D O N I Z E T T I  R E N A I S S A N C E   

TUDOR TRILOGY
Leyla Gencer as Anna Bolena, Elisabetta I in Roberto Devereux and as Maria Stuarda

Photos from left
Anna Bolena, 1965 Glyndebourne © GUY GRAVETT, Sussex
Roberto Devereux, 1966 Roma © TIEGHI, Roma
Maria Stuarda, 1969 Edinburgh © D.G. KIRGSTON, Edinburgh

Primarily the “trend” of reviving neglected operas started in 1957 when Maria Callas had a sensational success at La Scala in Anna Bolena. In one of her interviews Gencer said that “It was a trend and I followed it”. However, it was Gencer who successfully carried on this trend. Callas “revived” Anna Bolena and Gencer introduced the opera to bigger audiences. In 1958 right after Callas, Gencer sang on the Rai’s radio broadcast of the opera. In 1965 she performed the opera 12 nights at Glyndebourne Opera Festival. Gencer’s last performance of Anna Bolena was in Rome in 1977. In the era “Donizetti Renaissance” that began with Anna Bolena, Gencer also sang Donizetti’s other neglected operas such Maria Stuarda, Poliuto, Les Martyrs, Lucrezia Borgia, Belisario, Roberto Devereux, Caterina Cornaro and she proved to be the invincible queen of belcanto. Nevertheless, the recordings of these operas were made by recording artists such as Montserrat Caballé, Beverly Sills and Joan Sutherland. 

 

As Lucrezia Borgia, 1970 Milano

Photo © Teatro alla Scala / ERIO PICCAGLIANI, Milano

Gencer’s career reached its climax in the 60’s. In this period, she began to perform vocally challenging roles in operas such as Norma, Macbeth, I Puritani, Gerusalemme, Roberto Devereux, Lucrezia Borgia, Alceste, Maria Stuarda, Un ballo in maschera, Le nozze di Figaro, Beatrice di Tenda, Medea, Belisario, La Vestale, La Gioconda and I vespri Sicilianni. 

 

As Anna Bolena with Maestro Gianandrea Gavazzeni, 1965 Glyndebourne

Photo © GUY GRAVETT, Sussex 

Talking about her major performances in Gencer’s career, one must say a few words about Macbeth. Being undoubtedly the most impressive Lady Macbeth after Callas, Gencer performed the opera successfully in Palermo for the first time in 1960. She later sang the opera at La Scala, Venice, Florance, Rome, Cagliari, Treviso, Montova, Como, Livorno, and Maggio Musicale di Fiorentino Festival under the baton of Riccardo Muti where she had an outstanding success. In fifty years’, time no such soprano has yet out outshone Gencer’s interpretation of Lady Macbeth. Unfortunately, Gencer sang the opera only in Italy, European and American audiences didn’t have the chance to see her live performances of Lady Macbeth. 

One of the other most important operas of this period is Bellini’s masterpiece Norma. In 1962 Gencer sang the role for the first time in Barcelona and two years after she sang the opera in Buenos Aires. In the 1964-1965 seasons La Scala took a major risk and put both La Traviata and Norma in the program, the operas which were identified with Maria Callas. Karajan was scheduled to conduct La Traviata and Gavazzeni was scheduled to conduct Norma. Franco Zefirelli’s new production of La Traviata with soprano Mirella Freni premiered on December 17, 1964. It was a big failure, and the artists were harshly booed. Consequently, Callas fans reached their goal; Mirella Freni left the role after two performances and Anna Moffo who had taken over the role could sing only one night. After three performances, the production was removed from the opera calendar. Gencer’s mission in Norma was even harder to accomplish. She would appear in the Margherita Wallmann’s production in which Callas had sung in 1955. Besides, Giulietta Simionato would sing Adalgisa as she had sung ten years ago. Even the costumes would be the same. Briefly, every detail that would remind of Callas would be featured in the production. On the premiere date January 9, 1965; the only difference from the previous production would be Gencer. Callas fans were present in the lodges waiting for the performance to start. Gencer’s interpretation of the famous aria Casta Diva didn’t receive much applause but except for a few grumblings, it wasn’t even booed either. The premiere was being carried on successfully. Even La Scala’s Management was surprised. Because of La Traviata’s big failure, a major protest was expected that night. When the opera ended, the audience gave a huge round of applause. Gencer successfully passed the test and sang Norma in January and February; 9 nights as planned, and she became one of the very few sopranos who sang Norma at La Scala.

