- When you sing, you have to feel what you are saying.... I actually cried on stage. Once in a while a note would issue forth that was not orthodox. That’s why the American critics don’t like me. But I don’t care. They want a music with water and soap. (Leyla Gencer)
- I gave more bad performances than good ones. (Leyla Gencer)
Along with reviews such as “brilliant, perfect, extraordinary” Gencer also received negative reviews such as “a complete disaster, wrong casting, not her role” regarding her interpretations. Yet she didn’t take them seriously.
QUOTATIONS
© Translation: Ayşen Zülfikar
In the “Gencer and Critics” section; you can find the English translations of some reviews gathered both from Turkish and foreign press. You can also find the same articles in the opera performance section.
I’ve paid special attention to put each review below the related topic. For example, if a review is about an Aida performance that took place at La Scala Theatre in 1966, the related articles shall be found right below the page dedicated to that production.
Meanwhile, the articles that are not about Gencer’s performances, but contain general information on her life can be found in the “Press Clippings” Section.
Here are some of the reviews and anecdotes that I’ve gathered from press:
IL MATTINO (05.1954)
San Carlo management made a right choice of inviting Leyla Gencer- who was the revelation of the previous season’s “Cavalleria Rusticana”, to sing the role of Cio-Cio-San. Thanks to her artistic sensibility and her noble interpretation, Gencer has been a remarkable Butterfly. With her unique style, the young yet famous soprano conquered the audience. After a big round of applause, Leyla Gencer sang once again the famous aria.
IL PICCOLO (13.07.1955) G. Del Basso
Leyla Gencer often excels herself and her voice comes to a level which many “singing artists” can’t reach. With the deep, shadowy, and soft frequencies of her voice, she definitely “sings”. Her inexplicable and indescribable ascents and descents of the voice excite the public immensely. Leyla Gencer’s voice and personality reach the public within deep emotionality and yet she never sounds artificial. The sympathy that she receives from the public is undeniable. Leyla Gencer is a unique, extraordinary personality of the opera world.
OPERA Magazine (09.1955) Libera Danielis
It’s been a long time since I saw a La Traviata of this high quality. And that also includes the performance of Maria Callas at Arena di Verona that I saw three years ago.
HAKİMİYET Newspaper (04.11.1955) Sadi Gürel
It’s become a national right to boast about Leyla Gencer who performs enthusiastically even in her smallest concert. The praise and the fame that she has deservedly obtained abroad in the artistic countries is rather immense.
IL GIORNALE (13.07.1955)
The young Turkish soprano Leyla Gencer has an outstanding voice and a very powerful breathing technique. She interpreted La Traviata perfectly in accordance with Italian tradition.
SICILIA DEL POPOLO (13.07.1955)
Leyla Gencer is not only Turkey’s but also the Europe’s best soprano.
TIME Magazine (10.1956)
Leyla Gencer who is a 29-year-old graceful lady, took the rehearsal stage after the Italian artists who have charming smiles and inviting glances. She was engaged in this production of “Francesca” by Adler when Tebaldi was no-show. San Francisco audience found this opera rather boring and stagnant, despite its abundant arias. But they considered Gencer as an artist worthy of listening. The voice of Gencer is strong, sweet, beautiful, and capable of arousing emotions. America will be hearing her voice more in the future.
SES Magazine (05.03.1956) Sadi Gürel
“Spectacular Traviata”
YARIN PAZAR Magazine (10.03.1956) Müjgan Kutucular
Thanks to her voice and technique, Leyla Gencer’s operatic talent is approved even by the pickiest music enthusiasts.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICILE (1957) Alfred Frankenstein
If Leyla Gencer continues to be as successful as she was in Lucia, then she clearly will earn the right to be extremely proud as the famous primadonnas of whose names will not mentioned in these columns for the first time. Her vocal artistry, which possesses a robust and smooth tone quality of a lyric soprano and the lightness, agile qualities of a coloratura soprano must be appreciated and taken into serious consideration. She sang the bright lacy music warmly with considerable ease and control. In addition to her extremely potent vocal mastery, her acting skills made the performance even more appealing. To sum up, Leyla Gencer absolutely won her case.
