Leyla Gencer (Turkish pronunciation:[lejˈlaɟenˈdʒeɾ], néeÇeyrekgil; 10 October 1928 – 10 May 2008) also known asLa Diva Turca was aTurkishoperaticsoprano.[1]
Gencer was a notablebel canto soprano who spent most of her career inItaly, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s, and had a repertoire encompassing more than seventy roles.[1] She made very few commercial recordings; however, numerousbootleg recordings of her performances exist. She was particularly associated with the heroines ofDonizetti.[2][1]
Leyla Gencer was born inPolonezköy (nearIstanbul) to aTurkish father and aPolish mother.[1] Her father, Hasanzade İbrahim Bey (who took the surnameÇeyrekgil under theSurname Law of 1934), was a wealthy businessman, whose family was from the city ofSafranbolu. Her mother, Lexanda Angela Minakovska, was from a Roman Catholic family of theLithuanian aristocracy (she later converted toIslam and chose the nameAtiye after her husband's death.)[1] Gencer's father died when she was very young during a flash flood.[1] She grew up in theÇubuklu neighbourhood of Istanbul, on theAnatolian side of theBosphorus strait. In 1946, she married İbrahim Gencer, a banker related to the influentialİpekçi family.[3]
She began to study singing at the Istanbul Conservatory but dropped out to study privately inAnkara with her teacher the Italian sopranoGiannina Arangi-Lombardi.[1] After Arangi-Lombardi's death, Gencer continued her studies with the Italian baritoneApollo Granforte. She sang in the chorus of the Turkish State Theater until 1950, when she made her operatic debut in Ankara, as Santuzza inCavalleria Rusticana. During the next few years, she became well known in Turkey and sang frequently at functions for the Turkish government.[citation needed]
In 1953, Gencer made her Italian debut at theTeatro di San Carlo inNaples as Santuzza.[1] She returned to Naples the following year for performances ofMadama Butterfly andEugene Onegin. In 1957, she made her debut atLa Scala inMilan as New Prioress in the world premiere ofPoulenc'sDialogues of the Carmelites.[3] She went on to appear regularly at La Scala, performing nineteen roles between 1957 and 1983 including Leonora inLa forza del destino, Elisabetta inDon Carlos,[3] the title role inAida, Lady Macbeth inMacbeth,[3] the title role inNorma, Ottavia inL'incoronazione di Poppea andAlceste. At La Scala, she also appeared as the First Woman of Canterbury in the world premiere ofPizzetti'sL'assassinio nella cattedrale in 1958.[1] In 1960, she toured theUSSR, singing concerts inMoscow andBaku.
In 1962, she debuted at theRoyal Opera House,Covent Garden as Elisabetta di Valois inDon Carlos and Donna Anna inDon Giovanni.[3] Her United States debut had been at theSan Francisco Opera in 1956, as Francesca inZandonai'sFrancesca da Rimini. She sang in other American opera houses as well, but never at theMetropolitan Opera, despite discussions about her being engaged to singTosca there, also in 1956.
She sangChopin'sPolish songs in Paris withNikita Magaloff, aLiszt-Bartók concert at La Scala, and a concert involving 'operas about Turks' in the Venetian carnival atLa Fenice, showing her innovative character as an opera singer. Her last appearance on the operatic stage was in 1985, withLa 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 directorRiccardo Muti to run its school for young artists.
Throughout her career, Gencer was particularly well known for herDonizetti, includingBelisario,Poliuto,Anna Bolena,Lucrezia Borgia,Maria Stuarda andCaterina Cornaro.[1] Her most acclaimed and best-known performance, though, was theRoberto Devereux she sang in Naples in 1964. Aside frombel canto roles, her repertory included works by such composers asProkofiev,Mozart andPuccini. She appeared in many rarely performed operas, includingSmareglia'sLa Falena,Rossini'sElisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra,Spontini'sAgnese di Hohenstaufen,Pacini'sSaffo andGluck'sAlceste.
Gencer rose to international stardom in a short time, singing under some of the greatest Italian maestros, such asVittorio Gui,Tullio Serafin,Gianandrea Gavazzeni, andRiccardo 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.[3]
Starting in 1982, she dedicated herself to teaching young opera singers.[1] She worked as didactic art director of As.Li.Co. of Milan between 1983–88, and was appointed by MaestroRiccardo Muti to run La Scala's School for Young Artists in 1997-1998. As artistic director of the academy for opera artists inTeatro alla Scala, she specialized in teaching operatic interpretation. In 1996, she appeared inJan Schmidt-Garre's filmOpera Fanatic.
Gencer died on 10 May 2008, aged 79, in Milan. Following her funeral service inSan Babila Church and subsequentcremation in Milan, her ashes were brought to Istanbul and scattered in the waters of the Bosphorus on May 16, by famous musicianFazıl Say, according to her wish.[4][5][6]
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 titledPrimadonna and Solitude.[7]
In 2019, IKSV commissioned a film,Leyla Gencer: La Diva Turca, written byZeynep Oral, which was screened at theGrimeborn Festival at the Arcola Theatre.
