FRANCESCA DA RIMINI
Riccardo Zandonai (1883 - 1944)
Opera four acts in Italian
Libretto: Riccardo Zandonai after d’Annunzio’s play of the same name.
Premièr at Teatro Regio, Turin – 19 February 1914
28 September, 04 October 1956
War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Conductor: Oliviero de Fabritiis
Chorus master: Gianni Lazzari
Stage director: Carlo Maestrini
Stage setting and lighting: Leo Kerz
Scene and costumes: Goldstein & Co.
Francesca, the doughter of Guido Minore of Polenta
LEYLA GENCER soprano [Role debut]
Samaritana, the doughter of Guido Minore of Polenta
JEANNINE CRADER soprano
Ostasio, the son of Guido Minore of Polenta
CARL PALANGI baritone
Giovanni lo Sciancato, son of Malatesta of
Verrucchio ANSELMO COLZANI baritone
Paolo il Bello, son of Malatesta of Verrucchio RICHARD
MARTELL tenor
Malatestino dall’occhio, son of Malatesta of
Verrucchio CESARE CURZI tenor
Biancofiore, Francesca’s woman MARY GRAY soprano
Garsenda, Francesca’s woman JAN MCART soprano
Altichiara, Francesca’s woman MARGARET ROGGERO mezzo-soprano
Donella, Francesca’s woman ROSALIND NADELL mezzo-soprano
The Slave, Francesca’s woman KATHERINE
HILGENBERG contralto
Ser Toldo Berardegno, a lawyer ALESSIO DE
PAOLIS tenor
A Jester HEINZ BLANKENBURG bass
An Archer CHRIS LACHONA tenor
A Torchbearer MURRAY KENIG baritone
Voice of a Prisoner VIRGINIO ASSANDRI tenor
Time: End of Thirteenth Century
Place: Ravenna, Rimini
Photos © ROBERT LACKENBACH, San Francisco (Opera Photos)
Photos © V. M. HANKS, Jr. PHOTOGRAPHY, San Francisco (St. Francis Hotel)
Photos © MOULIN STUDIOS, San Francisco
Photos © MOULIN STUDIOS, San Francisco
Sketches © LEO KERZ
GENCER AT SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
FRANCESCA DA
RIMINI
SEASON 1956 –
1957
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| With Oliviero de Fabritiis (Conductor) |
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| Robert Watt Miller (President of Opera Union), Kurt Herbert Adler (General Manager SF Opera) |
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| Carlo Maestrini (Stage Director), Mary Gray (Biancofore), Anselmo Colzani (Giovanni), Gianni Lazzari (Chorus Master), Oliviero de Fabritiis (Conductor), Kurt Herbert Adler (General Manager) |
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| Carlo Maestrini (Stage Director), Oliviero de Fabritiis (Conductor), Mary Gray (Biancofore) |
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| Robert Watt Miller (President of Opera Union), Kurt Herbert Adler (General Manager) |
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| Anselmo Colzani (Giovanni), Oliviero de Fabritiis (Conductor), Kurt Herbert Adler (General Manager) |
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| Ayşe Kayaalp, Cem İpekçi (Turkish exchange students in SF) |
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| Engin Cezzar, Fatma Cezzar (her friends) “Everyman, I will go with thee and be thy guide, in
thy most need to go by thy side”
To her friend Engin Cezzar Date: 31.12.1948 Signed by Leyla Gencer  |
 |
| Hotel Mark Hopkins (Argonaut Room): Nejat Sönmez (Director of Turkish News Agency), Luis Alessandria (Bank of America), Attilia Radice (Italian Primaballerina and Mr. De Fabritiis’ wife), Anselmo Colzani (Giovanni) |
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| Hotel Mark Hopkins (Argonaut Room): Attilia Radice (Italian Primaballerina and Mr. De Fabritiis’ wife) |
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| Hotel Mark Hopkins (Argonaut Room): Sir Robert Haddew (British Counsul General), Mrs. Kurt Herbert Adler, Hans Hotter (Baritone) |
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| Fort Point “Golden Gate” (with Fatma Cezzar) |
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| Golden Gate Park Japanese Tea Garden (with Fatma Cezzar) |
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| Golden Gate Park Japanese Tea Garden |
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| Coin Tower “Golden Gate" (with Fatma Cezzar) |
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| Coin Tower “Golden Gate" (with Fatma Cezzar) |
VATAN DAILY NEWSPAPER
1956.07.26
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1956 August
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1956 August
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1956.08.07
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1956.08.07
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1956.08.07
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1956.08.07
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1956.08.07
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1956.08.07
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1956.08.08
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1956.08.08
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1956.08.08
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1956.08.08
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1956.08.09
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1956.08.09
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1956.08.11
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1956.08.12
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1956.08.12
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1956.08.12
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1956.08.12
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1956.08.12
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1956.08.22
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1956.08.22
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1956.08.23
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1956.08.30
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1956.08.31
MUSICAL COURIER [VOL.154]
1956 September
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1956.09.03
