Leyla Gencer
Leyla Gencer had a major career on the world's operatic stages, singing a wide variety of soprano roles from Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni to Renata in Prokofiev's very difficult The Fiery Angel. She was most closely associated, however, with the operas of Donizetti (Belisario, Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena, and Lucrezia Borgia), as well as a number by Verdi and Bellini.
Born to a Polish mother and wealthy Turkish father on October 10, 1928 (according to Gencer; some sources place the date earlier), Gencer received the finest education in her childhood and teens. She exhibited unusual vocal talent early on, and her mother enrolled her in the Istanbul Conservatory, but not just for vocal and music studies: she wanted to thwart 16-year-old Leyla's affections for a Polish architect over twice her age.
Gencer married a wealthy banker in 1946 and soon withdrew from the Conservatory to study with Italian soprano Giannina Arangi-Lombardi in Istanbul. In the meantime she sang in the Turkish State Theater Chorus.
Gencer's debut came in the role of Santuzza from Cavalleria Rusticana in 1950 in Ankara. After Arangi-Lombardi's death in 1951, Gencer began studies with Apollo Granforte and soon gave many noteworthy recitals in Turkey, including for important government functions, such as receptions for heads of state, including one for American President Dwight Eisenhower.
She reprised the role Santuzza for her 1953 Italian debut, and for her American debut in 1956 at San Francisco she sang Francesca in Rachmaninov's Francesca da Rimini. At La Scala she appeared in two important world premieres in 1957, Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites and Pizzetti's L'assassino nella cattedrale. In her debut season at Covent Garden (1962) she sang Elisabetta di Valois from Verdi's Don Carlo and Donna Anna from Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Gencer would return to La Scala for regular appearances until 1983 and was active in opera throughout Italy, other parts of Europe and in the United States until 1985, her last appearance being at Venice's La Fenice in Gnecco's La Prova di un 'opera seria. She continued giving recitals until 1992, and thereafter remained active at La Scala heading the theater's school for young artists. A competition was established in her honor in 1996, the Yapy Kredi International Leyla Gencer Voice Competition. Gencer made numerous recordings -- many still available -- and once boasted a 72-role repertory.
© TiVo
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Leyla Gencer: Arias
Opera Extracts - Released by WM Italy on 26 Aug 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La Forza Del Destino
Leyla Gencer, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Aldo Protti
Opera - Released by Urania on 3 Feb 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Puritani
Opera - Released by Myto Historical on 15 Feb 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leyla Gencer, Vol. 1
Leyla Gencer, Orchestra of Teatro La Fenice, Venice, La Scala Theater Orchestrea
Opera - Released by Opera d'Oro on 15 Aug 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paris Recital 1985
Leyla Gencer, Vincenzo Scalera
Opera - Released by Bongiovanni on 1 Mar 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti - Anna Bolena
Leyla Gencer, Giulietta Simionato, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestra di Milano della Rai
Opera - Released by G.O.P. on 1 Jan 1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Polish Songs & Liszt: Transcriptions de Polish Songs
Classical - Released by NAR International on 1 Nov 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: William Tell (Live in Naples, Italy December 11, 1965)
Giangiancomo Guelfi, Gianni Raimondi, Leyla Gencer
Opera - Released by LRC Ltd. - Groove Merchant Records on 6 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini, G.: Tosca [Opera] (1955) (Giuseppe Giacosa - Giacomo Puccini - Luigi Illica)
Full Operas - Released by IDIS on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Il mitto dell'opera: Gianni Raimondi (Live)
Gianni Raimondi, Leyla Gencer, Artist Unknown, Anonyme
Opera - Released by Bongiovanni on 1 May 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: La Dama Di Picche (Remaster)
Nino Sanzogno, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Leyla Gencer, Antonio Annaloro
Opera - Released by Nar Classical on 1 Mar 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gencer Paris Recital 1980 (Live)
Classical - Released by Bongiovanni on 1 Sep 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti - roberto devereux
Leyla Gencer, Ruggero Bondino, Mario Rossi, Orchestra Del Teatro San Carlo Di Napoli
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 17 Apr 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MOZART: IL RATTO DAL SERRAGLIO, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, DON GIOVANNI "IL DISSOLUTO PUNITO OSSIA IL DON GIOVANNI"
Opera - Released by Nar Classical on 10 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart · Le nozze di Figaro
Heinz Blankenburg, Leyla Gencer, Silvio Varviso, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 30 Nov 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Belisario
Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestra Del Teatro La Fenice, Leyla Gencer
Opera - Released by Nar Classical on 12 Feb 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leyla Gencer: Volume 2
Opera - Released by Opera d'Oro on 12 Sep 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Lucia Di Lammermoor
Herbert von Karajan, Oliviero de Fabritiis, Maria Callas, Leyla Gencer
Classical - Released by Nar Classical on 12 Feb 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi · Simon Boccanegra
Tito Gobbi, Leyla Gencer, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestra dell'Opera di Vienna
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 27 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
DONIZETTI: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR,MOZART: DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL, PUCCINI: SUOR ANGELICA, VERDI: LA FORZA DEL DESTINO (Remaster)
Alfredo Simonetto, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano della Rai, Leyla Gencer
Opera - Released by Nar Classical on 29 Jan 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pacini: Saffo
Leyla Gencer, Tito del Bianco, Lousi Quilico
Classical - Released by Opera d'Oro on 11 Apr 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo