After languishing in neglect for many years, Alfano's Cyrano was seen in a production at Montpellier in 2003 with Roberto Alagna in the title role. This has appeared on DVD. Plàcido Domingo took up the role, as his one hundred and twenty first, and a production was mounted at the Metropolitan Opera, New York in May 2005, by Francesca Zambello with designs by Peter J Davidson. This production has since transferred to Covent Garden where it was seen in May 2006 and onwards to La Scala. It should have been the basis of these performances celebrating the new theatre Reina Sofia, in Valencia whose impressive, futuristic, exterior is seen in the introduction (Ch. 1). It seems there were problems with a collapse of part of the theatre stage-machinery required for the sets. The upshot was a new, simpler but affective staging by Michail Zananiecki. Its main focus is a central rotunda with steps and openings through which entrances and activities take place. His staging may not be as spectacular as reports of the Zambello production indicate, but like his direction, aided by drapes and lighting, it is effective. My only question is as to the relevance of what appear to be acrobats descending on ropes and drapes from time to time. The costumes are in period.Above anything else what Cyrano de Bergerac needs beyond even an accomplished production and sets, are two committed and affecting singing actors in the title role and that of Roxanne. As far as the eponymous role is concerned it has an outstanding protagonist in Plàcido Domingo. His acting is fully integrated into his singing to add a further histrionic portrayal to his many others. The tessitura of the music suits his now baritonal tenor perfectly, with no demanding high Cs or the like and plenty of opportunity for dramatic involvement. His portrayal of the death of Cyrano, after hearing Roxanne's true thoughts (Ch. 26), is as powerfully sung as his well known reading of the death of Otello in act four of Verdi's opera. In this histrionic tour de force Domingo is aided, as in the Verdi, by the composer's music. This ending, in the manner of its portrayal and its poignancy, reminded me also of the death of Boris in Mussorgsky's opera. As Roxanne, Sondra Radvanovsky matches Domingo in dramatic involvement - no mean feat. Her lustrous soprano is warm and vibrant and allied to her vocal and dramatic capacity it is an instrument to savour. Radvanovsky lacks some clarity of diction to convince me that she is a major force in the operatic firmament. Her outburst of love to Christian (Ch. 20) is delivered via powerful and committed singing of a high order.Cyrano de Bergerac also depends on a cluster of lesser parts the most important of which, along with Christian, is De Guiche. This vital role is sung with strong even tones and dramatic involvement (Ch. 17) by North American baritone Rodney Gilfry; not `Rod' as the booklet refers to him, I must note. In the cameo role of Ragueneau, Corrado Carmelo Caruso's well tuned bass is a virtue. The Christian of Arturo Chacón Cruz lacks the qualities of persona and vitality that could be seen as appropriate to that of the role. I rather doubt that Cruz had anything better to offer being unpoetic not only in his acting and inflections but also in his singing. --MusicWeb International, Robert J Farr, March 2010I have heard boring opera scores in my time -- especially those in so-called 12-tone style -- but never have I heard one so incompetent as the one Franco Alfano composed for the opera "Cyrano de Bergerac!" Alfano has before now been known mostly for completing his master Puccini's "Turandot" (and botching it badly). But since the Metropolitan Opera has decided to revive "Cyrano," his reputation has now to stand upon the very shaky foundation of what he did with this work.There are now two videos available on DVD. The one I saw is on the Naxos label; and it is from this version that I draw my conclusions.Not all that long ago, there were some recordings by a group called the Mannheim Steamroller, who played selections by this or that composer or genre all at the same volume and tempo with no pause between them, no dynamics, no other variety, so that one just blurred into the next. This is exactly how I felt during the first two acts of "Cyrano." Every one sings at the same volume, with no hint of a melody, no hint of characterization, no relation to what the text is saying.In the Garden scene (Act III), Roxanne and the men manage to sing a little more softly; but things soon return to their top-of-the-voice monotone. It is only for a few moments in Act IV, when Cyrano asks the fifer to play a nostalgic air to get the cadets' minds off their starvation, that the music actually fits the mood and the words. Then it is back to the Alfano-steamroller.Poor Placido Domingo tries to get some characterization into the title role but is stopped at every turn by the absurd score. Sondra Radvanovksy, who looks far too matronly for the young Roxanne, gets some applause by negotiating a long tuneless passage with excellent breath control. Rod Gilfry can do nothing with a De Guiche that is reduced to a minor character with most of his lines cut out.Yes, almost the entire libretto is faithful to Rostand's original French text. However, the cuts are so extensive that the dramatic flow might leave anyone unfamiliar with the play wondering exactly what is