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1956.09.08
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1956.09.09
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1956.09.09
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1956.09.09
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1956.09.11
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1956.09.11
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1956.09.11
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1956.09.11
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1956.09.11
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1956.09.12
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1956.09.12
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1956.09.12
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1956.09.12
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1956.09.12
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1956.09.13
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1956.09.14
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1956.09.15
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1956.09.21
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1956.09.21
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1956.09.22
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1956.09.23
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1956.09.23
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1956.09.23
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1956.09.23
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1956.09.23
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1956.09.23
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1956.09.25
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1956.09.26
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1956.09.27
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1956.09.27
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1956.09.28
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1956.09.28
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1956.09.28
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1956.09.29
PETALUMA ARGUS-COURIER
1956.09.29
SAN FRANCISCO CALL-BULLETIN
1956.09.29
MARIE HICKS DAVIDSON
“Turkish Diva was given a standing ovation at the Opera Gala”
Mrs. Gencer proved herself to be as a great artist as Eleanor Duse to whom she resembles a lot. Her voice is very rich and she can sing with ease both in the low and the high ranges. Her accomplishment as an actress is rather unique. She fills the stage with the air of a true queen. Leyla Gencer may as well be accepted as one of the chosen people in the opera world.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
1956.09.30
NEW YORK TIMES
1956.09.30
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
1956.09.30
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
1956.09.30
YENİ SABAH DAILY NEWSPAPER
1956.09.30
OPERA MAGAZINE
1956 September
VARIETY
1956 October
CUMHURIYET DAILY NEWSPAPER
1956.10.01
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1956.10.01
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
1956.10.01
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
1956.10.01
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
1956.10.03
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
1956.10.03
THE PENINSULA TIMES TRIBUNE
1956.10.04
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
1956.10.04
OAKLAND TRIBUNE
1956.10.06
TIME MAGAZINE
1956.10.08
The San Francisco Opera, second to Manhattan's Metropolitan in rank, is second to none in discovering and importing good foreign singers. *Last week it pulled a double coup, gave U.S. listeners their first chance to hear famed Bulgarian Basso Boris Christoff and beauteous Turkish Soprano Leyla Gencer. Gencer, loved at first sight, was the modest and moving star of Zandonai's rarely heard Francesca da Rimini; Christoff, playing his temperament to the hilt, was almost the ruination of Boris Godunov.
With Christoff, the trouble began during the first orchestral rehearsal. The
trouble: no Christoff. He was sulking in stubborn silence in his dressing room,
apparently because he did not like Leo Kerz's stage design. Twenty minutes
later, Director Kurt Herbert Adler had moved some furniture and props—Christoff
likes to play in profile instead of facing the audience—and the rehearsal went
on. The actual performance was given in a strange mélange of heavy, traditional
furniture and Kerz's stark, modern setting, framed in 14 big, black, red-tipped
vertical daggers; neither set nor performance as a whole was very convincing.
But when Boris began to sing, it was another matter. His voice was strong,
resonant and of uncanny clarity. He began his long prayer deliberately, never
let his voice reach its maximum power (he saved that for his death scene),
indulged in no gasps or sobs, nevertheless developed a painful pitch of feeling
as he reached the nadir, almost whispering "Gospodi!" ("Oh my
God!"). Not a handclap broke the hushed silence when he finished.
Christoff's Boris is no lunatic, but a sensitive, conscience-stricken man whose
terror at his infanticide finally cracks his sanity. The audience loved him. But
not quite so much as he seemed to expect.
Self-approving behavior comes naturally to 37-year-old Basso Christoff. The
King of Bulgaria heard him sing 14 years ago and told him that it would redound
to the glory of Bulgaria if he were to become famous as a singer throughout the
world. To see that he did, the King gave the young man a royal scholarship,
sent him to Italy for study and experience. Christoff fled to Salzburg when the
Germans occupied Italy ("not wanting to get in any kind of a war"),
later returned and applied for Italian citizenship and married an Italian girl.
