Leyla Gencer
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Leyla Gencer (born October 10, 1928 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a soprano opera singer.
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[edit] Career
In many ways, Gencer's career paralleled that of Virginia Zeani. Though the latter was Romanian, both were notable bel canto sopranos who spent most of their careers in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s, and each had a repertoire encompassing more than seventy roles. Both women made very few commercial recordings; however, numerous bootleg recordings of their performances exist. In particular, Gencer was associated with the heroines of Donizetti.
Gencer grew up in the Turkish town of Çubuklu, on the Anatolian side of the Bosphorus. She began studying singing at the Istanbul Conservatory, but dropped out to study privately in Ankara with her teacher, the Italian soprano Giannina Arangi-Lombardi. Gencer sang in the chorus of the Turkish State Theater until she made her operatic debut in Ankara in 1950 as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana. During the next few years, she became well-known in Turkey and sang frequently at functions for the Turkish government.
In 1953, Gencer made her Italian debut at the San Carlo in Naples as Santuzza. She returned to Naples the following year for performances of Madama Butterfly and Eugene Onegin. In 1957, she made her debut at La Scala in Milan as Mme. Lidoine in the world premiere of Poulenc's Les Dialogues des Carmelites. She went on to appear regularly at La Scala, performing nineteen roles between 1957 and 1983, including Leonora in La Forza del Destino, Elisabetta in Don Carlos, Aïda, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Norma, Ottavia in L'incoronazione di Poppea, and Alceste. At La Scala, she also appeared as the First Woman of Canterbury in the world premiere of Pizzetti's L'assassinio nella cattedrale in 1958.
In 1962, Gencer made her debut at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Elisabetta di Valois and as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. She made her U.S. debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1956 as Francesca in Francesca da Rimini. She sang at other American opera houses as well, but never sang at the Metropolitan Opera, though there had been discussions for her to sing Tosca there in 1956. (Virginia Zeani sang at the Met only two or three times.)
In 1985, Gencer retired from the operatic stage with a performance of Gnecco's La Prova di un'opera seria at La Fenice. She continued to appear in concerts until 1992. As of 2007, she is still active, and was recently appointed by La Scala's music director Riccardo Muti to run its school for young artists.
Throughout her career, Gencer was known primarily as a Donizetti interpreter. Among her best-known Donizetti performances are Belisario, Poliuto, Anna Bolena, Lucrezia Borgia, Maria Stuarda, and Caterina Cornaro. Her most acclaimed and best-known performance, though, was Roberto Devereux, which she sang in Naples in 1964.
In addition to the bel canto roles for which she is best known, Gencer's repertory also included works by such composers as Prokofiev, Mozart, and Puccini. She appeared in many rarely performed operas, including Smareglia's La Falena, Rossini's Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, Spontini's Agnese di Hohenstaufen, Pacini's Saffo, and Gluck's Alceste.
[edit] Awards and honors
In 1988, the president of Turkey named Gencer a "State Artist". The 'Leyla Gencer Voice Competition' has been held in Istanbul since 1996.
In 2002, she received the prestigious Puccini Honor Award from the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation at Lincoln Center in New York City.
In 2004, the Turkish Mint issued a commemorative coin in silver, bearing her figure and worth US$10.
[edit] Discography
- Bellini: Norma / 1966, de Fabritiis, Gencer, Cossotto, et al
- Bellini: Norma / 1965, Gavazzeni, Gencer, Simionato, et al
- Bellini: Beatrice di Tenda1964 / Gui, Gencer, Zanasi, et al
- Bellini: I Puritani 1961 / Quadri, Gencer, Raimondi, et al
- Pacini: Saffo 1967 / Gencer, Del Bianco, Mattiucci
- Cherubini: Medea 1968/ Gencer, Bottion, et al
- Mayr: Medea in Corinto 1976/ Ferro, Gencer, Johns
- Gluck: Alceste 1967/ Gui, Gencer, Picchi
- Chopin: Polish Songs; Liszt / Leyla Gencer, Nikita Magaloff
- Donizetti: Anna Bolena 1958/ Gavazzeni, Gencer, Simionato, et al
- Donizetti: Anna Bolena 1965/ Gavazzeni, Gencer, Cava, et al
- Donizetti: Caterina Cornaro 1972 / Cillario, Gencer, Aragall
- Donizetti: Les Martyrs / 1975 Camozzo, Gencer, Bruson, et al
- Donizetti: Les Martyrs / 1978 Gelmetti, Gencer, Bruson, et al
- Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia / 1970 Gracis, Gencer, Raimondi et al.
- Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia / 1966 Franci, Gencer, Aragall, Petri et al.
- Donizetti: Maria Stuarda / 1967 Molinari-Pradelli, Gencer, Verret, Tagliavini et al.
- Donizetti: Messa di Requiem / Gavazzeni, Teatro La Fenice
- Donizetti: Roberto Devereux 1964 / Gencer, Cappuccilli, et al.
- Donizetti: Belisario 1969 / Gavazzeni, Gencer, Taddei et al.
- Mozart: Don Giovanni 1960/ Molinari-Pradelli, Gencer, Petri, Bruscantini, Stich-Randall et al
- Mozart: Don Giovanni 1962/ Solti, Gencer, Jurinac, Freni
- Ponchielli: La Gioconda 1971 / de Fabritiis, Gencer, Raimondi
- Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini 1961 / Capuana, Gencer, Cioni et al.
- Rossini: Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra 1971/ Sanzogno, Gencer, Grilli
- Verdi: I due Foscari" 1957/ Serafin, Gencer, Guelfi
- Verdi: Battaglia di Legnano 1959/ Gencer, Limarilli
- Verdi: Rigoletto 1961/ Quadri, Gencer, McNeil, Raimondi
- Verdi: Gerusalemme 1963/ Gavazzeni, Gencer, Aragall, Guelfi
- Verdi: I Vespri Siciliani 1965/ Gavazzeni, Gencer, et al
- Verdi: Macbeth 1960/ Gui, Gencer, Taddei, Picchi et al.
- Verdi: Macbeth 1968/ Gavazzeni, Gencer, Guelfi, Corradi, et al
- Verdi: Attila 1972/ Silipigni, Gencer, Hines
- Verdi: Ernani 1972/ Gavazzeni, Gencer, Bergonzi
- Verdi: Simon Boccanegra 1961/ Gavazzeni, Gobbi, Gencer
- Verdi: Trovatore 1957/Previtali, Gencer, Del Monaco, Barbieri, Bastianini
- Verdi: Un ballo in maschera 1961/ Gencer, Bergonzi
- Verdi: Aida 1956/ Capuana, Gencer, Bergonzi, Cossotto
- Verdi: La Forza del Destino 1957/ Serafin, Gencer, Di Stefano
- Verdi: La Forza del Destino 1965/ Molinari Pradelli, Gencer, Bergonzi