In the 60’s Gencer continued exploring the unknown. This time she sang Verdi’s neglected opera Gerusalemme in Italy and Germany. Not only it was Gencer’s, but it was also Donizetti’s golden era. Some of his operas were performed for the first time and revived by Gencer.  On May 2, 1964; Donizetti’s neglected opera Roberto Devereux was performed in Naples after a long period of time. Gencer sang the role of Elizabeth and won the heart of the tough Neapolitan audience with her usual enchanting interpretation, especially with the final aria Quel sangue versato. The audience gave her a standing ovation for several minutes.

Recording Excerpts 

00:00 Belisario Egli è spento Act III Scene VII

05:10 Caterina Cornaro Non più affanni Act II Scena X Finale

09:46 Roberto Devereux Quel sangue versato Act III Scene VIII

Donizetti Renaissance

Gencer was a notable bel canto soprano who spent most of her career in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s, and had a repertoire encompassing more than seventy roles. She made very few commercial recordings; however, numerous bootleg recordings of her performances exist. She was particularly associated with the heroines of Donizetti. In 1953, Gencer made her Italian debut at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples as Santuzza. She returned to Naples the following year for performances of Madama Butterfly and Eugene Onegin. In 1957, she made her debut at La Scala in Milan as Mme. Lidoine in the world premiere of Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites. She went on to appear regularly at La Scala, performing nineteen roles between 1957 and 1983 including Leonora in La forza del destino, Elisabetta in Don Carlos, the title role in Aida, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, the title role in Norma, Ottavia in L'incoronazione di Poppea and Alceste. At La Scala, she also appeared as the First Woman of Canterbury in the world premiere of Pizzetti's L'assassinio nella cattedrale in 1958. In 1960, she toured the USSR, singing concerts in Moscow and Baku. In 1962, she debuted at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlos and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. Her United States debut had been at the San Francisco Opera in 1956, as Francesca in Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini. She sang in other American opera houses as well, but never at the Metropolitan Opera, despite discussions about her being engaged to sing Tosca there, also in 1956. She sang Chopin's Polish songs in Paris with Nikita Magaloff, a Liszt-Bartók concert at La Scala, and a concert involving 'operas about Turks' in the Venetian carnival at La Fenice, showing her innovative character as an opera singer. Her last appearance on the operatic stage was in 1985, with La Prova di un'opera seria at La Fenice. She continued to appear in concerts until 1992. She was still active as of 2007 and had recently been appointed by La Scala's music director Riccardo Muti to run its school for young artists. Throughout her career, Gencer was particularly well known for her Donizetti, including Belisario, Poliuto, Anna Bolena, Lucrezia Borgia, Maria Stuarda and Caterina Cornaro. Her most acclaimed and best-known performance, though, was the Roberto Devereux she sang in Naples in 1964. Aside from bel canto roles, her repertory included works by such composers as Prokofiev, Mozart and Puccini. She appeared in many rarely performed operas, including Smareglia's La Falena, Rossini's Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, Spontini's Agnese di Hohenstaufen, Pacini's Saffo and Gluck's Alceste.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UqcKXkhjCo&list=RD5UqcKXkhjCo&start_radio=1

As Lucrezia Borgia, 1974 Dallas 

Photo © BILL COGAN, Dallas

Probably Lucrezia Borgia was Gencer’s most favoured and successful Donizetti performance. Gencer sang the opera for the first time in 1966 in Naples. Later she sang the opera in Rome (1967), Milan-La Scala (1970), Bergamo (1971), Dallas (1974) and Florence (1979). Once again, she introduced another neglected opera to the opera audience. The recordings of this opera were also made by Monserrat Caballé and Beverly Sills.

