| (no subject) |
[Apr. 19th, 2009|03:52 pm] |
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ПОЗДРАВЛЯЮ С СВЕТЛЫМ ПРАЗДНИКОМ ПАСХИ!!!!!!! |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 12th, 2009|01:10 pm] |
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HAPPY EASTER!!!!! BUONA PASQUA!!!!! СО СВЕТЫМ ПРАЗДНИКОМ ПАСХИ!!!!! |
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| 2009 |
[Jan. 1st, 2009|02:56 pm] |
Happy New Year!!!! Buon Anno!!!! С Новым Годом!!!!
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| Leyla Gencer Istanbul1924-Milan2008 |
[Oct. 12th, 2008|10:34 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Milano | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  nostalgic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Al dolce guidami castel natio.. | ] |
As requested by Jamesofdoom as punishment for not updating my LJ often enough,here follows a brief resumé of Leyla Gencer.
Ayshe Leyla Ceyrekegil was born in Istanbul on the 10th of October 1928 or 1924.There was always some mystery about the year,which it amused her to cultivate.As someone once said,she was a lady of a certain age,but being a lady,her age was not certain.She married the long-suffering Ibrahim(Ibo)Gencer,director of a Turkish Bank,in 1946.
She studied singing with Giannina Arrangi-Lombardi who as luck would have it was living in Turkey at the time,and later with Apollo Granforte.Her debut was in Ankara as Santuzza in 1950.
Her Italian debut was also as Santuzza at the Teatro di San Carlo,Naples in 1953,followed shortly by Tatiana in Evgenij Onegin,the role which first made her well-known,conducted by Tullio Serafin,with whom she then worked very often.(In fact in later years she was sometimes unjustly accused of copying Maria Callas,and the reason for this is that they both studied thier roles in their formative years with Serafin.Not many people realise that when Callas was in her irreversible vocal crisis in the 1960s she actually went to Gencer in Milan and asked for technical advice,too late;-))))
Her Scala debut was in 1957 as M.me Lidoine in the world première of Francis Poulenc's Les Dialogues des Carmélites,under the direction of Margherita Wallmann who had convinced Poulenc to write the opera and incidentally collaborated extensively on the libretto which was then published as the composer's own.She then returned to La Scala for 15 seasons as the main rival to Callas after both Renata Tebaldi and Renata Scotto had taken off to New York.
She also sang extensively in San Francisco,(Francesca da Rimini,Zandonai,1955)in Russia at the Bolshoi in Moscow(La Traviata 1960)and the Kirov in Leningrad/St.Petersburg,and in Britain at Covent Garden (Don Giovanni 1962) and at the Glyndebourne Festival (Le Nozze di Figaro 1962 and Anna Bolena,one of her favourite roles,in 1965)as well as most other countries in Europe and of course Turkey.
There are very few official recordings of her in circulation because she never signed an exclusive contract with a recording house,but many of the smaller houses have published pirate recordings in recent years.
Her last appearence on stage was in one of the houses where she sang most,La Fenice in Venice, in Francesco Gnecco's "La Prova di un'Opera Seria" in 1983.
Since then she had been teaching and preparing student performances,first at the ASLICO,the association responsible for launching most of the Italian singers of the 50s 60s and 70s, and then from 1997 when it was founded,on Riccardo Muti's indication,she was invited to direct the Accademia della Scala.It was in these two institutions that I collaborated with her.
She passed away on the 9th of May 2008 in Milan.Unfortunately,as I was working in Spain I was unable to attend the funeral which was held in Milan in the church of San Babila.(Leyla was catholic because her mother,although born in Turkey,was of Polish origin.This is why she was educated in Catholic schools in Turkey and grew up quadrilingual speaking French Italian Polish and of course Turkish.She later learnt English and a little German just to sing Lieder.)
Her ashes were scattered on the Bosphoros as she desired. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 10th, 2008|03:39 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Milano | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | nostalgic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Al dolce guidami castel natio.. | ] |
Oggi 10 ottobre era il compleanno di Leyla Gencer,ed è il primo che lei non è qui per festeggiare.
