2015 BIPO [Aida]

AIDA Giuseppe Verdi
IN MEMORY OF LEYLA GENCER
2015.05.05 LÜTFİ KIRDAR ICEC – 20.00

Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra (BIPO)
Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Sascha Goetzel conductor
Ciro Visco chorus master
Yekta Kara stage director
 
Aida LATONIA MOORE soprano
Amneris STELLA GRIGORIAN mezzosoprano
Radames ANTONELLO PALOMBI tenor
Amanasro GEORGE GAGNIDZE baritone
Ramfis KENAN DAĞAŞAN bass
Il Re GÖKTUĞ ALPAŞAR bass
Messaggero ALİ MURAT ERENGÜL tenor
Sacerdotessa GÜLBİN GÜNAY soprano

Photo © BORUSAN SANAT / ÖZGE BALKAN, Istanbul

Değerli Sanatseverler,
 
Borusan İstanbul Filarmoni Orkestrası ile 2009 yılında başladığımız ve geleneksel hale gelen Leyla Gencer’i Anma konserlerimiz, bu sene öncekilerden çok daha görkemli. Dünyanın dört bir yanından gelen ve Aida operasında büyük başarılar kazanmış sanatçıların yanı sıra İtalya’dan Santa Cecilia Ulusal Akademisi Korosu bu akşam bizlerle birlikte olacak.
 
Verdi’nin başyapıtlarından biri olan Aida, hiç kuşkusuz, Leyla Gencer’in kariyerinde önemli bir yere sahip. Gencer, Aidayı 1963 ile 1973 yılları arasında Milano’daki La Scala’dan başlayarak Roma’nın ünlü Caracalla Tiyatrosu’nda, Macerata Opera Festivali’nde, Napoli’deki San Carlo Tiyatrosu’nda ve Arena di Verona’da Gianandrea Gavazzeni ve Tullio Serafin gibi dönemin en büyük İtalyan şefleri yönetiminde defalarca seslendirdi.
 
Bugün 100’ün üzerinde korsan kaydı olan Gencer’in 1963 ve 1966 yıllarında Arena di Verona’da seslendirdiği Aida’ların RAI tarafından yapılan DVD kayıtları, en güzel Aida yorumları olarak bizlere ulaştı. Gavazzeni ile RAI için yaptığı ender stüdyo kayıtlardan birinde seslendirdiği ünlü “O cielli azzurri” aryasının finalindeki “pianissimo” opera literatürüne geçti. Birkaç yıl önce Opera News dergisi Gencer’i Arena di Verona’da Aida’yı seslendiren en iyi sopranolardan bir olarak nitelemişti.
 
Leyla Gencer, Aida’yı ilk kez 3 Mayıs 1963 tarihinde Milano’nun ünlü La Scala Operası’nda seslendirmişti. Aradan geçen 42 yıl sonra bizler büyük divayı İstanbul’da yine aynı opera ile anıyoruz.
 
Ahmet Etem Erenli
Genel Müdür
© Borusan Sanat - 14 May 2015 

Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra’s tribute concerts dedicated to Leyla Gencer began in 2009 and they have become annual. And this year’s edition is even more glorious than the previous years. Along with renowned artists from all over the world who have achieved major success in Aida productions, tonight we’ll also have the chance to listen to the Chorus of the National Santa Cecilia Academy from Italy. Aida, which is one of Verdi’s masterpieces, was undoubtedly a very important milesone in Leyla Gencer’s career.

 Between the years 1963-1973, Gencer sang Aida numerous times; first at Milan’s La Scala, then at Caracalla Theater of Rome, Macerata Opera Festival, San Carlo of Naples and also at Arena di Verona under the baton of the major conductors of the era, such as Gianandrea Gavazzeni and Tullio Serafin. As now, there are over 100 pirate recordings of Gencer.

