Franco Alfano (March 8, 1875 – October 27, 1954) was an Italian composer and pianist best known for completing Puccini's unfinished opera Turandot in 1926. is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. ... For the opera by Ferruccio Busoni, see Turandot (Busoni). ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Biography

He was born in Posillipo, near Naples. Until recent times, musical histories usually gave the year of Alfano's birth, incorrectly, as 1876. He attended piano privately under Alessandro Longo (1864-1946), and harmony and composition respectively under Camillo de Nardis (1857-1951) and aulo Serrao (1830-1907) at the conservatory San Pietro a Majella in Naples. Later, after graduating, he pursued further composition studies with Hans Sitt (1850-1922) and Salomon Jadassohn (1831-1902) in Leipzig. While working there he met his idol, Edvard Grieg, and wrote numerous piano and orchestral pieces. He completed his first opera, Miranda, still unpublished, for which he also wrote the libretto after a novel by Antonio Fogazzaro, in 1896. His work La Fonte Di Enschir (libretto by Luigi Ilca) was refused by Ricordi but was shown in Wrocław (then Breslau) as Die Quelle von Enschir on 8 November 1898, enjoying some success. Mount Vesuvius as seen from Posillipo Posillipo is a residential quarter of Naples, called Pusilleco in the Neapolitan language. ... For other uses see, Naples (disambiguation) and Napoli (disambiguation) Location of the city of Naples (red dot) within Italy. ... Year 1876 Pick up Sticks(MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Salomon Jadassohn (1831–1902) was a composer and pedagogue of Jewish and German origin. ... Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ... Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the romantic period. ... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ... Casa Ricordi was a wordwide publisher of operas and classical music, founded by Giovanni Ricordi in Milan in 1808. ... Motto: Miasto spotkaÅ„ (the meeting place) Coordinates: , Country Poland Voivodeship Lower Silesian Powiat city county Gmina WrocÅ‚aw Established 10th century City Rights 1262 Government  - Mayor RafaÅ‚ Dutkiewicz Area  - City 292. ... See also: 1989 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1989 Record labels established in 1989 // January 7 - Genesis 88 and Sunrise/Back to the Future stage large-scale illegal Acid House party in London January 14 - Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in Russia. ...

The following three operas are usually considered as his most important:

• Risurrezione, 1904, based on Tolstoy. It was later also sung by Magda Olivero.

• Cyrano de Bergerac, after 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, starring Plácido Domingo in the title role.

• La leggenda di Sakùntala, 1921, presented revised in 1952 as Sakùntala, after Abhijñānaśākuntalam (The Recognition of Sakuntala), the Sanskrit play by Kalidasa.

From 1918 he was Director of the Conservatory of Bologna, and he directed the Turin Conservatory from 1923. Alfano died in San Remo.^[1] Risurrezione is a four act opera composed by Franco Alfano, first performed at the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Turin on 30 November 1904. ... See also: 1903 in music, other events of 1904, 1905 in music and the list of years in music. // Events January 13 - Béla Bartóks symphonic poem Kossuth is premiered in Budapest, becoming his first major work to be performed February 17 - Puccinis Madame Butterfly debuts in... Coat of arms of the Tolstoy family Tolstoy, or Tolstoi (Russian: ) is a prominent family of Russian nobility, descending from one Andrey Kharitonovich Tolstoy (i. ... Magda Olivero (b. ... Cyrano de Bergerac is a four act opera composed by Franco Alfano, first performed in Rome on 22 January 1936. ... Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand based on the life of the real Cyrano de Bergerac. ... Statue dedicated to Edmond Rostand in Cambo-les-Bains Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (April 1, 1868 - December 2, 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. ... Henri Cain (1859 - 21 November 1937) was a French dramatist and opera librettist. ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... See also: 1935 in music, other events of 1936, 1937 in music and the list of years in music. // Events January 4 - Billboard magazine publishes its first music hit parade April 19 - in Barcelona, Alban Bergs Violin Concerto is premiered by Louis Krasner Tony Bennetts musical career begins... This article is about the capital of France. ... Kiel ( ) is a city in northern Germany and the capital of the Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the lead section of this article may need to be expanded. ... “NY” redirects here. ... Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil KBE (born January 21, 1941[1]), better known as Plácido Domingo, is the world renowned operatic tenor. ... See also: 1920 in music, other events of 1921, 1922 in music and the list of years in music. // Events Clarence Williams makes his first recordings Published popular music Aint We Got Fun? w. ... See also: 1951 in music, other events of 1952, 1953 in music, 1950s in music and the list of years in music // Events Pierre Schaeffer publishes his A la recherche dune musique concrète (The Search for a Concrete Music), an explanation of his experimental approach to composing. ... Sakùntala is a three act opera composed by Franco Alfano, first performed as La leggenda di Sakùntala at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna on 10 December 1921. ... Shakuntala. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Bologna (IPA , from Latin Bononia, BulÃ¥ggna in Emiliano-Romagnolo dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Pianura Padana, between the Po River and the Apennines, exactly between the Reno River and the Sàvena River. ... “Torino” redirects here. ... Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The name San Remo can refer to several different things: San Remo, Italy – a large town in Italy San Remo, Victoria – a town in Victoria, Australia The San Remo – an apartment building in New York City This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists...

