" Totonno" 'o Pappagallo" (The Parrot) – so-named for his beak parrot nose – in a "zumpata" – a kind of ritual initiation knife duel – despite the fact that his adversary sent his Mastino dog to attack Alfano. The conflict started when "Pappagallo"