Luckily we also have the DVD recordings of her most splendid Aida performances (1963 and 1966) that were recorded by RAI Television. She left a notable mark in the opera history with the pianissimos that she executed at the end of the famous aria O cieli azzurri, during one of her rare studio recordings that she did with Gavazzeni for RAI. A few years ago, The Opera News Magazine mentioned Gencer among the best sopranos who sang Aida at the Arena di Verona. Leyla Gencer’s first Aida performance was at Milan’s famous La Scala Theater on May 3rd 1963. After 42 years, we commemorate the great diva in Istanbul with the same opera.

Ahmet Etem Erenli
General Manager
© Borusan Sanat - 14 May 2015

Yekta Kara, & Ahmet Erenli
 

FOYER

YABANGEE

2015.05.24

BIPO Ends the Season with Aida, Commemorating La Diva Turca by Melis Kanik

The increasing temperature is not the only signal that summer is just around the corner. One by one, the concert halls are wrapping up their seasons and closing the curtain until fall 2015. The Istanbul Borusan Philharmonic Orchestra — more popularly known as BIFO among the locals and BIPO among expats — also marked the end of the year with its annual closing performance dedicated to the late and legendary soprano Leyla Gencer.

For the non-opera savvy, Gencer may be relatively unknown, not having reached the pop stardom of her contemporary and colleague Maria Callas. However, for anyone remotely familiar with opera, hers is a different story: She was one of the most heralded prima donnas of the La Scala theatre for over two decades, director of the La Scala Academy at the request of the legendary conductor Riccardo Muti, and a source of awe and inspiration for sopranos throughout the world. An opera diva whose funeral made headlines across the world and was attended by Italy’s Minister of Culture. It’s no wonder that BIPO dedicates their season finale to Gencer each year.

The evening was of a caliber and a magnitude befitting the commemoration of La Diva Turca. The opera selected for the evening was Aida, with the impressive Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia as the choir. As for the eight solo parts, the amazing soprano Latonia Moore was in the role of Aida, mezzasoprano Stella Grigorian in the role of Amneris, tenor Fabio Sartori as Radames and baritone George Gagnidze as Amonasro. The King of Egypt, Ramfis, the messenger, and the High Priestess were sung by four Turkish singers who are internationally acclaimed: basses Kenan Dağaşan and Göktuğ Alpaşar, tenor Ali Murat Erengül and soprano Gülbin Günay. Make a note of these names, and try to catch one of their live performances, be it at a local theater, at La Scala, or in a program on the BBC.

Like last year, the orchestra was placed on the stage floor, and not in the orchestra pit like in a typical performance of the opera. This allowed us to closely follow the instrumental compositions. A friend of mine later commented that he preferred the standard setup, with the orchestra in the pit and props and scenic design taking over the stage. But I like this version — with the orchestra on the stage — and, as a violin geek, may even prefer it. It gives me the chance to follow the instrumental compositions visually, paying attention to the interaction and synergy of the orchestra and tracking the composition note by note.

The other highlight of the evening was the enchanting soprano Latonia Moore. Her voice projected lucid, clear, and strong throughout the entire auditorium, rising above the orchestra and the chorus. As she sang her parts, videos of Leyla Gencer performing the same role years ago at La Scala were projected on a white screen hung behind the orchestra and chorus. It was clear that Moore had big shoes to fill. But she took on the challenge very well, and continued to amaze us with her talent and mastery of voice until the very last note.

This particular evening had been one to which I had been looking forward ever since the announcement of the season’s program months ago. And from the ninety-member Coro Dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, whose history spans across some five centuries, to getting the chance to visually observe the instrumental compositions of a work of opera, to the out of this world vocal virtuosity of the soloists, it was surely one of the most impressive of the season.

As a bonus of the evening, we walked home with a booklet announcing the performances of the upcoming 2015-2016 season. The season boasts such grand names as Sarah Chang, Kit Armstrong, Freddy Kempf, the Pekinels, and the Labèques. Needless to say, I am already highly anticipating this October, and beyond.