In 1946 Christoff made his Rome debut (as Colline in La Bohéme) and three years
later achieved Boris, which had been his musical ambition since the time he saw
the opera as a child. When the Met's Rudolf Bing invited him to New York in
1950, his visa was denied—Christoff never learned why. This time, the
combination of eased diplomatic relations with Communist nations and some
careful spadework by the San Francisco Opera officials did the trick.
Slender Leyla Gencer, 29, moved about San Francisco's rehearsal stage followed
by approving smiles, inviting glances and, among the company's Italian singers,
audible coos. The heiress of a family of Turkish landowners, she gave up the
idea of developing her voice when she married a banker. But in 1948 he
encouraged her to study at the conservatory. Today she is diva of the Turkish
State Opera in Ankara and is known across Europe.
She was tapped for the San Francisco engagement sound unheard, after Director
Adler scheduled Francesca, then learned that his star soprano (Renata Tebaldi)
would be unable to take the role after all. San Francisco listeners found the
old (1914) opera dull and static in spite of its lush arias, but Soprano Gencer
was something to hear. Her voice is big, warm and beautiful, and capable of
surging emotional power. The U.S. will be hearing more of her.
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
1956.10.08
VARIETY
1956.10.10
YENİ YILDIZ MAGAZINE
1956.10.10
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1956.10.11
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1956.10.12
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1956.10.12
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1956.10.13
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1956.10.13
THE SPOKESMAN REVIEW
1956.10.14
MILLIYET DAILY NEWSPAPER
1956.10.16
STAR NEWS
1956.10.17
OPERA NEWS MAGAZINE
1956.10.22
TTOK BELLETENİ No.178
1956 September
 |
Leyla Gencer en
Amérique
Un journal du soir a publié des détails intéressants sur l’arrivée de la grande artiste de l’Opéra National d'Ankara Mme Leyla Gencer, qui a été engagée, pour six semaines, par l'Opéra de San Francisco. Elle chantera ensuite au Métropolitain Opera de New York, ce qui est un événement artistique considérable.
« Il y avait grande foule à l'aéroport de La Guardia à l'arrivée de l'avion de
la PAA, écrit l'auteur de l'article et nous revîmes Leyla Gencer assaillie par
les journalistes à sa descente d'avion. « Accompagnée de son manager M. Faruk
Fenik, elle portait un tailleur gris clair et un chapeau blanc. On lui offre
des fleurs, on l'acclame. « La soprano répond aux journalistes, mais on la voit
très émue par cette réception inattendue. On la fête comme une petite reine.
« La raison de cette curiosité est naturelle. Une partie de public américain
croit encore que la femme turque est voilée et vit au harem ; il est heureux de
recevoir une grande artiste sur les scènes de ses plus grands théâtres. « Les
journaux américains annonçaient l'arrivée de la grande artiste turque depuis
deux semaines.
« On dirige Leyla vers le bureau d'immigration où se trouve un salon de presse.
C'est là que les journalistes interviewent les plus grandes personnalités
étrangères débarquant aux USA. Et c’est une pluie de questions les plus
saugrenues qui commence.
« Mme. Gençer qui parle le français et l'italien à la perfection, ne connaît
que superficiellement l'anglais, Elle nous appelle à son aide et nous charge de
répondre aux questions.
« Par exemple, on lui demande ses impressions sur l'Amérique. É — Je ne peux en
avoir, puis que je viens de débarquer sur le sol américain « Un de nos
camarades, Cemil Erk, connaissant la presse d'Outre-Atlantique, répond pour
elle. Mais Leyla se ressaisit et déclare en français.
— Naturellement, c'est pour moi le plus grand bonheur de venir en Amérique. Et elle parla ensuite de ses débuts et succès sur les scènes d'Europe.
— Avez-vous de la chance pour être engagée par le Métropolitain Opéra ?
— Oui, dit-elle, mais elle ne s'étend pas sur ses engagements et Leyla se
tourne vers nous et nous déclare en turc :
— J'ai en effet reçu des offres du Métropolitain Opéra, mais préfère ne pas en
parler, car je dois chanter d'abord à celui de San Francisco.
Les journalistes américains, souhaitent bon succès et déclarèrent que le public sera heureux d'entendre la soprano d'Ankara. ;
Des centaines de photos sont tirées et nous arrivons avec peine à dégager
l'artiste de ce siège en règle des photographes. Nous l'entraînons dans une
voiture qui nous mène vers un grand hôtel de Manhattan, où elle logera.
