ITALY

Leyla Gencer, one of the greatest Turkish sopranos of the 20th century, was the glorious primadonna of La Scala for 25 years. That is why we wanted to see this opera house. We wanted to have the opportunity to experience the magic of live performances at Teatro Alla Scala and feel the atmosphere. But we couldn't. Maybe next time.

So I don't want to bother you, but I just wanted to give some more info about Leyla Gencer:

Leyla Gencer made her Italian debut at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, once again performing as Santuzza, returning, the following year, to Naples to perform in Madame Butterfly and Eugene Onegin. On January 26, 1957 Gencer made her debut at the world famous Teatro alla Scala in Milan, as Lidoine in the world premiere of Poulenc's Les Dialogues des Carmelites.

A memorable moment in 1957 was her performance of the final part of Verdi's Requiem during Toscanini's Memorial Ceremony held in Milan Duomo Cathedral, together with Teatro alla Scala Chorous and Orchestra, conducted by Victor De Sebata to attendants amazed by her rendition of the piece. Later that year, in July, she performed the leading part in La Forza Del Destino, during the Cologne tour of Teatro alla Scala.

Between 1957-1980, the acclaimed soprano sang in various leading roles at Teatro alla Scala in Verdi's Don Carlos, La Forza Del Destino, Aïda, Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, I Vespri Siciliani; Bellini's Norma; Donizetti's Poliuto, Lucrezia Borgia; Mozart's Idomeneo; Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea; Gluck's Alceste; Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades; and Britten's Albert Herring. She also performed the leading role in the world premiere of Pizzetti's L'Assassinio nella Cattedrale in 1958, at Teatro alla Scala.

Having achieved an international career in a very short time and performed with distinguished Italian maestros such as Vittorio Gui, Tulio Serafin, Gianandrea Gavazzeni and Riccardo Muti, Gencer's outstanding performances of Donizetti's forgotten operas inscribed her name in all opera books identifying the great soprano with the "Donizetti Renaissance."Read more