OAKLAND TRIBUNE (1957) Cifford Gessler
Gencer found herself in an extremely difficult situation as she had to substitute the legendary and highly beloved singer Maria Callas. But she was so successful that she nearly made the audience forget about the presence of the great artist Umberto Berghi- a baritone with a rich timbre and personality who also made his debut before San Francisco audience. Gencer who had attained almost the same level of success singing La Traviata a week before, might as well be described as “one of the most credible and most suitable Violettas”. La Traviata is Gencer’s opera from the beginning until the end.
SAN FRANCISCO NEWS (1958)
She represented Queen Elizabeth in all her splendour.
SAN FRANCOSCO CALL-BULLETIN (1958)
A rare beauty on the stage, a rich voice, and perfect pianissimos.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (1958)
She interpreted the Spanish queen perfectly thanks to her perfect vocal technique and great musical approach.
VATAN Newspaper (08.11.1959) Ahmet Emin Yalman
And Gencer answered like this:
Gencer’s interpretation of Amelia's role was first-class.
IL MATTINO (25.09.1963) Alfredo Parente
It seems to me that Leyla Gencer has now reached to a very high level of technical knowledge, confidence, dramatic capacity, and competency. She can use her voice with an elegant and brilliant clarity. She can accentuate nuances between dark and light tones and has an agile, clear way of transitioning between passages. She renders her roles lively and passionate through her interpretation. In addition to her aesthetic and noble gestures, she renders a monumental appearance to the protagonist especially in the white costume that she wears in the last act.
IL MATTINO (03.05.1964) Alfredo Parente
Gencer interprets the personality of Elizabeth with full mastery by expressing the queen’s sharp edges as well as the delicate conjunctions of lightness and darkness in her character.
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (06.1965) John Werrack
Glyndebourne has succeeded in reviving this opera and undoubtedly Leyla Gencer deserves the most credit among all the artists.
THE OBSERVER (06.1965) Peter Heyport
After a rather shy entrance, Leyla Gencer interpreted a long memorable character with her mastery in her voice and acting skills.
Leyla Gencer who sang Lady Macbeth, is the best Lady Macbeth that Verdi could have wished for.
IL GAZZETTINA (10.04.1968) Marrio Messinis
It’s the first time that the world sees a such a magnificent Lady Macbeth after Maria Callas. Gencer’s interpretation exceeds Birgit Nilsson, Leonie Rysanek and Inge Borgh’s performances.
LA STAMPA (05.03.1969) Massimo Milla
Anyone who wonders why this Turkish lady whose voice isn’t even beautiful, has become indispensable for the Italian opera in only ten years, whose name is found on the opera posters that vary from Cherubini to Donizetti and Verdi operas and without whom it seems like all will collapse; should come here and listen to her. In the dramatic high notes, her voice vibrates like an over revving engine and gives us the feeling that it’s likely to burst but however, her low tones are extremely beautiful, warm, thrilling, sweet and soft. Yet she sings passionately as if she possesses a beautiful voice, she pushes the boundaries and since she has all the rest such as musical and dramatic intelligence; she succeeds…Gencer touches the audience deeply: she presents Gluck’s classical image in such a natural and up-to-date way, far from the intimidating cultural manipulation. She presents it as if it comes from an antic or mythological memory of common knowledge.
LE MONDE (23.12.1971) Eric Dechamps
A few days after his article was published in Le Combat, Eric Dechamps wrote another article for Le Monde where he stated similar comments and gave the title of “Is the Massimo Theatre of Palermo a rival to La Scala Milano?”. And at the end of the article, he advised the opera enthusiasts to go visit Sicily to witness “The Miracle of Palermo”.
IL GIORNO (09.05.1972) Lorenzo Arruga
“The Voice that makes the choir cry”
L’OPERA INTERNATIONAL (10.1981) Michel Parouty
Her interpretation is proper: The perfection of the phrases, the right usage of the voice colours and nuances, intelligence of the singing. Gencer knows how to emphasize the perfectly dramatic effects of the Bel Canto, to interpret melodic phrases sensitively like no one else.
NEW YORK TIMES (03 April 2015)
If a music critic’s passions run high, the passions of his readers can run higher still, as Mr. Porter learned — vicariously — after an incident in Milan. The scene was La Scala, and the time was not long after he had written a review criticizing the Turkish soprano Leyla Gencer, whom opera fans around the world revered with a proprietary zeal.