E' anche il compleanno di Giuseppe Verdi.
Today the 10th of October was Leyla Gencer's birthday,and it's the first she's not here to celebrate.
It's also Giuseppe Verdi's birthday.
Leyla Gencer as Anna Bolena at La Scala in the 1960's |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 20th, 2008|09:43 pm] |
Hello everyone,I am still alive,I've just been away,first in La Coruna,Galicia,northern Spain, for the Mozart festival there,then in Macerata,in the Marche,central Italy,for the summer festival in the Sferisterio arena there.So for the last three or four months I haven't been home,and have let my LJ slip.Now I'm back in Milan,but on Friday I'm going to Venice,where I've rented the house I had last winter,because it's very nice,with a big private garden in the centre of Venice.(See photo)
Ciao a tutti,sono ancora vivo,ma sono stato sempre via,prima a La Coruna,in Galizia nel nord della Spagna,per il Festival Mozart,e poi a Macerata nelle Marche per il festival estivo all'arena Sferisterio.Quindi per gli ultimi tre o quattro mesi non sono stato a casa e ho lasciato andare il blog.Ora sono di ritorno a Milano,ma venerdì parto per Venezia dove ho affittato la casa che avevo l'inverno scorso,perchè è bella,con un grande giardino privato nel centro di Venezia.(Vedere foto)
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 7th, 2008|09:21 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Milano | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Verranno a te sull'aere i miei sospiri languenti | ] |
Sorry I haven't updated for a while,I was down in Palermo working on the Rake's Progress -beautiful opera,but difficult for the singers,and double-cast,so there was a great deal of work to do,and since I got home I've been more or less hibernating! More about that soon,anyway.
For anyone who's interested,tomorrow Saturday March the 8th at 19.30hrs Italian time(18.30 London,21.30 Moscow) on RAI3 and all the connected Euroradio stations, Giuseppe Filianoti is singing Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor from the Metropolian Opera New York with Natalie Dessay and Jimmy Levine.If he sings like he did when we were coaching it last week,it will be really good!!!
Mi dispiace che non scrivo da un po',ero a Palermo per lavorare sulla Carriera di un Libertino -bellissima opera,ma difficile per i cantanti,e con doppio cast c'era moltissimo lavoro da fare, così da quando sono tornato a casa sono stato più o meno in letargo!Ne scriverò presto,comunque.
A chi interessasse,domani Sabato 8 marzo alle 19.30 ora Italiana,(18.30 Londra,21.30 Mosca)su RAI3 e tutte le stazioni Euroradio connesse, Giuseppe Filianoti canta Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor dal Metropolitan di New York con Natalie Dessay e Jimmy Levine.Se canta come ha cantato quando lo stavamo preparando settimana scorsa,canterà veramente molto bene!!! |
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| Filosofia e navi.....Philosophy and ships..... |
[Jan. 19th, 2008|06:52 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  amused | ] |
Un tipo molto religioso fa un viaggio per mare,e la nave affonda.Lui è l'unico che riesce a prendere un gommone,e rimane da solo in mezzo al mare,e prega e prega,"Dio salvami,Dio salvami." Passa una nave e da lontano gli gridano:"Hai bisogno d'aiuto?" E lui,sempre pregando,"Dio mi salverà,Dio mi salverà."E la nave va via.Più tardi passa un'altra nave,e gli gridano da lontano: "Hai bisogno d'aiuto?" E lui,sempre pregando,"Dio mi salverà,Dio mi salverà!"E anche questa nave riparte.Non passa più nessuno,e dopo un po' il tipo muore e va in paradiso.Va subito da Dio e gli dice:"Dio,io ho avuto fede in te e ho aspettato che tu mi salvassi,e invece mi hai lasciato morire!!!Come mai???" E Dio gli dice:"CRETINO,TI HO MANDATO DUE NAVI!!!"
Vi siete mai sentiti come una di quelle navi?
