Alfano: Cyrano de Bergerac Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Alfano: Cyrano de Bergerac Blu-ray Movie Review

The nose knows.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 30, 2011

It’s tough writing for someone else and having them end up getting all the credit. Cyrano de Bergerac’s story is a perfect example of that sad state of affairs, as most everyone knows, but the operatic version of the tale actually presents us with a composer who suffered the same fate. Though Franco Alfano was a well known and rather well respected composer in his day (1875-1954), today he’s chiefly remembered (if in fact he’s remembered at all) for finishing Puccini’s Turandot, not that anyone outside of the operatic cognoscenti even knows that about him. And yet Alfano had a slew of successful operas of his own to his credit (one reason in fact he was approached to finish Puccini’s unfinished masterpiece), but he also had a distinctive and rather formidable compositional voice of his own. But such are the vagaries of fame and history. Ask Salieri if you can find him. Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac is often described as being impossible to sing, but in this appealing 2007 production from Valencia, Spain, it’s obvious that the opera contains a lot of really ravishing, and perhaps rather surprisingly, French sounding music, especially given Alfano’s Italian heritage. While perhaps not quite as grandiose in its melodic content as Puccini (though it's certainly arguable he comes close at times), Alfano acquits himself more than admirably in this piece which is too infrequently performed and which really reveals a brilliant composer who was also an impeccable orchestrator and at the very least competent setter of text within the dramatic and theatrical confines of traditional opera.

Part of Alfrano’s slow, sad slide into relative obscurity comes from an extra-musical reason. The composer was not especially bothered by Fascism and Mussolini, and in fact aligned himself rather closely with that hated regime. Whether or not it was endemic upon Alfrano to do this to further his career is perhaps a moot subject, but like several other Italian and German composers, conductors and performers of that era, he saw his reputation rather seriously tarnished after the close of World War II due to his association with the hated elements of Italy’s wartime excesses. But should that keep us from listening to his music with open ears (and minds) now from the vantage point of more than half a century after the war? Certainly the annals of classical music are positively littered with artists whose personal and/or political choices could be seen to be less than optimal, at least with the advantage of 20/20 hindsight.

Working from a libretto of Henri Cain, Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac is a fairly straightforward telling of Rostand’s original, both slightly grander in scope while simultaneously more focused with fewer supporting characters. Cain also wisely filled this Cyrano with more introspective soliloquoys around which several appealing arias are built. Alfano’s music is alternately boisterous and incredibly lyrical, and his orchestral palette is positively Ravelian at times. The orchestra darts in, out and through the vocal lines, adding dashes of color and percussive impetus that supports Alfano’s vocal lines beautifully.

Placido Domingo has made Cyrano one of his signature roles in recent years, playing him at the Metropolitan Opera as well as on tour, and he makes for an exciting and emotionally touching hero. All but unrecognizable under the huge nose which of course comes with the part, Domingo is in fine voice, able to handle Alfano’s sometimes challenging vocal lines with apparent ease. Age has done little to blunt the fulsomeness of Domingo’s voice, and he handles his upper register especially well here, using his instrument very intelligently throughout this piece, bringing a dramatic flair to his singing that helps to elucidate the essential tragedy of Cyrano’s lot in life.

Sondra Radvanovsky, who’s become something of a sensation as Leonora in David McVicar’s mounting of Il Trovatore, is beautifully cast here as Roxane. She manages to bring out the subtly coquettish nature of the character in the early scenes while sacrificing none of the inherent pathos and tragedy as the opera winds toward its heartbreaking conclusion. The interplay between Domingo and Radvanovsky is excellent, their voices perfectly suited to each other’s in the opera’s several commanding duets.

Alfano’s luscious score gets a very fine and nuanced reading here from conductor Patrick Fournillier, working with the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana and the Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana. The ensemble does some really beautiful work here and the gorgeous choral finale is a highlight of the opera. The score is really an incredibly sumptuous one overall, and it's a shame this piece hasn't entered the repertory of major houses more forcefully. There are certainly much less accomplished scores which are routinely performed, almost by rote, making this state of affairs even more inexplicable. Alfano crafts music here which is both light while being emotionally captivating, and there are several breathtaking moments in this Cyrano that are equal, or at least near equal, to the grandest efforts of Puccini.

Alfano is sadly dismissed nowadays, and rather strangely so. Wouldn’t someone at least wonder why so much of his reconstruction of Turandot has been cut due to its excessive technical demands? That at least hints of a composer of protean talents, if one not especially sympathetic toward singers’ needs. But his Cyrano de Bergerac proves that Alfano was a composer of really outstanding melodic and harmonic gifts, with a flair for orchestration that certainly could give Puccini himself a run for his operatic money. Maybe it’s time to finally excorcise the “ghost” of ghost writing and let Alfano’s music blossom in the sunlight of rediscovery.

Alfano: Cyrano de Bergerac Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cyrano de Bergerac is presented on Blu-ray with a relatively unappealing MPEG-2 encode, in 1080i and 1.78:1. The entire image here suffers from overall softness and some poor choices in color scheme which are only augmented by the saturation of this high definition presentation. A garish green in the opening scenes is the worst offender in this regard. But the image itself never rises to anything much above a slightly upconverted look. Colors seems to slightly bleed and ooze and upstage actors wearing black simply fade (literally) into the background. Close-ups are a good deal better, finally revealing at least a smattering of fine detail. The costume design helps to offset some of the blandness of the overall visual presentation, and the somewhat minimalist set design is also quite evocative, especially in the final act. This isn't downright horrible by any means, but it is certainly not up to the standards we've come to expect from other Unitel Classica releases.

Alfano: Cyrano de Bergerac Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cyrano de Bergerac has had a rather interesting production history which has seen it performed both in its original French conception as well as an Italian translation. In fact, the Italian version was the more frequently performed version for many years, and it's only relatively recently that houses have returned to the original French text. The French version is presented here via two splendid lossless tracks, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. While there are some niggling balance issues which perhaps are due to inartful microphone placement, on the whole this is a really stunning recording that amply captures the gorgeousness of Alfano's music while also reproducing the equally sumptuous tones of Domingo, Radvanovsky, the supporting cast and ensemble. Surround channels tend to be utilized mostly for a nicely spacious hall ambience, as well as some of the offstage ensemble singing (the finale is a notable example), not to mention the wonderful orchestral accompaniment. There's a surprising amount of robust low end utilized throughout this piece which is amply reproduced on the DTS track, actually kind of overwhelmingly so a time or two. But the entire score sings with precision and nuance here, and Alfano's inventive orchestrations flutter and sparkle in an enticing presentation that features sterling fidelity and really expressive dynamic range.

Alfano: Cyrano de Bergerac Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on the Blu-ray disc itself. The insert booklet has a nice historical essay on Alfano as well as a rather lengthy and detailed synopsis.

Alfano: Cyrano de Bergerac Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Too often many composers who haven't made it into the "first string" of public awareness are dismissed with a casual comment or two and are never thoroughly explored either by producers or audiences. That has largely been the sad fate of Franco Alfano, a composer of great merit who certainly deserves a more critical analysis of his contributions, at least his extra-Turandot contributions. It's bracing to see and hear one of his mostly forgotten masterpieces, and Cyrano de Bergerac reveals a writer of unexpected depth and precision, and certainly one of the great orchestrators of his era. This is a lovely production that is slightly hampered by a less than wonderful visual presentation, but which offers mostly superb audio. If you only know Alfano from Turandot, take my advice and check out this disc; my hunch is you'll be more than pleasantly surprised. Highly recommended.