motivating the characters.The production is better than the opera deserves. It was filmed in 2007 at the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofia" in Valencia and conducted by Patrick Fournillier, who obviously saw more in the work than I can. Alfano's defenders are numerous; and I would be willing to listen to their reasons for loving this score.The picture is in 16:9 ratio, the subtitles are in French and English, and the running time is 141 minutes. There are no bonus features. --Battleboro Reformer, Frank Behrens, December 2009In July 2005 this site mentioned a DVD of Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac, a fine performance featuring Roberto Alagna, the composer's original version sung in French in a production from Montpellier (REVIEW). Now we have this performance filmed at the grand Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofia' in Valencia during three performances in February 2007. Plácido Domingo wished to sing the title role and to accommodate him, the Met produced it several seasons ago. Cyrano is often very beautiful indeed, with a rapturous love duet between Roxane and the unseen Cyrano. Domingo, a marvel of the operatic world, is at his best both dramatically and vocally. Sondra Radvanovsky is in spectacular form as Roxane. Sets and costumes are simple and appropriate, with excellent video and audio, although the surround sound isn't quite up to the level of Alagna's recording. This is an opera that should be better known as proof that Alfano did much more than write a much maligned ending for Turandot. I imagine most viewers would prefer the Domingo version for its authority and the remarkable singing of Radvanovsky. --Classical CD Review, Robert Benson, December 2009One of the last of the verists, Franco Alfano (1875-1954) remains a curiously underrated opera composer. His downfall undoubtedly began at the hands of Arturo Toscanini, who derided and then viciously cut down the original completion Alfano had composed for Puccini's unfinished Turandot. When that intact ending was rediscovered and restored in the early '80s, it enjoyed a brief vogue, but most productions of the opera still use the standard disemboweled version, which is far less exciting.Cyrano de Bergerac is one of Alfano's later works, dating from 1936. Plácido Domingo has become its champion, and opera companies all over the world have now mounted it for him, and also for Roberto Alagna. Unfortunately, this is not one of Alfano's best operas. Unlike his far stronger Risurrezione and Sakùntala, Cyrano flirts only occasionally with dramatic intensity and melodic richness. There are a few remarkable moments -- Cyrano's introductory aria, the Act II balcony duet and Roxane's surging Act III aria -- and at times Alfano's orchestration rises to a gorgeous Korngoldian sheen, but there is a total of only about twenty minutes of truly gripping music out of the entire two-and-a-half-hour opera.This 2007 production from Valencia was directed and designed by Michal Znaniecki, who treats the material with respect and restraint. His unit set -- a cylindrical structure at center stage, backed by a cyclorama that serves as a screen for numerous projections -- lends itself to plenty of variation from scene to scene, and the bluish palette is quite pleasing to the eye. Isabelle Comte's costumes are lavish and appropriate to the period. Boguslaw Palewicz bathes everything in soft, nocturnal lighting, which reflects the night-tinged lyricism of many of the scenes.Domingo has found a role here that, in many respects, suits him well at this stage of his career. He emphasizes the tragic aspect of Cyrano, not being the most natural of comedians, and his death scene is quite effective. He is, as usual, in amazingly strong vocal estate for a singer pushing seventy, and the warmth of his personality enhances his characterization. The drawback is his execrable French pronunciation, no better after decades of Samsons, Hoffmanns and Don Josés than it was at the beginning of his career. It's a problem in this quintessentially French character, and it robs the text of much of its poetry.Sondra Radvanovsky is a fine Roxane, a part she also sang opposite Domingo at the Met. Her unusual timbre, earthy-sounding and tinged with a quick vibrato, seems to deepen the character of every role she takes on. Here, particularly in Act III, she achieves some thrilling moments with her well-placed upper register. She projects an intelligence that makes Roxane less flighty than usual. This is a woman who has been duped by her own love of words, and she makes us feel the agony of this realization in the final act. Her Christian, the blandly pretty, blank-faced Arturo Chacón-Cruz, does not measure up. Chacón-Cruz possesses a smooth lyric tenor, but he exudes no charisma and shows precious little emotion. He also seems to lose any sense of diction when he puts his voice under pressure. As De Guiche, Rod Gilfry seems to be taking a one-size-fits-all approach to character, which fails to make a strong impression.In the pit, Patrick Fournillier does what he can to pump more excitement into Alfano's score. Video director Tiziano Mancini contributes some lovely work with dissolves and superimpositions of Roxane and Cyrano during the balcony scene. Unfortunately, he also gives us a seriously tacky slow-mo recap of previous action during the Act IV