After her success as Lucrezia, Gencer achieved a sensational success on May 2, 1967; in the opening night of Maggio Musicale di Fiorentino Festival with her performance in Maria Stuarda. The famous line Figlia impura di Bolena had a shocking impact on the audience and yet the audience gave her a standing ovation in the final of the second act. After the successful performances of Maria Stuarda, another unknown opera was once again in Gencer’s agenda; Donizetti’s Belisario. It was a rarely performed opera which takes place in Byzantium. Gencer sang the role of Antonina and achieved another major success. Her interpretation of the aria Egli è spento in Venice is one of her best performances.

 

As Maria Stuarda, 1967 Firenze 
Photo © FOTO FIORENZA, Firenze

With her fans after a performance of Belisario (Antonia), 1970 Bergamo
Photo © FOTO FLASH, Bergamo

Q U E E N  O F  P I R A T E S  -  I 

 

Leyla Gencer was asked only twice to record for major recording companies. Both offers came directly from the famous conductor Tullio Serafin. He was planning to make two opera recordings (La Traviata and Simon Boccanegra) for two major recording companies. At first Serafin was planning to work with Maria Callas in La Traviata but since she had recorded the same opera in 1953 for Cetra label, according to her contract she didn’t have the right to record it for another label. Knowing Gencer’s success as Violetta, Serafin wanted to collaborate with Gencer but according to her, both offers were prevented by Callas. In the end Serafin recorded La Traviata with Anonietta Stella for the label Emi in 1956.

Gencer may not be considered one of the recording artists but today her numerous (over 150) opera, concert and recital recordings are available in the music markets on LPs, CDs and DVDs even single vinyl’s. Such high number of recordings gave her the title of “Queen of Pirates”. Here’s a list of her recordings: Macbeth (12 recordings), Lucrezia Borgia (10 recordings), Norma (8 recordings), La Gioconda, Aida, La Forzadel destino (6 recordings), Anna Bolena, Belisario, Simon Boccanegra (5 recordings), Maria Stuarda, Le Martyrs, Alceste, Don Carlo, Don Giovanni, La Battaglia di Legnano, Ernani (4 recordings), Un ballo in maschera, Rigoletto, Gerusalemme, Il trovatore, I vespri Siciliani, Agnese di Hohenstaufen, Elizabetta Regina d’Inghilterra, Medea in Corinto, Caterina Cornaro, Medea, I Puritani (3 recordings), I due Foscari, Attila, Tosca, Les dialogue des Carmelites, Idomeneo, L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Werther, Cavalleria Rusticana, La prova di un’Opera seria, Roberto Devereux, Lucia di Lammermoor, Francesca da Rimini, La Vestal (2 recordings) and single recordings of La Traviata, Pikovaya Dama, Yevgeny Onyegin, La Falena, Guillaume Tell, Monte Ivnor, Turandot, Suor Angelica, madama Butterfly, Il Tabarro, L’ange de feu, Lo Straniero, Lassasinio nella Catedrale, Saffo, Adriana Lecouvreur, Albert Herring, Beatrice di Tenda.

Gencer’s recordings of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Donizetti’s Requiem per Bellini and the recordings of her recitals and concerts, famous for their highly distinguished programs; (1956, 1974 and 1976 in Torino, in 1975 and 1979-Venice, 1975-Spoleto, 1976- Trieste, 1958 and 1978-Milan, 1979-Treviso, 1980, 1981 and 1985-Paris, 1981-Palermo and 1984-Naples) are available on CDs. Her Masterclass Scuola della Regine about Donizetti Queens (Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda ve Roberto Devereux) which she gave for Rai television in 1982 is also available on DVD.

Only a very few of these recordings were made at studios. Most of them so called “pirate recordings” were made under bad circumstances at opera houses where the artists didn’t receive any copyright fees. Rumour has it that, there are many recordings of Gencer such as Manon (1958 San Francisco), Rigoletto (1958 San Francisco/Los Angeles), Lucia di Lammermoor (1957 San Francisco/Los Angeles), Aida (1963, 1966 La Scala Milan), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (1957 Palermo), Mefistofele (1958 La Scala Milan), Tosca (1961 Vienna), La Traviata (1957 Vienna/San Francisco/Los Angeles/San Diego/Sacramento, 1958 Philadelphia), Francesca da Rimini (1956 San Francisco/Los Angeles), Otello (1962 Genova) and La Sonnambula (1959 Naples) which are still hidden in archives. The role of Elsa in Tannhauser is also in Gencer’s repertoire but due to a strike at the opera house, the performances were postponed to further dates on which Gencer had other opera engagements. Consequently, she couldn’t sing the role. BBC Television also broadcast her Glyndebourne Figaro on 29 August 1963.

