Leyla Gencer question
Rosario Gennaro
of her singing Amelia from Simon Boccanegra and I really like her.
Because of budget limitations I don't want to buy any of her
complete opera live recordings, but I am rather looking for a
CD with arias. Yesterday at Tower I saw 2.
One was a single CD from the series "Stelle della Lirica".
The other one was a double CD of the label "Memories".
Both were live recordings (I don't think there are studio recordings of her).
If any of you has listened to these CDs can you please
tell me which one has the best sound quality? (I am always
wary of buying pirate live recordings.)
Also any bio information about her are welcome
(is she still alive, what is she up to etc etc)
Thanks
--
Rosario Gennaro Laboratory for Computer Science
ros...@theory.lcs.mit.edu Massachusetts Institute of Technology
http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~rosario Cambridge MA 02139
"... la tua loquela ti fa manifesto di quella nobil patria natio ..."
Inf. X
DSETIN
Mytho has issued a 2 CD set of arias, and I have always found their sound
quality to be outstanding. Her Trovatore with Barbiere and DelMonaco is on
a few cheap labels (both audio and video) and is well worth acquiring. Her
Roberto Devereux, Maria Stuarda (Verrett from Florence), and her Lucrezia
Borgia are absolute musts for everyone.
She has a biography in Italian, but it is out of print and hard to find.
She also has one in Turkish which sells for an astronomical price in the
Met Gift Shop.
If you can get your hands on Lotfi Mansouri's memoirs, there is a chapter
on the San Francisco Gioconda rehearsals in which during an altercation
with Grace Bumbry, Leyla reveals an unpleasant racist side of her
character. I still adore her.
Rosario Gennaro
>.Her Trovatore with Barbiere and DelMonaco is on
>a few cheap labels (both audio and video) and is well worth acquiring.
That's actually how I discovered her. In a video of Il Trovatore with
Del Monaco. Outstanding.
>She has a biography in Italian, but it is out of print and hard to find.
In the States or even in Italy? I am going to look or it next time
I go home :)
>I still adore her.
Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to buy some.
Charles Handelman
a party for her here in 1972 (NYC) after she did Attila and she was so
sweet to us. The CD's of her are superb..especially the compilation you
cite plus Roberto Devereux,Saffo of Pacini,and I could go on and on.
Simone is NOT her best effort. leyla was a "flawed' singer..(I love them..
like Callas,Kabaiwanska,Olivero,Zeani) and could gulp and wobble..but her
work in toto is absolutely stunning. I made many many tapes for the
library in her native Ankara,Turkey and they exhibited them in her honor.
Gencer olives in Italy..retired..and a woman whose fame would have been
even greater if Callas had not overshadowed her..,but she is still of
highest reputation in Europe..Tape "pirates' made her famous..she loved
to hear stories from us about how we turned people on to her....since she
made no commercial recordings..and there were no CD's in the "olden days.,
" I highly recommend you follow up on Leyla..a great singer. CH
Miss Z
listen again and again to the final aria, "Vivi ingrato."
ewoutl...@tele2.nl
Thank you, Ewout
Capobagarino
> Dear Rosario,
>
> Mytho has issued a 2 CD set of arias, and I have always found their sound
> Roberto Devereux, Maria Stuarda (Verrett from Florence), and her Lucrezia
> Borgia are absolute musts for everyone.
> Met Gift Shop.
> If you can get your hands on Lotfi Mansouri's memoirs, there is a chapter
> on the San Francisco Gioconda rehearsals in which during an altercation
> with Grace Bumbry, Leyla reveals an unpleasant racist side of her
> character. I still adore her.