Jennifer Alfano is his great granddaughter.

Historical perspectives

Fanfare Sept/Oct 98-99 gives the following information: Alfano's reputation suffers because (a) he should not be judged as a composer on the basis of the task he was given in completing Turandot (La Scala, April 25, 1926), (b) "we almost never hear everything he wrote for Turandot--the standard ending heavily edits Alfano's work."^[2] (c)"...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 nine months on the following concluding duet and at his death had left behind a whole ream of sketches....Alfano had to reconstruct ...according to his best assessment...and with his imagination and magnifying glass" since Puccini's material "had not really been legible." is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

[Konrad Dryden, cited supra, p. 33, adds that the project, reluctantly undertaken, resulted in "near blindness in his right eye, requiring three months spent in darkened rooms."]

Fogel: "Alfano's reputation has also suffered [IC:along with Mascagni], understandably, because of his willingness to associate himself closely with Mussolini's Fascist government."

Alex Ross, in an article in The New Yorker, February 27, 2006, pp. 84-85 notes a new ending composed by the late Luciano Berio, which he likes, and even suggests should replace the Alfano version, but this opinion remains to be tested by critical opinion. The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry and fiction. ... Luciano Berio (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian composer. ...

List of works

• 1896 Miranda Opera
• 1898 La Fonte di Enschir Opera
• 1899 Four Romanian Dances for piano
• 1901 Napoli Ballet
• 1901 Lorenza - Ballet
• 1904 Risurrezione Opera
• 1909 Suite Romantica for orchestra (became Eliana)
• 1909 Il principe di Zilah - Opera
• 1910 Symphony n. 1
• 1910 I Cavalieri e la Bella Opera (never completed)
• 1914 Lombra di Don Giovanni Opera (later Don Juan de Manara)
• 1918 Tre poemi by Tagore for voice and piano
• 1918 Quartet n. 1 for strings
• 1919 Six songs for voice and piano
• 1921 La Leggenda di Sakùntala Opera
• 1923 Eliana Ballet from Suite Romantica
• 1923 Sonata for violin and piano
• 1925 Sonata for cello and piano
• 1926 Turandot finale Opera
• 1926 Quartet n. 2 for strings
• 1927 Madonna Imperia Opera
• 1928 Tre Liriche by Tagore for voice and piano
• 1929 Trio
• 1930 Lultimo Lord Opera semiseria
• 1930 Himno al Libertador dedicated to Simon Bolivar
• 1933 Vesuvio Ballet
• 1933 Symphony n. 2
• 1935 Divertimento for piano and chamber orchestra
• 1936 Nuove Liriche Tagoriane for voice and piano
• 1936 Quintet for piano and strings
• 1936 Cyrano de Bergerac Opera
• 1939 Tre Nuove Liriche
• 1941 Don Juan de Manara Opera
• 1943 E Giunto il Nostro Ultimo Autunno for voice and piano
• 1945 Quartet n. 3 for strings
• 1948 Cinque Nuove Liriche Tagoriane for voice and piano
• 1949 Il Dottor Antonio Opera
• 1950 Vesuvius Opera for radio (from Vesuvius)
• 1952 Sakùntala Opera (reconstruction)
• 1953 Sinfonia Classica from Symphony n. 1

Other works: Suite Adriatica; Intermezzi for Strings; Ninna-Nanna Partenopea. Risurrezione is a four act opera composed by Franco Alfano, first performed at the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Turin on 30 November 1904. ... Cyrano de Bergerac is a four act opera composed by Franco Alfano, first performed in Rome on 22 January 1936. ... Sakùntala is a three act opera composed by Franco Alfano, first performed as La leggenda di Sakùntala at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna on 10 December 1921. ...

Symphonies 1 and 2 [reviewed by Barry Brenesal in the same issue of Fanfare, pp. 103-4].

Notes

1. ^ Konrad Dryden, cpo recoding of Cirano di Bergerac gives this information.
2. ^ In the cpo opera set of Cyrano de Bergerac, Andreas K.W. Meyer, translated into English by Susan Marie Praeder, pp. 29-30.

External links

• Franco Alfano discography
• Franco Alfano list of works
• Another page about Franco Alfano