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.