M. Cemil Erk nous invite tous à l'Athlétique Club. Mais Leyla se sent un peu
fatiguée de toutes les émotions de la journée. Malgré cela, elle accepte
l'invitation.
Le lendemain tous les journaux publient la photo de Leyla Gençer en première
page.
Au cours de cette soirée M. Cemil Erk présenta la grande artiste à presque
toutes les personnalités les plus connues du monde artistique de New York.
Il y avait un nombre d'Américains venus de San Francisco pour la connaître, qui
la fêtèrent au cours de cette soirée. Leyla Gencer fut tellement entourée ce
soir qu'elle perdit sa cape en vison.
Le lendemain, tandis qu'elle prenait l'avion de San Francisco, nous la
rassurâmes sur le sort de sa fourrure, car rien ne se perd à l'Athlétique Club.
MUSICAL AMERICA
1956.11.01
OPERA NEWS
1956.11.05
THE DAILY BREEZE
1956.11.08
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
1956.11.10
OPERA NEWS
1956.11.19
STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
1956.11.29
OPERA MAGAZINE
1956 December
OPERA ANNUAL
1957
THE PENINSULA TIMES TRIBUNE
1957.09.21
OAKLAND TRIBUNE
1957.09.22
KOBBE'S COMPLETE OPERA BOOK
1976
SATURDAY REVIEW
1978
THE SAN FRANCISCO OPERA 1922 - 1978
1978
ARTHUR BLOOMSFIELD
GENCER IN SAN FRANCISCO WAR MEMORIAL OPERA
From Arthur
Bloomfield’s book The San Francisco Opera 1922 – 1978
(1978 Comstock Editions):
……. Francesca project stemmed
from the fact that Tebaldi was learning the role for Maggio Musicale in
Florance. When that the Festival dropped the work, she was less interested in
doing it for San Francisco. It was more feasible for Adler to go ahead
substitute soprano than a substitute opera – the production was already built
when the unwooable Tebaldi made her decision – so Leyla Gencer, a Turkish
soprano with Italian opera experience, was imported. She turned out to be an
exceptionally interesting if uneven artist. Her physical beauty at the time was
marked, her poise sure, her pianissimi exquisite, her voice in general, when
well-projected, remarkably warm in tone. Whether she made more or less of
Francesca than Tebaldi might have done is one of history’s little question marks. ……. The report continued with a statement
of the position of the San Francisco Opera, which was, not surprisingly, that
Madam Callas was fired, and that a complaint, furthermore, was being sent off
to the American Guild of Musical Artists. The fact that a recording of
Cherubini’s Medea was on the ailing Callas’ September schedule – sessions took
place from 12th to 19th – did not sit exactly well with
Adler and Miller. Nor the fact that she “rested up” by going to an early
September ball tossed for her in Venice by Elsa Maxwell. Callas had wired Adler
September 1 that he should have a sub on hand “in case”. Bul Callas’ logical follow-up,
in Adler’s estimation, would have been either come on schedule and try to
perform, or to cancel outright, and stay home. Most subscribers felt Adler and
Miller were to be commended for their uncompromising action, and after Leonie
Rysanek’s Lady Macbeth and Leyla Gencer’s Lucia – both highly successful –
Maria Callas was, if not forgotten, hardy missed. ……. Gencer’s Lucia was not of the pretty-pretty
pyrotechnical variety. Here was a warm spinto soprano who simply happened to
have coloratura flexibility as well. The riches of her voice which, like Callas’,
has a certain sonic sex appeal, helped produce an adult Lucia. Also, vivid
acting: she conveyed a real sense of derangement in the Mad Scene. All in all,
this was the most memorable portrayal offered in San Francisco by a sometimes-remarkable
artist. Her success in the part indicated that another reengagement was in order,
and she returned in 1958. Her other assignments were Violetta and Liu, the latter
only in Los Angeles. ……. Mezzo Irene Dalis
appeared first in one of her best roles, Eboli in Don Carlo. She swung into it
with a fiery regality and sang it warmly, winning friends who would welcome her
back in many seasons to come. She shared to honours in the first two
performances with Tozzi, whose limping, swaggering Philip certainly one of the
best all-around characterizations her offered through the years of personages
more interesting than the stock Ramfis and Zaccaria types. Frank Guarrera was a
vivid Rodrigo, Piero Miranda a so-so Don Carlo. No soprano has ever known
better than Leyla Gencer how to stand about looking noble, but her vocal projection
in the role of Elizabeth was spotty. …….
