Cyrano

While best known today for having composed the ending to Puccini’s unfinished Turandot, Franco Alfano wrote some dozen operas, including Cyrano de Bergerac (1936) with a libretto by Henri Cain based on Edmond Rostand’s drama of the same name. It is a moving tale of romantic misunderstanding, swashbuckling bravado and heartbreaking loyalty, in which the eloquent Cyrano feels unable to express his love for Roxane because of his famously protuberant nose – except on behalf of his handsome but inarticulate friend, Christian.

This is, by operatic standards of fidelity, a very faithful musical treatment of Edmond Rostand's classic drama about the swashbuckling poet and swordsman with the big nose. The music is competent but not spectacular; that quality is found in the libretto. The title role is expertly filled by Roberto Alagna, who not only has the best tenor voice in France but also turns out to be an accomplished actor in a demanding role. He is well-supported by a cast that clearly loves the story, its various characters and its often brilliant dialogue.

"Cyrano de Bergerac", pièce écrite par Edmond Rostand en 1897, a renouvelé le théâtre d'alors. Certains ont voulu y voir le romantisme de "cape et d'épée", le panache, le courage qui stimulent un "renouveau moral", d'autres y ont vu la réconciliation des vertus du courage et de l'abnégation, sources "d'une force morale" qui prône la responsabilité de l'homme et de son destin…