Franco Alfano: Transcending Turandot is the first fully documented biography in any language of Italy's last verismo composer, Franco Alfano (1875-1954), the composer chosen to complete Giacomo Puccini's swansong, Turandot, in 1924. Alfano remains one of the most undervalued composers, despite arguably representing the best of Puccini's contemporaries. His ability and prowess and his intimate friendship with Puccini, led to his selection for Turandot's completion: a daunting, enervating, and ultimately thankless task, which nearly robbed him of sight. This biography finally sheds light on Alfano's view of the events, as opposed to the all-too customary Toscanini/Puccini perspective, thereby revealing a largely unknown facet of one of the most important operatic works of the 20th-century. Konrad Dryden, a friend of the composer's late daughter, Nina Alfano, sets out to unravel and organize the facts of Alfano's life, offering a chronological presentation of the composer's vita as well as an examination of his major operas and their literary origins, providing the most complete portrait of the composer to date. Based on unpublished correspondence from international archives freshly translated by Dryden, the book also sheds light on such colleagues and contemporaries as Puccini, Toscanini, Mary Garden, Edward Johnson, Giordano, Rostand, Mascagni, and Mussolini. A selection of previously unpublished photographs is included, as well as plot synopses of Alfano's operatic works. A foreword by the legendary soprano Magda Olivero-his preferred interpreter and Liù in the world premiere recording of Turandot-and an appendix listing the composer's opus round out this important reference.

"Dryden chronicles the composer's vain attempts to recapture the attention of his publisher, Emil Hertzka of Universal Edition, as well as his unsavory attempts to curry favor with Mussolini. Dryden's chief achievement lies in his advocacy of a neglected compose, one who "arguably represents the best of Italy's post-Puccini contemporaries."" - Opera News

"The book is a good case for Alfano's music and gives a detailed discussion of his operas....Dryden retain his objectivity in his descriptions of the composer and his work and that makes the book enjoyable to read." - Opera Nederland

"Recommended." - CHOICE

"For anyone interested in the Italian music scene of the 20th century, Dryden’s...excellent title will likely become the definitive word on the subject for the foreseeable future, as there has been precious little available in English about Alfano." - Library Journal