Leyla Gencer And Grace Bumbry In Unconventional Performance

Grace Bumbry (left) and Leyla Gencer (right) appear backstage during performances of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea at La Scala in 1967. Listen to the performance here.  See some other unique casting choices for this Baroque piece, after the jump.

"L'incoronazione di Poppea (SV 308, The Coronation of Poppaea) is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice during the 1643 carnival season. One of the first operas to use historical events and people, it describes how Poppaea, mistress of the Roman emperor Nero, is able to achieve her ambition and be crowned empress. The opera was revived in Naples in 1651, but was then neglected until the rediscovery of the score in 1888, after which it became the subject of scholarly attention in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since the 1960s, the opera has been performed and recorded many times. The original manuscript of the score does not exist; two surviving copies from the 1650s show significant differences from each other, and each differs to some extent from the libretto. How much of the music is actually Monteverdi's, and how much the product of others, is a matter of dispute. None of the existing versions of the libretto, printed or manuscript, can be definitively tied to the first performance at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo, the precise date of which is unknown. Details of the original cast are few and largely speculative, and there is no record of the opera's initial public reception. Despite these uncertainties, the work is generally accepted as part of the Monteverdi operatic canon, his last and perhaps his greatest work. In a departure from traditional literary morality, it is the adulterous liaison of Poppea and Nerone which triumphs, although this victory is demonstrated by history to have been transitory and hollow. Moreover, in Busenello's version of the story all the major characters are morally compromised. Written when the genre of opera was only a few decades old, the music for L'incoronazione di Poppea has been praised for its originality, its melody, and for its reflection of the human attributes of its characters. The work helped to redefine the boundaries of theatrical music, and established Monteverdi as the leading musical dramatist of his time. [Source]

Maria Callas Google Doodle Continues Celebration Of Opera Singers

"Doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists." [Source] Today the web portal celebrates the birth of soprano Maria Callas by featuring her front and center above the search box. Other opera singers that have been honored in the past include:

Feodor Chaliapin

Leyla Gencer

Luciano Pavarotti

Dame Nellie Melba

Solomiya Krushelnytska

Even the Sydney Opera House has been featured!

We didn't forget about the composers, they can be found after the jump.

Book on Deceased Diva Leyla Gencer to Get Italian Printing

"Leyla Gencer - Tutkunun Romanı, Turkish journalist Zeynep Oral’s book chronicling the life of late Turkish opera singer Leyla Gencer, will be published in Italy on May 2. Translated by Alessandra Chiappano from the book’s English version released in 2008, Leyla Gencer - Il Canto e la Passione will be printed by the Milan-based publishing group Mursia. The book, first published in Turkish in 1992, comprises Oral’s conversations with Gencer and many figures from the international art scene who were acquainted with her." [Source]

Contact High: Leyla Gencer

Monte Ivnor - "Non so, non so"
Leyla Gencer
Milan, 1957
Clip length (0:40)


con·tact high [kon-takt hahy]: when you feel the slight, brief sensation of being high just because you were close to somebody that was definitely high.

Borusan İstanbul Filarmoni Orkestrası Honors Leyla Gencer

The Philharmonic Orchestra of Istanbul will give a concert on January 13 at 8PM in memory of soprano Leyla Gencer. Three promising young Turkish sopranos will sing on the program, each of whom has been involved with the late legend's Leyla Gencer Competition. The concert will be conducted by Sascha Goetzel. Find the complete concert program after the jump. [Source]