Opening Night
1967 brought a revival of Gioconda, not seen nineteen years. Adler had waited
until he had the whopping sort of cast that can make this over-climaxed irresistible
warhorse run. Up through the summer of ’67 there were problems, two of his choices
agreeing the job and then backing off. Crespin was to do her first Gioconda,
and she had coaching with Zinka Milanov in Yugoslavia on her agenda, but
indisposition made it impossible for her to learn the role in time, and Peter
Glossop defected from Barnaba for Fallstaff with Sarah Chadwell’s American
National Company which toured the U.S. in the wake of the prematurely hatched
Met National troupe. Crespin was ably enough replaced by Leyla Gencer, absent
for nearly a decade from San Francisco scene. For Barnaba there were the
parched tones of Chester Ludgin, a man-of-all-work baritone who was encountering
vocal problems especially inconvenient for such a draftable singer. With Patané
exceedingly crisp, cultivated man on the podium. Grace Bumbry an ideally
handsome, mellifluous Laura, Maureen Forrester (a rare figure on the operatic
stage) a plummy Cieca, and Cioni a pingy Enzo, this was, despite problems, a
Gioconda lineup not to be dismissed. Gencer’s dramatic handling of the title role
made one respect her artistic integrity even as one worried over instances of
vocal abandon. Espaccially after the opening night, a traditionally troublesome
time for voices, she achieved a fairly even effect, always using her voice,
according to her habit, as a piece of highly charged equipment. There have been
more brilliant-sounding sopranos of the Gioconda type, but none more
resourceful. Gioconda being sort o character whor turns up from everybody’s
woodwork, she tends to be more than a bit tiresome, but Gencer put you on her
side.
THE ADLER YEARS
1982
KURT HERBERT ADLER
REMEMBERS
1985
AN INTERVIEW WITH ADLER BY TIMOTHY PFAFF UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKLEY
About Leyla Gencer’s 1956 Company Debut
Pfaff: Another singer from the '56 season was Leyla Gencer. Am I saying her name, right?
Adler: Well, it was pronounced and spelled differently in Europe and here.
Didn't we spell it here G-E-N-G-E-R?
Pfaff: "C." G-E-N-C-E-R.
Adler: "C"? All right, then it was somewhere in Europe that it was spelled G-E-N-G-E-R.
Leyla, "Genger" or "Gencer," came here when Tebaldi
cancelled Francesca da Rimini. She cancelled very late. It was Glauco Curiel,
who was at that time prompter here- -he was also prompter at La Scala, and the
favorite prompter of Karaj an. It was he who caused the problem in Vienna when
Karajan cancelled a performance once because the union wouldn't allow an
Italian prompter in Vienna. But he recommended her.
Pfaff: What was his name?
Adler: Glauco Curiel. He was from Trieste. And Glauco, who was prompter here,
told me of a Turkish soprano, who had all the beauty of appearance that
Francesca needed, and the voice, and he thought she knew the part. So, I called
her, without knowing her, and I asked her if she knew Francesca. She said yes.
Now, Leyla Gencer always said yes, she knew the roles, and never did. But she
was very musical and learned very fast. She was, as frequently with musicians
of this kind, never quite precise, because she was always too late. And Leyla
came here, and was really overwhelmingly beautiful, and sang the role of
Francesca da Rimini.
Francesca da Rimini was not one of the successes here. I don't think I cast it
all the way through the way it should have been cast. There was another thing:
Oliviero de Fabritiis conducted it, and he was a friend of Zandonai, the
composer. He took terribly slow tempi. I think that his slow tempi, besides the
wrong production- -we used the production that Leo Kurz devised, mostly from
existing scenery- -and it wasn't a real success. The people didn't know the
opera at that time, our promotion was not the best, and, really, I'm not sure
it is the best of all operas. But it is an effective production; of course,
D'Annunzio is a great name, since the story is his.
But Gencer had a big success, and I thanked her. She helped me out on many
occasions. For instance, when Callas cancelled Lucia, she learned Lucia and
sang it, which I don't think was necessarily her role. She learned it in ten
days here, and got away with it. That's the way to say it. But then she pushed
me, frankly, more and more. I know I let her sing Manon, which I think was
wrong. I let her sing Gilda, which I think was wrong. But those days, you know,
you make some mistakes, and you learn from mistakes.
