Leyla Gencer (, née Çeyrekgil; 10 October 192810 May 2008) also known as La Diva Turca was a Turkish people soprano.
Gencer was a notable bel canto soprano who spent most of her career in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s, and had a repertoire encompassing more than seventy roles.[ Bel Canto Society page with Interview and photos , belcantosociety.org; accessed 29 May 2015.]
Early life
Leyla Gencer was born in Polonezköy (near
Istanbul) to a
Turkish people father and a
Polish people mother.
Her father, Hasanzade İbrahim Bey (who took the surname
Çeyrekgil under the
Surname Law of 1934), was a wealthy businessman, whose family was from the city of
Safranbolu. Her mother, Lexanda Angela Minakovska, was from a Roman Catholic family of the Lithuanian aristocracy (she later converted to
Islam and chose the name
Atiye after her husband's death.)
[ Obituary, Telegraph.co.uk; accessed 29 May 2015.] Gencer's father died when she was very young during a flash flood.
She grew up in the
Beykoz neighbourhood of Istanbul, on the
side of the
Bosphorus strait. In 1946, she married İbrahim Gencer, a banker related to the influential İpekçi family.
[ Leyla Gencer | Music | The Guardian, Guardian.co.uk; accessed 20 September 2017.]
Education and early career
She began to study singing at the Istanbul Conservatory but dropped out to study privately in
Ankara with her teacher the Italian soprano Giannina Arangi-Lombardi.
After Arangi-Lombardi's death, Gencer continued her studies with the Italian baritone
Apollo Granforte. She sang in the chorus of the Turkish State Theater until 1950, when she made her operatic debut in Ankara, 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.
Career
In 1953, Gencer made her Italian debut at the Teatro di 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 New Prioress in the world premiere of
Francis Poulenc's
Dialogues of the 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,
the title role in
Aida, Lady Macbeth in
Macbeth,
the title role in
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 1960, she toured the
USSR, singing concerts in
Moscow and
Baku.
In 1962, she debuted at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlos and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.
She sang Chopin's Polish songs in Paris with Nikita Magaloff, a Franz Liszt-Bartók concert at La Scala, and a concert involving 'operas about Turks' in the Venetian carnival at La Fenice, showing her innovative character as an opera singer. Her last appearance on the operatic stage was in 1985, with La Prova di un'opera seria at La Fenice. She continued to appear in concerts until 1992. She was still active as of 2007, and had recently been appointed by La Scala's music director Riccardo Muti to run its school for young artists.
Throughout her career, Gencer was particularly well known for her Donizetti, including Belisario, Poliuto, Anna Bolena, Lucrezia Borgia, Maria Stuarda and Caterina Cornaro.
Gencer rose to international stardom in a short time, singing under some of the greatest Italian maestros, such as Vittorio Gui, Tullio Serafin, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, and Riccardo Muti. She contributed to the 'Donizetti Renaissance' with her great performances of Donizetti's forgotten operas. Her repertoire consisted of 72 roles, including operas by Monteverdi, Gluck, Mozart, Cherubini, Spontini, Simon Mayr, Puccini, Prokofiev, Britten, Poulenc, Menotti, and Rocca, encompassing lyric, coloratura, and dramatic soprano roles.
Starting in 1982, she dedicated herself to teaching young opera singers.
Death
Gencer died on 10 May 2008, aged 79, in Milan. Following her funeral service in
San Babila and subsequent cremation in Milan, her ashes were brought to Istanbul and scattered in the waters of the Bosphorus on May 16, by famous musician Fazıl Say, according to her wish.
[ Leyla Gencer: Operatic soprano idolised in Italy, independent.co.uk; accessed 29 May 2015.][ Turkish soprano Gencer, who performed at La Scala, dies, denverpost.com; accessed 29 May 2015.]
Ten years after her death, in 2018, the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts commemorated Leyla Gencer with the 9th edition of the Leyla Gencer Voice Competition and an exhibition titled Primadonna and Solitude.
In 2019, IKSV commissioned a film, Leyla Gencer: La Diva Turca, written by Zeynep Oral, which was screened at the Grimeborn Festival at the Arcola Theatre.
