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New York JFK Airport, TWA Terminal [1973.04.11] Photo © AP / Marty Lederhandler |
Gencer’s voyage with opera started in 1943 as she
began participating concerts and radio programs. Her first orchestral concert
was in Istanbul on May 9, 1947.
It was the premiere of Cemal
Reşit Rey’s stage cantata Özsoy where she sang the brief
soprano part under the baton of the composer himself. After leaving the
Istanbul State Conservatory and going to Ankara, Gencer made her opera debut at
Ankara State Opera in 1950 in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana.
Gencer had her first
experiences abroad by giving recitals on radios. She gave recitals in Holland
(in 1948), on BBC Radio (in December 1951), on Radio-Diffusion Française
(1951). Her first radio recital in Italy was in July 1953 at Rai-Roma.
She was accompanied by pianist
Giorgio Favoretto. In the same year she gave her first orchestral concert with
Orchestra del Rai di Torino under the baton of Arturo Basile. She sang duets
and arias from the operas Un ballo in maschera, Faust and La
forza del destino with Agostino Lazzarini, one of the most significant
tenors of that period.
After her successful
performances as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at
ten thousand-seat Arena Flegrea of Naples on the 16th and 19th of July 1953;
Gencer caught the attention of the famous conductor Tullio Serafin. She was
invited to perform Madama Butterfly and Eugene Onegin the
following year at Teatro San Carlo - Naples in February and May of 1954. On
February 11, 1954, Gencer performed in the 50th year anniversary
production of Madam Butterfly under the baton of Gabriele
Santini and subsequently on March 17, 1954, she sang Tatiana in Eugene
Onegin under the baton of Tullio Serafin. The recordings of these two
operas are available on CDs.
Until the year 1957 when she
made her debut at Teatro alla Scala in Milan; Gencer sang Madam
Butterfly (Torino, Napoli, Belgrad), Tosca (Munich,
Lozan), La Traviata (Warsaw, Lodz, Poznan, Ankara, Reggio
Emilia, Trieste, Palermo), Kerem ile Aslı (Ankara), Die
Freischütz (Trieste) and The Consul (Ankara). In the
same period, she caught the public’s attention as Charlotte in
the opera Werther which was broadcast in Rai television on
April 23, 1955. The recording is available on DVD.