Despite her declaration of “British and American critics never liked me”, England’s biggest opera festival Glyndebourne released the recording of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro of 1963 through its own record label. Gencer’s brilliant Contessa performance is worth listening. Again, through its own recording label, Covent Garden Opera of London released the recording of the mythical Don Giovanni production conducted by Georg Solti and directed by Franco Zeffirelli in which Gencer sang Donna Anna. Speaking of Mozart, one must mention Idomeneo premiered at La Scala in 1968. Gencer’s performance under the baton of Wolfgang Sawallisch was undoubtedly one of Gencer’s most powerful Mozart interpretations. Gencer’s interpretation of the role Elettra in the Italian style received the best reviews from Italian opera critics. This performance can be found in La Scala’s 1968 recording.

Among Gencer’s recordings there are also DVDs in black and white. Verdi’s Il Trovatore in which she sang with legendary tenor Mario del Monaco is a masterpiece. And two DVDs of Verdi’s Aida recorded in 1963 and 1966 at Arena di Verona are some of Gencer’s best performances. Her interpretation of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni DVD which was recorded for Rai TV in 1960 is remarkable. Despite her great success as Charlotte, Werther was unfortunately performed in Italian as it was very common at that time, but this recording didn’t become popular because of today’s opera standards.

Q U E E N  O F  P I R A T E S  -  II

Renato Caccamo: A judge, a music lover, a collector, or a pirate?

Renato Caccamo, Leyla Gencer, Pier Luigi Pizzi, n/a

If you’re not interested in the Italian politics, you haven’t probably heard of Renato Caccamo. Apart from being a serious prosecutor, he’s also a great music lover, a collector who possesses thousands of records, but he’s also a person that made pirate recordings. But he never sold any of those recordings; he just gave them to his friends and companions as gifts.

I first heard of Renato Caccamo from Leyla Gencer during one of our conversations in the 90’s when I met her. She hadn’t said his name, she’d just mentioned that the “Milan Prosecutor” was a fan of hers.  And after many years, I found out about the importance of the Prosecutor Renato Caccamo on Leyla Gencer’s career.

As far as I remember, I first met Renato Caccamo in Istanbul, when we were at Leyla Gencer’s apartment (I guess it was in 2006) and when he found out that I was a fan of hers as well, he took a DVD out of his pocket and gave it to me hastily. It was the video recording of Gencer’s Paris recital in 1985 (cover on the left) and I was extremely happy about acquiring that record which was rare. 

Gencer had mentioned Caccamo only a few times as “The Milan Prosecutor” but she’d never talked about their friendship or shared information about him. As I later found out from Gencer’s friends, Caccamo had a major importance on Leyla Gencer’s career. 

Caccamo recorded all Gencer’s performances. By the way, Renato Caccamo didn’t record only Gencer’s concerts; his hobby was to record almost all the concerts that he attended, make collections, and then give those recordings to his friends as gifts. Thereby, most of Leyla Gencer’s concerts that weren’t broadcasted in radio or television were somehow passed on and consequently, those recordings were released by the labels, later giving Leyla Gencer the nickname: “The Queen of the Pirates”. 

Certainly, the mentioned pirate recordings have poor sound quality, but they are critically important since they’re the evidence of Gencer’s long and successful career. 

Recently, I saw this recording in Youtube whilst doing research on Gencer, which I’m also sharing in the below.

It’s an extremely interesting recording and it also contains information about Leyla Gencer.  Especially, it’s thrilling to know that Domingo, Gencer, Caccamo, Pollini and Dino Ciani interpreted the whole La Traviata all together after a concert, until morning. There’s also a short audio recording available. Of course, I suggest you listen to it considering that it was recorded after midnight.