Discography
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Vincenzo Bellini: Norma/1966, de Fabritiis, Gencer, Cossotto, et al.
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Bellini: Norma/1965, Gavazzeni, Gencer, Simionato, et al.
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Bellini: Beatrice di Tenda 1964/Gui, Gencer, Zanasi, et al.
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Bellini: I Puritani 1961/Quadri, Gencer, Raimondi, et al.
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Pacini: Saffo 1967/Gencer, Del Bianco, Mattiucci
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Luigi Cherubini: Medea 1968/ Gencer, Bottion, et al.
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Mayr: Medea in Corinto 1976/Ferro, Gencer, Johns
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Gluck: Alceste 1967/ Gui, Gencer, Picchi
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Chopin: Polish Songs; Franz Liszt/Leyla Gencer, Nikita Magaloff
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Donizetti: Anna Bolena 1958/ Gavazzeni, Gencer, Simionato, et al.
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Donizetti: Anna Bolena 1965/Gavazzeni, Gencer, Cava, et al.
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Donizetti: Caterina Cornaro 1972/Cillario, Gencer, Aragall
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Donizetti: Les Martyrs/1975 Camozzo, Gencer, Bruson, et al.
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Donizetti: Les Martyrs/1978 Gelmetti, Gencer, Bruson, et al.
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Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia/1970 Gracis, Gencer, Raimondi et al.
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Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia/1966 Franci, Gencer, Aragall, Petri et al.
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Donizetti: Maria Stuarda/1967 Molinari-Pradelli, Gencer, Verrett, Tagliavini et al.
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Donizetti: Messa di Requiem/Gavazzeni, Teatro La Fenice
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Donizetti: Roberto Devereux 1964/Gencer, Cappuccilli, et al.
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Donizetti: Belisario 1969/Gavazzeni, Gencer, Taddei et al.
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Mozart: Don Giovanni 1960/Molinari-Pradelli, Gencer, Petri, Bruscantini, Stich-Randall et al.
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Mozart: Don Giovanni 1962/Solti, Gencer, Jurinac, Freni
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Ponchielli: La Gioconda 1971 / de Fabritiis, Gencer, Raimondi
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Poulenc: Dialogues Des Carmélites 1957/ Nino Sanzogno conductor, Gencer, Virginia Zeani, Gianna Pederzini, et al. (premiere in Italian translation)
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Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini 1961 / Capuana, Gencer, Cioni, et al.
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Rossini: Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra 1971/Sanzogno, Gencer, Grilli
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Giuseppe Verdi: I due Foscari 1957/Serafin, Gencer, Guelfi
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Verdi: La Battaglia di Legnano 1959/ Gencer, Limarilli
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Verdi: Rigoletto 1961/Quadri, Gencer, MacNeil, Raimondi
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Verdi: Gerusalemme 1963/Gavazzeni, Gencer, Aragall, Guelfi
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Verdi: I Vespri Siciliani 1965/Gavazzeni, Gencer, et al.
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Verdi: Macbeth 1960/Gui, Gencer, Taddei, Picchi et al.
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Verdi: Macbeth 1968/Gavazzeni, Gencer, Guelfi, Corradi, et al.
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Verdi: Attila 1972/Silipigni, Gencer, Hines
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Verdi: Ernani 1972/Gavazzeni, Gencer, Bergonzi
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Verdi: Simon Boccanegra 1961/ Gavazzeni, Gobbi, Gencer
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Verdi: Il Trovatore 1957/Previtali, Gencer, Del Monaco, Barbieri, Bastianini
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Verdi: Un ballo in maschera 1961/Gencer, Bergonzi
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Verdi: Aida 1966/ Capuana, Gencer, Bergonzi, Cossotto
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Verdi: La Forza del Destino 1957/Serafin, Gencer, Di Stefano
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Verdi: La Forza del Destino 1965/Molinari Pradelli, Gencer, Bergonzi
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Spontini: La Vestale 1969/Previtali, Gencer, Merolla, Bruson
See also
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Turkish State Opera and Ballet
External links
Obituaries