prelude, rather than just allowing the orchestra to speak for itself. --Opera News, Eric Myers, February 2010The indisputable star of the new Naxos DVD  of Franco Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac, filmed at the Palau de les Arts `Reina Sofia' in Valencia and directed by Michal Znaniecki, is, as in all other stage, operatic and film adaptations of the Cyrano story, the enormous prosthetic nose worn by the title character. The nose in this production -- a 5-inch, vaguely beak-like stunner -- works beautifully in tandem with its stage partner, tenor Placido Domingo, who himself delivers a strong, emotive vocal and acting performance in what liner notes state is the 121st new role of his career. It's difficult to discern exactly what attracted Domingo this role. The opera comes across as a fairly minor effort (Alfano is best-remembered for composing some additional music for Turandot after Puccini's death), and the title role is not one that offers vocal challenges or irresistible arias appropriate for a musician of his stature and skill. My best guess is that it was Cyrano and not Alfano that Domingo wished to be associated with. The opera's story is a familiar and much-adapted one and the character of Cyrano is iconic, so perhaps Domingo wished to add his interpretation to the historic gallery of Cyranos that includes everyone from Kevin Kline and Steve Martin to José Ferrer and Gérard Depardieu.  If Domingo is slightly less than credible as a master swordfighter, particularly in an awkwardly staged duel with his romantic rival-turned-ally Christian (a dashing Arturo Chacón Cruz), he is entirely convincing as a heartsick man tormented by his love for an unattainable woman. He handles the vocal demands of the role gorgeously, showing deep, rich colors and easily navigating Henri Cain's French libretto and a score from the far perimeters of the standard repertory. As Roxane, the woman Domingo pines for, Sondra Radvanovsky feels a bit like luxury casting. Her unique soprano sound can be so glorious in great Verdi roles that hearing her sing the relatively undistinguished, though plentiful, music Alfano has composed for Roxane simply makes the viewer wish she were employing her talents in a more vocally thrilling dramatic soprano role. She provides an effective counterbalance to Domingo as a lovely, expressive vocal and physical performer, and if she's never quite heart-stopping in the role, it's probably because no one could be. The Radvanovsky/Domingo romantic chemistry isn't exactly Netrebko/Villazon ca. 2006, but it isn't exactly Gheorghiu/Alagna ca. 2010, either; both stars are strong enough singers and actors to be thoroughly convincing while acting out the steps of a very familiar plot. The production is tasteful and fast-moving, cleverly employing mirrors in a variety of scenes that keep reminding Cyrano of his physical shortcomings. A key scene in Rageneau's bake shop makes effective use of supernumeraries bustling about with cakes and the big battle scene is clearly, if somewhat uninspiringly, staged. One often-used set piece -- Roxane's balcony, among other things-- bears an unfortunate resemblance to a wooden parking garage and Radvanovsky is (literally) saddled with a floor-length baby blue bow/cape combo in her first scene that would be judged "too much" even at a Texas beauty pageant, but director/designer Znaniecki and costume designer Isabelle Comte have otherwise made safe choices that don't distract the audience from the narrative flow of the work. The problem here is that Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac is so musically undistinguished that a bit of visual distraction would be welcome. (Patrick Fournillier's capable conducting, like the central performances, seems more distinguished than the music itself; his efforts with the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana are reminiscent, in the score's weakest moments, of, say, Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA" as played on a Stradivarius.) As it is, the production plays a bit like a sung-through Masterpiece Theater production with a higher-than-normal budget. The two charismatic stars-- well, two, plus a truly inspired false nose (which, like a silent film star, delivers its best work in close-ups) -- make this DVD worth a rental; it's difficult to imagine this opera being given a better production. But it doesn't make much of a case for Cyrano as an unjustly neglected classic of the form -- like the unfortunate-looking hero himself, Alfano's opera is perhaps best-suited to dark, lonely corners. --Parterre Box, December 9, 2009Toronto-based dramatic soprano Sondra Radvanovsky positively glows as Roxane next to tenor Placido Domingo's turn as Cyrano. This musically and visually satisfying 2007 production from the Queen Sofia arts centre in Valencia, Spain, is also a compelling showcase for the talents of Italian opera composer Franco Alfano, best remembered as the man who completed Puccini's Turandot in 1926. The 1936, four-act Cyrano de Bergerac is a faithful adaptation by librettist Henri Cain of Edmond Rostand's famous 1897 play. Alfano's musical style underpins recitative-style singing with a lush orchestral score. There are no arias, per se, so the bursts of emotion are conveyed by the orchestra, well shaped by conductor Patrick Fournillier. --Toronto Star, John Terauds, March 2, 2010