Franco Alfano facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Franco Alfano
Franco Alfano
Born	(1875-03-08)8 March 1875 Posillipo, Italy
Died	27 October 1954(1954-10-27) (aged 79) Sanremo, Italy
Occupation	composer, Pianist

Franco Alfano (born March 8, 1875, died October 27, 1954) was a talented Italian composer and pianist. He is most famous for his opera Risurrezione (meaning Resurrection), which he wrote in 1904. He also became well-known for finishing the opera Turandot by the famous composer Giacomo Puccini in 1926. During his lifetime, many of his own musical works were very successful.

Franco Alfano's Musical Journey

Franco Alfano, around 1919

Franco Alfano was born in Posillipo, a town near Naples, Italy. He started learning piano from a private teacher named Alessandro Longo. Later, he studied harmony and composition at the Conservatory San Pietro a Majella in Naples.

After finishing his studies there, he went to Leipzig, Germany, in 1895. He continued to study composition with famous teachers like Hans Sitt. While in Leipzig, he met his hero, the composer Edvard Grieg. During this time, Alfano wrote many pieces for piano and orchestra.

Alfano also held important positions at music schools. From 1918, he was the director of the Conservatory of Bologna. In 1923, he became the director of the Turin Conservatory. Later, from 1947 to 1950, he directed the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro. Alfano passed away in Sanremo, Italy.

Famous Operas by Franco Alfano

An opera is a special kind of play where all the words are sung, usually with an orchestra playing music. Franco Alfano wrote many operas.

Early Operas

Alfano finished his first opera, Miranda, in 1896. He also wrote the story for this opera himself. His next work, La Fonte di Enschir, was first performed in 1898 in a city called Wrocław. It was quite popular.

Risurrezione

His opera Risurrezione (meaning Resurrection) came out in 1904. It was based on a story by the famous writer Leo Tolstoy. This opera became one of Alfano's most well-known works.

Cyrano de Bergerac

Another important opera was Cyrano de Bergerac. This opera was based on a very famous play by Edmond Rostand. It was first performed in Italy in 1936 and then in France a few months later. Recently, this opera has been performed again in big opera houses like the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The famous singer Plácido Domingo even starred in it.

Sakùntala

In 1921, Alfano created La Leggenda di Sakùntala. Many people consider this to be one of his most important stage works. It was so good that the famous conductor Arturo Toscanini suggested Alfano to finish Puccini's last opera, Turandot.

Sadly, the original music for Sakùntala was thought to be destroyed during World War II. So, Alfano rebuilt it in 1952 and called it Sakùntala. This new version was based on an ancient play from India. Luckily, the original 1921 version was found again in 2005. Now, both versions can be performed.

Alfano's Legacy and Turandot

Franco Alfano's reputation is sometimes misunderstood because of his work on Turandot. When Puccini died, he left Turandot unfinished. Alfano was chosen to complete it.

However, when Turandot was first performed in 1926, the conductor Arturo Toscanini decided to cut out a lot of what Alfano had written for the ending. This means that audiences usually don't hear Alfano's full ending. Puccini had left many notes, but they were hard to read. Alfano had to work very hard to understand them and create an ending that he thought Puccini would have liked.

Also, some people have criticized Alfano because of his connections to the government in Italy at the time.

In recent years, other composers have also tried to create new endings for Turandot. For example, Luciano Berio composed a new ending in 2002. Some critics believe this new ending fits better with Puccini's style.

List of Works

See also List of operas by Franco Alfano.

See also

In Spanish: Franco Alfano para niños