But she had also something. She was an interesting performer. And she was a
performer who was strongest in Europe. She had a very strong following in La
Scala, much more so than in the States. She sang here, and I think she sang at
the Met, too, and at other theatres. But at La Scala, the people were crazy
about her.
Pfaff: What were her virtues as a singer?
Adler: Her voice was basically very, very beautiful. She didn't always master
it, technically, although she had stupendous pianissimi. But when she forced,
and in dramatic parts she had a tendency to force, there was something- -she
must not have heard herself, you know? But she was a very strong performer.
Sold herself this way, also. But at La Scala the reaction of the public was
different from that of the public here. But I think that the San Francisco
Opera owes Leyla Gencer all kinds of great evenings, and she owes the San
Francisco Opera all kinds of great opportunities. And she might admit to
herself, at least, that certain opportunities she asked for were not
necessarily the right ones.
 |
| Gencer with Kurt Herbert Adler, San Francisco Photo © BILL COGAN, San Francisco |
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
1985.03.04
KOBBE'S COMPLETE OPERA BOOK
1997
FRANCESCA DA RIMINI
Opera in four acts, text by Tito Ricordi after D'Annunzio's play of the
same name. Première. Teatro
Regio. Turin, 19 February 1914. with Canetti. Crimi, Cigada, Paltrinieri,
conductor Panizza. First performed Covent Garden. 1914, with Edvina.
Martinelli, Cigada, conductor Panizza: la Scala, Milan. 1916. with Raisa.
Pertile. Danise: Metropolitan, 1916, with Alda. Martinelli. Amato, conductor
Polacco. Revived la Scala. 1929. with dalla Rizza. Pertile, Maugeri, conductor
Panizza: 1937. with Cigna. Parmeggiani. Maugeri, conductor Zandonal 1942, with
Somigli, Ziliani, Maugeri, conductor Guarnieri: 1946, with Carbone. Zillani.
Stabile, conductor Guarnieri: 1950, with Caniglia. Prandelli. Biasini,
conductor Capuana: 1959. with Olivero, del Monaco, Giangiacomo Guelfi: San
Francisco, 1956, with Gencer, Metropolitan, 1984, with Scotto, Domingo, Cornell
MacNeil, conductor Levine.
Zandonai, a pupil of Mascagni's, had a round Zdosen
operas to his credit before he died at the age of sixty-one. Several are of
more than passing interest, but only one, Francesca da Rimini, has been the
subject of regular revival. D'Annunzio's play inspiring him to effects of real
delicacy and to music of greater passion than elsewhere.
Act I The scene is a court in the house of the Polentani, in Ravenna. A colloquy between Francesca's brother Ostasio and the notary Ser Toldo Berardengo informs us that for reasons of state Francesca is to be married to one of the three sons of Malatesta da Verrucchio, who, although named Giovanni, is known as Glanciotto, the Lamester. because of his deformity and ugliness. A plot has been formed by which she is introduced to his handsome younger brother Paolo, with whom, under the impression that he is her destined bridegroom, she falls in love at first sight with a passion that is fully reciprocated.
The Malatestas are victorious. The attacking foes are driven off. Gianciotto comes up on the platform and brings news to Paolo of his election as Captain of the People and Commune of Florence, for which city Paolo presently departs. Malatestino is carried in wounded (he has lost the sight of an eye), but he exhibits great courage and wishes to continue the fight.
Act III The scene is the apartment of Francesca, where she is reading to her women the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. The women dance and sing until Francesca dismisses them. Paolo has returned. The greeting from her to him is simple enough: 'Benvenuto, signore mio cognato' (Welcome, my lord and kinsman), but the music is charged with deeper significance. Even more pronounced is the meaning in the musical phrase at Francesca's words.
Together they read the story which Francesca had begun reading to her women. Their heads come close together over the book, and when, in the ancient love tale, the queen and her lover kiss. Francesca's and Paolo's lips meet and linger in an ecstasy of passion.
Act IV The scene is an octagonal hall of grey stone. A grated door leads to a subterranean prison. Malatestino is desperately in love with Francesca, and even hints that he would go to the length of poisoning Glanciotto. Francesca repulses him. Cries of a prisoner from the dungeon have disturbed Francesca.
Gianciotto enters the room and Francesca complains to him of Malatestino's cruelty and of his attitude towards her - what it is she does not specify.