Apart from his relationship with Leyla Gencer, I find Renato Caccamo’s life and personality quite interesting, and I suggest you watch the related Youtube link that I’m sharing with you. 

JEFFREY SWAN REMEMBERS RENATO CACCAMO

2018.01.18

Presented by Jeffrey Swann

ARSC New York / Chapter January Meeting

The New York Chapter of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections presents its January 2018 program:

Renato Caccamo was born 26 August 1934 in Siderno, Calabria in Italy's deep South. His love of music began early and was centred on the piano. In Rome, he studied Law and studied piano at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. He was he was in his mid-20's when he moved to Milan in the late 50s. He became both a criminal judge and a devotee of that city’s concert life, his interest focused on the Teatro alla Scala. Because of unique opportunities stemming from his important social position, his persistence, and an indefatigable energy, he became La Scala's de facto archivist in the early 60s. For the next 20 years he recorded (or had recorded for him on first class sound equipment) not only everything at La Scala — operas and concerts — but also virtually everything of substance in all of Italy's major venues: RAI, Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, various festivals, etc. He recorded almost everything, but his chief interests were opera (originally Wagner) and piano, his own instrument. He became close friends with many major musical celebrities during this period, e.g., Abbado, Pollini, Muti, Weissenberg, Leyla Gencer, Nikita Magaloff, Dino Ciani, and many others, due, at least in part, because he was so useful to them in making copies of performances from his ever-growing collection. I became his friend in 1975 when I won the first Dino Ciani piano competition at La Scala. Ciani had tragically died in an auto accident the year before at the age of 32, and for the next 36 years Renato's apartment in Piazza Borromeo was my chief European residence. During the first part of this period, hardly a day passed without a call from someone such as Abbado or Muti or Pollini or Accardo to request a copy of some specific performance. And everyday recordings from Europe and America and, occasionally, Japan would arrive in exchange for recordings that he had made. So, the collection became gigantic (and rather out of control). In the meantime, Renato had become an increasingly powerful and important judge. His position at retirement was President of the Court of Appeals, Fourth District (Milan). Due to the temporary liberalization of piracy laws in the late 80s, many of Renato's tapes were becoming commercial records. With the loss of exclusivity, Renato’s zeal to record substantially diminished. By the mid 90's his passion for collecting was mostly in the realm of books, of which he possessed 80-90,000 volumes. At his death, on 6 September 2011, Renato's collection of recordings was in a sadly confused state. The catalogues were long out of date, and not all the older recordings had been migrated to more durable formats. The entire collection is now housed at La Scala, but inaccessible because the lack of resolution of privacy and copyright issues. The collection also includes something like 10,000 hours of video recordings (many informal) made between 1995 and his death. There are extraordinary treasures buried there, some of which I will describe.

 

Jeffrey Swann (winner of 1° Premio Dino Ciani 1975)
Photo © Teatro alla Scala / ERIO PICCAGLIANI, Milano

Jeffrey Swann is currently Artistic Director of the Dino Ciani Festival & Academy in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy; Professor of Piano at New York University; and the President’s Distinguished Artist-in-Residence at Northern Arizona University. Himself a native of Northern Arizona, he studied with Alexander Uninsky at Southern Methodist University, and with Beveridge Webster and Adele Marcus at The Juilliard School, where he received the B.M., M.M. and D.M.A. Degrees. He won first prize in the Dino Ciani Competition sponsored by Milan’s La Scala; a gold medal at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels; and top honours at the Warsaw Chopin, Van Cliburn, Vianna da Motta and Montreal Competitions, as well as the Young Concert Artists auditions in New York City. His large and varied repertoire embraces more than 60 concertos and solo works ranging from Bach to Boulez. His performing career has taken him throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia, appearing with major orchestras and conductors. He lectures regularly at the Bayreuth Festival, and at Wagner Societies in the United States and Italy and is a frequent judge at competitions. He has recorded for DG, RCA Italiana, Fonit-Cetra, Replica, Agorà, and Music and Arts.

