"Alfano’s chamber music is receiving deserved recognition. The Violin Sonata is a powerful and impressive work, with elements of French impressionism, but essentially post-romantic in ethos. The Piano Quintet was Alfano’s last chamber work, premiered in 1946, and a compelling example of his belief in resilient lyricism, as well as a rejection of contemporary atonal music. The previous release in this series of the Cello Sonata and Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano (Naxos 8.570928) was praised for its “razor-edged accuracy, passion, and insight.” (Fanfare)." (prestomusic.com)
"Best known for his operas, such as Cyrano de Bergerac, and for finishing Puccini's Turandot, Franco Alfano is much less recognized as a symphonist. Yet his two works in this genre deserve some consideration as examples of that rare species in composition, the Italian symphony. Postromantic in expression and extremely vivid in orchestration, Alfano's turbulent Symphony No. 1 is about as operatic as a symphony can get. His score is so intensely passionate and feverish, the listener must surrender to the drama as it plays out through strongly contrasted moods and nearly programmatic scene painting. The Symphony No. 2 starts out in a more lyrically pastoral vein, but it quickly assumes the same tension and urgency of the previous work; it similarly compels a suspension of expectations in its theatricality and insistent rhetoric. These pieces are vibrantly performed here and fans of orchestral opulence will relish the glorious sound in CPO's fine reproduction." (Blair Sanderson, Allmusic)
La leggenda di Sakùntala is een opera in drie bedrijven van Franco Alfano, die zijn eigen libretto schreef op basis van Kalidasa´s drama Shakuntala uit de 5e eeuw na Christus. Het werd voltooid in 1920. Toen men dacht dat de partituur tijdens de oorlog door bombardementen verloren was gegaan, reconstrueerde Alfano deze in 1945 en gaf hij het werk de eenvoudige titel Sakùntala, maar in 2006 werd een kopie van het origineel gevonden. La leggenda di Sakùntala wordt door critici beschouwd als Alfano's beste werk en werd tussen de première en 1979 zeven keer uitgevoerd voor de Italiaanse radio. In deze uitzendingen waren sopranen als Magda Olivero, Anna de Cavalieri en Celestina Casapietra te horen. (wikipedia.org) Deze CD´s bevatten een opname uit 1955 in Milaan met Anna de Cavalieri, inclusief bonustracks uit Il Pirata van Vincenzo Bellini.
Risurrezione (Wederopstanding) is een opera of dramma in vier bedrijven van Franco Alfano. Het libretto werd geschreven door Camillo Antona Traversi en Cesare Hanau (alleen Hanau ondertekende het), gebaseerd op de roman Wederopstanding uit 1899 van Leo Tolstoj. De eerste uitvoering vond plaats op 30 november 1904 in het Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Turijn, Italië. Risurrezione was het meest succesvolle werk van Alfano. (wikipedia.org) Deze CD's bevatten de audio-opname van een radio-uitzending uit 1971. De bonustracks zijn opgenomen in 1959.
"The Neapolitan composer Franco Alfano was prolific and highly successful in the field of opera, but he also composed three string quartets over a period framed by the two world wars. No. 1 in D major was written during the First World War and stretches the limits of the quartet medium with its quasi-orchestral vigour, tied together with a habanera rhythm. No. 2 in C major In Three Linked Movements, though smaller in scale, reflects the range of Alfano’s influences, which include Russian and Eastern European music, rustic dances and French impressionism. Work on No. 3 in G minor was started in 1944, a year after the death of his beloved wife, to whom Alfano pays tribute in the haunting first movement. The quartet was completed in 1945 and ends with an ebullient monothematic march finale celebrating Ancient Rome." (prestomusic.com)
"Edmond Rostand's play has been the source of many films. Now joining the list is Franco Alfano's operatic setting of Rostand's play. Thanks to the efforts of tenor superstars Placido Domingo and Robert Alagna, Alfano's rather obscure 1936 opera has been rediscovered. But before Domingo could unveil his Cyrano at the Metropolitan Opera in the spring of 2005, Alagna--with the help of his brothers, David and Frederico--had already mounted a production in Montpellier. It is this version, filmed in July 2003, which has just been released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon.Alagna--sporting a particularly elaborate but astonishingly life-like prosthetic nose--has captured the nuance of Alfano's understated score to great effect. This, coupled with his sensitivity to the text and the clarity of his French diction, has resulted in some of his best work to date. The French-born tenor has called Cyrano the "role of a lifetime," and his enthusiasm and conviction are apparent." (Opera Canada, volg link voor complete tekst)
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