Franco Alfano is remembered today for his completion of Turandot after Puccini’s death. His catalogue of works, including operas, orchestral and chamber music, reveals him to be a sophisticated and original composer. Alfano possessed an innate melodic facility combined with a talent for unexpected timbres, as heard in the luxuriously orchestrated Suite romantica which, in the composer’s own words, aims to convey ‘the feelings of two lovers travelling through Italy’. From the neo-Classical Divertimento to the noirish postwar Nenia, and from the lightness of touch of Amour… Amour… to the impressionistic and iridescent Una danza, each work reveals a different aspect of this multifaceted composer.
Works:
Alfano: Suite romantica, Pt. 1: Notte adriatica
• Alfano: Suite romantica, Pt. 2: Echi dell'Appennino
• Alfano: Suite romantica, Pt. 3: Al chiostro abbandonato
• Alfano: Suite romantica, Pt. 4: Natale campàno
• Alfano: Una danza
• Alfano: Nenia
• Alfano: Divertimento
• Alfano: Amour… Amour… (Version for Orchestra)