Alfano - Cyrano de Bergerac / Alagna, Manfrino, Rivenq, Ferrari, Troxell, Schaer, Barrard, Rittelmann, Habela, Guidarini, Montpellier Opera
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.Franco Alfano is best-known for his completion ofTurandotwhich was not quite finished at Puccini's death. Among his other work, he produced one operatic masterpiece of his own,Cyrano, which was long neglected but now has a fitting representation on home video. The opera also exists in an Italian translation, but Alfano originally used the superior French text by Henri Cain, which is used in this production.Nathalie Manfrino is charming as the beautiful but superficial Roxane, whom Cyrano loves hopelessly through his whole life without telling her, and Richard Troxell characterizes precisely the handsome but not particularly bright Christian, whom Cyrano assists in his wooing. The chorus, orchestra, sets, and costumes are all excellent, helping to make this a first-class production.--Joe McLellan