 

With Renato Caccamo, 2006 at her home in İstanbul

RECORDING

2018.01.18

Presented by Jeffrey Swann

ARSC New York / Chapter Januaary Meeting

Leyla Gencer Violetta Valery

Placido Domingo Alfredo Germont

Maurizio Pollini Giorgio Germont

Dino Ciani Piano and chorus

Renato Caccamo who was a big fan of Leyla Gencer recorded almost all ll of her performances. In addition to being a prosecuting attorney in Milan, he was also a close friend of renowned artists of that era. In November 1970 (it’s indicated as December 1969 in the video above), the Milan prosecuter Renato Caccamo was at the concert of La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Riccardo Muti along with his friends. Some of those friends were: Leyla Gencer, Placido Domingo and Maurizio Pollini. The pianist Dino Ciani was the soloist of the concert. When the concert ended, Muti left and Gencer, Domingo, Ciani, Pollini, Caccamo got together (probably at Gencer’s apartment) and they sang whole La Traviata from the beginning until the end. And that midnight concert was recorded by Caccamo. You can listen to Gencer’s interpretation Addio del passato in the video above (from 21:30). This video is also very interesting since it also contains some information about Gencer. 

 

http://www.arsc-audio.org/index.php

 

MORTO CACCAMO, IL MELOMANE CHE CONDANNO CRAXI

2011.09.07

L’uomo che ha condannato Bettino Craxi a un decennio di reclusione nei processi Eni-Sai e per le mazzette della metropolitana milanese si è spento a Milano la mattina di martedì 6 settembre, al termine di una lunga malattia. Renato Caccamo, presidente della quarta sezione della Corte d’Appello di Milano negli anni di Tangentopoli, si era costruito, condanna dopo condanna, una fama di inflessibilità, sempre rivendicata con orgoglio contro il “generale lassismo”. Pochissimo incline a dichiarazioni, Caccamo aveva comunque raccontato alla stampa di aver fatto parte dei giovani socialisti e di aver sempre votato Psi prima di trasformarsi nell’incubo della classe dirigente del partito.

Di lui si diceva che si vantasse di non aver mai assolto nessuno: leggenda smentita dalla discussa sentenza del 2006 sulla strage di Linate a favore dei direttori degli aeroporti milanesi e anche, anni prima, dall’assoluzione di Berlusconi per la compravendita dei terreni di Macherio. Alle costanti, inevitabili critiche di chi gli contestava di ragionare come un pubblico ministero più che come un giudice o lo liquidava come “talebano” opponeva le numerose conferme ottenute in Cassazione e la certezza che nessuno avrebbe mai contestato la limpidezza delle sue motivazioni.

La vita di Caccamo, però, era un’altra. Trascinato da una passione musicale insaziabile, ha frequentato per decenni tutti i concerti e tutte le serate d’opera non solo milanesi stringendo amicizie profonde con gli artisti che spesso, finiti gli applausi, si intrattenevano a cena a casa sua. E lui, un po’ ossessivamente, registrava, riprendeva tutto: la musica, ma anche la calca in camerino, le discussioni. Le sue registrazioni, autorizzate o no (alla Scala era stato Paolo Grassi a fornirgli un lasciapassare), nell’ultimo periodo erano spesso solo un doppione di quelle realizzate dai teatri. Ma in anni non troppo remoti costituivano l’unica documentazione esistente di esecuzioni anche eccelse. Basta ricordare Leyla Gencer, il grande soprano che nessuna major discografica aveva messo sotto contratto.

Anche nella passione e nella sacrosanta partigianeria musicale Caccamo conservava un giudizio indipendente e aggiornato sera per sera: apprezzava una buona esecuzione anche se veniva da un artista di cui aveva poca stima e riservava stroncature sprezzanti alle “serate no” dei suoi prediletti. Vita pubblica e passione musicale si sono intrecciate nel 2004, quando Caccamo ha vigorosamente preso le parti del Sovrintendente scaligero Carlo Fontana nel conflitto con il Direttore musicale Riccardo Muti raccogliendo un dossier sull’operato di Mauro Meli, fortemente voluto dal Maestro alla Sovrintendenza, nelle precedenti esperienze di gestione. Negli ultimi anni la lotta contro la malattia è stata soprattutto una lotta per continuare ad essere ai concerti: nel 2007 a Philadelphia Riccardo Chailly dovette spiegare personalmente alla security della Verizon Hall che “sì, questo signore può registrare”. Solo pochi mesi fa l’ultima trasferta, al Festival Mahler di Lipsia.

