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
Franco Alfano (then Breslau) as "Die Quelle von Enschir" on 8 November 1898. It enjoyed some success. There followed the opera "Risurrezione" in 1904. It was based on Tolstoy, and was later sung by Magda Olivero. "Cyrano de Bergerac" followed. This based on the famous play by Edmond Rostand and composed to the French libretto by Henri Cain. It had its Italian version premiere in Rome in January 1936, and its French version premiere in Paris four months later. It was recently revived by the Kiel Opera (Germany), the Montpellier Radio Festival (France) and the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, starring Plácido