Francesca has prepared food for her husband before his journey, and he removes his sword and helmet before eating. Suddenly there is a terrible cry from the dungeon: it is evident that Malatestino has carried out his intention of beheading the prisoner. A moment later, knocking is heard at the door through which Malatestino went down to the dungeon: Francesca quickly goes out so as not to have to see him again.
Out of revenge for his slighted passion. Malatestino excites the jealousy of Gianciotto by arousing his suspicions of Paolo and Francesca. Gianciotto works himself into a passion and demands to be shown proof of the accusation.
Malatestino bids him wait until nightfall. The scene changes to Francesca's chamber. It is night. Francesca is lying on the bed. From her sleep she is roused by a wild dream that harm has come to Paolo. Her women try to comfort her. After an exchange of gentle and affectionate phrases, she dismisses them.
A light knocking at the door, and Paolo's voice calls, 'Francesca!' She flings open the door and throws herself into the arms of her lover. There is an interchange of impassioned phrases. Then a violent shock is heard at the door, followed by the voice of Gianciotto, demanding admission. Paolo spies a trapdoor in the floor of the apartment, pulls the bolt, and bids Francesca open the door of the room for her
husband, while he escapes.
Gianciotto rushes into the room. Paolo's cloak catches in the bolt of the trapdoor. He is still standing head and shoulders above the level of the floor. Seizing
him by the hair, the Lamester forces him to come up.
Paolo unsheathes his dagger. Gianciotto draws his sword, thrusts at Paolo. Francesca throws herself between the two men, receives her husband's sword
full in the breast and falls into Paolo's arms. Mad with rage, her deformed husband with another deadly thrust pierces his brother's side. Paolo and Francesca
fall to the floor. With a painful effort, Gianciotto breaks his blood-stained sword over his knee.
Riccardo Zandonai
Act I The scene is a court in the house of the Polentani, in Ravenna. A colloquy between Francesca's brother Ostasio and the notary Ser Toldo Berardengo informs us that for reasons of state Francesca is to be married to one of the three sons of Malatesta da Verrucchio, who, although named Giovanni, is known as Glanciotto, the Lamester. because of his deformity and ugliness. A plot has been formed by which she is introduced to his handsome younger brother Paolo, with whom, under the impression that he is her destined bridegroom, she falls in love at first sight with a passion that is fully reciprocated.
The Malatestas are victorious. The attacking foes are driven off. Gianciotto comes up on the platform and brings news to Paolo of his election as Captain of the People and Commune of Florence, for which city Paolo presently departs. Malatestino is carried in wounded (he has lost the sight of an eye), but he exhibits great courage and wishes to continue the fight.
Act III The scene is the apartment of Francesca, where she is reading to her women the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. The women dance and sing until Francesca dismisses them. Paolo has returned. The greeting from her to him is simple enough: 'Benvenuto, signore mio cognato' (Welcome, my lord and kinsman), but the music is charged with deeper significance. Even more pronounced is the meaning in the musical phrase at Francesca's words.
Together they read the story which Francesca had begun reading to her women. Their heads come close together over the book, and when, in the ancient love tale, the queen and her lover kiss. Francesca's and Paolo's lips meet and linger in an ecstasy of passion.
Act IV The scene is an octagonal hall of grey stone. A grated door leads to a subterranean prison. Malatestino is desperately in love with Francesca, and even hints that he would go to the length of poisoning Glanciotto. Francesca repulses him. Cries of a prisoner from the dungeon have disturbed Francesca.
Gianciotto enters the room and Francesca complains to him of Malatestino's cruelty and of his attitude towards her - what it is she does not specify.
Francesca has prepared food for her husband before his journey, and he removes his sword and helmet before eating. Suddenly there is a terrible cry from the dungeon: it is evident that Malatestino has carried out his intention of beheading the prisoner. A moment later, knocking is heard at the door through which Malatestino went down to the dungeon: Francesca quickly goes out so as not to have to see him again.
Out of revenge for his slighted passion. Malatestino excites the jealousy of Gianciotto by arousing his suspicions of Paolo and Francesca. Gianciotto works himself into a passion and demands to be shown proof of the accusation.
Malatestino bids him wait until nightfall. The scene changes to Francesca's chamber. It is night. Francesca is lying on the bed. From her sleep she is roused by a wild dream that harm has come to Paolo. Her women try to comfort her. After an exchange of gentle and affectionate phrases, she dismisses them.
