Cyrano De Bergerac DVD

 True panache!
What joy! Franco Alfano’s opera Cyrano is finally perhaps getting its due, between the Met’s premiere of the opera this past week with Placido Domingo and this amazing DVD of a French production starring Roberto Alagna in the title role. Franco Alfano (1875-1954) composed this opera in the early 1930's, working with a French libretto by Henri Cain, adapted from the famous play by Edmond Rostand. The first performance was in Rome in 1936 in an Italian translation, and the opera was done in French in Paris soon thereafter. Both performances were well-received but the opera pretty much disappeared from the operatic map until recently. There is an Opera d’Oro recording currently available that resurrects a 1975 performance in Turin, and a sonically far more satisfactory CPO recording of a performance done in Kiel, Germany in 2002 that was well reviewed in Opera News. But this new performance on DVD leaves these attempts in the dust from all points of view. Alfano’s music is lyrical, impressionistic, radiant; the opulent orchestral color and sound is full partner to the highly literary text, and propels the drama forward. The beauty of the music with all its subtleties is more fully appreciated with repeated listening. Alfano manages to condense all the emotion into music that lasts less than two and a quarter hours – and this from a play that usually runs well over three hours! Although the play has necessarily been shortened, the libretto text used in this production is extremely close to the poetry of Rostand, even more so than in other performances. Alagna claims that this version restores Alfano’s original concept for the opera, especially in the balcony scene, which had been altered for the first performance because the original version was considered too difficult and not Italian enough. But the change in the performance version is not the only thing making this production unique. It is a special pleasure to have the sung French so understandable and clear, something essential to do justice to Rostand’s poetry, where words really do matter. The mix of volume between the singing and orchestral playing is about as perfect as anyone could ever hope for – both can be heard at all times. The film itself is genuinely beautiful to look at, giving a sense of the theatre as well as of the performance. The sets are striking and evocative, especially in the last act, and the costumes are elegant, aiming at a flowing line and general sense of time and place, rather than a fussy historicity. Now to the performances. Of course, the opera’s success totally hinges on the title role. Adorned with a nose of truly operatic proportions, Roberto Alagna has taken on the soul of Cyrano, with all its complexities, nerve, pride, passion and fears. The result is spectacular, both aurally and visually, throughout the performance. And nowhere can there be found in any version of Rostand’s play recorded anywhere, ever, a more moving interpretation of Cyrano’s final moments in which he reads Roxane’s letter and soon after dies. It simply is the best. Nathalie Manfrino’s Roxane is a joy to the eyes and ears. The vocal part is not an easy one to make truly attractive, but she succeeds. Richard Troxell is apparently the only non-French main cast member, but his French holds up quite well. He creates a very sympathetic Christian and really looks the part. His particular lyric tenor provides a good contrast to Alagna’s voice, but having both parts as tenors is what makes the balcony scene possible. The rest of the cast is equally wonderful in sound and acting ability, especially Nicolas Rivenq as a most elegant DeGuiche. All in all, it could be said that this DVD is a real gift from the Alagna family; all of them really are stars here: Roberto of course, his sister-in-law Nathalie Manfrino, and his brothers David and Frederico, who were responsible for sets and direction. Let us hope that this DVD brings this opera to the fore where it deserves to be, as a most satisfying piece of theatre, that other opera companies will take it on, and that other tenors with the requisite panache will be inspired! All I can say is thank you, on behalf of Cyrano fans everywhere!
Submitted by R.B.Collins (Alexandria, VA, USA)
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