 https://www.linkiesta.it/2011/09/morto-caccamo-il-melomane-che-condanno-craxi/

G E N C E R  &  C R I T I C S        

- 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)

Madam Butterfly (Naples / Rapola)

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

La Traviata (Palermo / Serafin)

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

La Traviata (Palermo / Serafin)

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

Un ballo in maschera (Ankara / Alnar)

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)

La Traviata (Palermo / Serafin

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)

La Traviata (Palermo / Serafin)

Leyla Gencer is not only Turkey’s but also the Europe’s best soprano. 

TIME Magazine (10.1956)

Francesca da Rimini (San Francisco / de Fabritiis)

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

La Traviata (Ankara / Alnar)

“Spectacular Traviata”

YARIN PAZAR Magazine (10.03.1956) Müjgan Kutucular

La Traviata (Ankara / Alnar) 

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

Lucia di Lammermoor (San Francisco / Molinari-Pradelli)

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

La Traviata (San Francisco / Curiel)

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)

Don Carlos (San Francisco / Sebastian)

She represented Queen Elizabeth in all her splendour.

SAN FRANCOSCO CALL-BULLETIN (1958)

Don Carlos (San Francisco / Sebastian)

A rare beauty on the stage, a rich voice, and perfect pianissimos.

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (1958)

Don Carlos (San Francisco / Sebastian)

She interpreted the Spanish queen perfectly thanks to her perfect vocal technique and great musical approach.

VATAN Newspaper (08.11.1959) Ahmet Emin Yalman

Concert (Ankara / Camozzo)

During an interview in USA with a famous critic she had following dialogue: 

“You are Italian, right?”

“No, I’m Turkish.”

“What? Turkish? You must be a Christian Turk I suppose.”

“No, I’m a Muslim Turk.”

“I wish you had told me this before I wrote about you. I used to have sympathetic feelings and admiration for you. Now, not anymore.”

And Gencer answered like this:

“I don’t need the sympathy of such a narrow-minded person.”

 

OPERA Magazine (1962)

Un ballo in maschera (Verona / Gavazzeni)

Gencer’s interpretation of Amelia's role was first-class.

IL MATTINO (25.09.1963) Alfredo Parente

Gerusalemme (Venezia / Gavazzeni)

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

Roberto Devereux (Napoli / Rossi)

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

Anna Bolena (Glyndebourne / Gavazzeni)

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

Anna Bolena (Glyndebourne / Gianandrea Gavazzeni)

After a rather shy entrance, Leyla Gencer interpreted a long memorable character with her mastery in her voice and acting skills.

OPERA Magazine (1968)

Macbeth (Venice / Gavazzeni)

Leyla Gencer who sang Lady Macbeth, is the best Lady Macbeth that Verdi could have wished for.

IL GAZZETTINA (10.04.1968) Marrio Messinis

Macbeth (Venice / Gavazzeni)

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

Alceste (Torino / Capuana)

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

Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra (Palermo / Sanzogno)

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

Alceste (Milano / Gavazzeni)

“The Voice that makes the choir cry”

L’OPERA INTERNATIONAL (10.1981) Michel Parouty

Recital / Scalera (Athenée Theatre / Paris)

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) 

An anecdote from New York Times 

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.

In La Scala’s lobby that night was a man who had the spectacular misfortune to resemble Mr. Porter. As the real Mr. Porter recounted in the Opera News interview, a crowd of operagoers seized the man, threw him to the floor and, shouting, “How could you say what you said about our Leyla Gencer!” commenced kicking him.

“I’m not Andrew Porter!” the man cried in self-defence. “I’m not Andrew Porter!”

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/arts/music/andrew-porter-new-yorker-classical-music-critic-dies-at-86.html