A light knocking at the door, and Paolo's voice calls, 'Francesca!' She flings open the door and throws herself into the arms of her lover. There is an interchange of impassioned phrases. Then a violent shock is heard at the door, followed by the voice of Gianciotto, demanding admission. Paolo spies a trapdoor in the floor of the apartment, pulls the bolt, and bids Francesca open the door of the room for her
husband, while he escapes.
Gianciotto rushes into the room. Paolo's cloak catches in the bolt of the trapdoor. He is still standing head and shoulders above the level of the floor. Seizing
him by the hair, the Lamester forces him to come up.
Paolo unsheathes his dagger. Gianciotto draws his sword, thrusts at Paolo. Francesca throws herself between the two men, receives her husband's sword
full in the breast and falls into Paolo's arms. Mad with rage, her deformed husband with another deadly thrust pierces his brother's side. Paolo and Francesca
fall to the floor. With a painful effort, Gianciotto breaks his blood-stained sword over his knee.
GRAMOPHONE OPERA GUIDE
1998
Francesca da Rimini
Elena Filipova sop
Francesca
Koch Schwann 31368-2 (two discs: 126 minutes: DDD). Text and translation included. Recorded at a performance in the Festspielhaus, Bregenz on July 20th, 1994.
Francesca da Rimini, whose music fuses post-Puccinian
Italian lyricism with voluptuously rich orchestral colour owing something to
Wagner, rather more to Strauss and to Zandonai's French contemporaries, is
surely ripe for rediscovery (we say rediscovery-the work is still
intermittently in the Italian repertory and that of the New York Met-because it
is an extreme rarity elsewhere, and this is currently the only available CD
recording). Those who are familiar with the work will know that what stands in
the way of more frequent performance is the peculiarly demanding title-role,
associated in the past with such formidable singing actresses as Magda Olivero,
Leyla Gencer and Raina Kabaivanska. Is Elena Filipova up to those
demands and those comparisons? The answer is an emphatic "Yes'; indeed, on
the basis of this performance, it is astonishing that this appears to be her
first operatic recording. The voice is a forceful spinto soprano, yet capable
of caressing softness and seamless line; she responds to words and to the ripe
richness of Zandonai's style with quite beautiful phrasing. As Paolo, Frederic
Kalt is a robust tenor with a burnished gleam that only occasionally takes on a
harsh edge, he too is stylish but would be twice as impressive if he
occasionally sang quietly. Of the other principals Rouillon, as Francesca's
unfortunate husband, is a fine, grave baritone, as the evil Malatestino, Riegel
is vividly characterful if rather too often over the top if not half-way down
the other side.
ATATÜRK ARAŞTIRMA MERKEZİ DERGİSİ
JOURNAL OF ATATÜRK RESEARCH CENTER
2016
EVERET HELM
Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi
Atatürk Supreme Council for Culture, Language and History Atatürk Research CenterAtatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi
Journal of Atatürk Research Center
ISSN 1011- 727X
Türk soprano Leyla Gencer’in San Francisco’da “Francesca Da Rimini” adındaki operanın başrolünde gösterdiği başarı ise Türkiye adına sanatsal bir başarı olarak basın ve yayın organlarında ses getirmişti. San Francisco’da yayınlanan “Call-Bulletin” dergisinin opera tenkitçisi Marie Hicks Davidson konuya ilişkin olarak Gencer hakkında: “Bayan Gencer, şahsen çok benzediği Elenora Duse kadar sanatkâr olduğunu ispat etmiştir. Sesi gayet zengindir. Pes ve tiz tonlarda aynı kolaylıkla söyleyebilmektedir. Bilhassa bir tiyatro olarak başarısı eşsizdir. Sahneyi bir kraliçe edasıyla dolduruyor. Leyla Gencer kendisini opera âleminin seçilmişleri olarak kabul edebilir (177)” şeklinde yorum yapmıştı. Gencer, İtalya’da ünlü Scala Operası’nda temsil edilen “Manon Lescaut Operası’nda 22 Ocak 1957 (178), “Traviata Operası’nda ise 11 Haziran 1957 tarihinde başrol oynamıştı (179)
“Leyla Gencer’in Başarısı”, TTOK Belleteni, S 189, Ekim 1957, s.6. (177)
“Leyla Gencer Scala Operası’nda”, TTOK Belleteni, S 178, Kasım 1956, s.5. (178)
“Leyla Gencer’in Yeni Bir Muvaffakiyeti”, TTOK Belleteni, S 185, Haziran 1957, s.20 (179)