A very religious guy takes a sea voyage,and the ship sinks.He's the only one that manages to get on a lifeboat,and is sitting in it in the middle of the sea,praying and praying,"Oh God save me, Oh God save me." A ship goes by and they shout to him from far away:"Do you need help?" And still praying on,he answers"God will save me,God will save me!" And the ship moves on.Later another ship goes by,and again they shout to him from far away:"Do you need help?"And again,praying on,he answers:"God will save me,God will save me!" And this ship moves on too.Then nobody passes by any more,and after a while the guy dies and goes to heaven.He goes straight to God and says:"God,I had faith in you and waited for you to save me,but you just let me die!!!Why was that???" And God says to him:"YOU CRETIN,I SENT YOU TWO SHIPS!!!"
Have you ever felt like one of those ships? |
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| Palermo |
[Jan. 18th, 2008|12:39 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Milano | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The woods are green..... | ] |
Palermo,Sicily,the Teatro Massimo,where I will be going on next Monday to begin rehearsals of The Rake's Progress by Igor Stravinskij.
Palermo,il Teatro Massimo,dove sarò lunedì prossimo per cominciare le prove della Carriera di un Libertino di Igor Stravinskij. |
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| Venezia |
[Jan. 13th, 2008|12:07 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Milano | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | nostalgic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Una delle ultime sere di Carnovale | ] |
View of the Grand Canal.In the centre is Palazzo Bernardo,where I lived from 1988 to 1994
Vista del Canal Grande.Al centro Palazzo Bernardo,dove ho abitato dal 1988 al 1994
Same view from farther back.
La stessa vista da più indietro.
View from the Ponte degli Scalzi.
Vista dal Ponte degli Scalzi.
Sunset at Rialto.
Tramonto a Rialto.
La Fenice.
The house I rented last winter.
La casa che ho affittato l'inverno scorso.
....and the interior.
....e l'interno.
....and a friend's house:-)))
....e la casa di un amico:-))) |
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| всем с новым годом!!!!! |
[Dec. 31st, 2007|08:30 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Milano | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Arcangelo Corelli - Concerto per la notte di Natale | ] |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 25th, 2007|12:42 am] |
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
BUON NATALE!!!!!!
С РОЖДЕСТВОМ!!!!!!
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 11th, 2007|11:30 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | Shitty | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Falstaff,fuga finale. | ] |
Tutto nel mondo è merda.L'uom.....è nato merdone merdone merdone.
------ Tutto nel mondo è merda.L'uom(l'uom è nato merdone)è nato merdone merdone merdone. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 7th, 2007|12:52 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Milano | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Rossini,Duetto Buffo di Due Gatti | ] |
I put on some weight while I was in Korea:-)))
Sono aumentato un po' di peso mentre ero in Corea:-)))
But someone scratched my tummy anyway:-)))
Ma qualcuno mi ha grattato il pancino comunque:-)))
And I met a little tiger:-)))
E ho incontrato un tigrotto:-))) |
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| Back from Korea |
[Oct. 9th, 2007|12:54 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Milano | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  lethargic | ] |
The concert in Seoul in the Sejong Arts Center was fun,it was the farewell concert of the Korean soprano Young-Kum Hwang,who was the principal Korean singer before Sumi Jo, with some of her pupils.The programme comprised a bit of everything, Mozart,Rossini,Mendelssohn,Fauré,Tosti,Schubert,Strauss,Wolf,and as they insisted I should play something alone,I played the suite from the stage-music I wrote for the Goldoni play.The encores were traditional Korean songs.
I enjoyed Seoul more than I thought I would,I found it more harmonious than Tokyo,and I had some very good food,especially the beef from an original Korean bovine,prepared on carbon at the table.
Il concerto a Seoul nel Sejong Arts Center è stato divertente,era il concerto d'addio del soprano Coreano Young-Kum Hwang,che era la principale cantante Coreana prima di Sumi Jo,con alcuni dei suoi allievi.Il programma comprendeva un po'di tutto, Mozart,Rossini,Mendelssohn,Fauré,Tosti,Schubert,Strauss,Wolf,e siccome hanno insistito che suonassi qualcosa io da solo,ho suonato la suite dalla musica di scena che ho scritto per la commedia di Goldoni.I bis erano canti tradizionali Coreani.
Seoul mi è piaciuta più di quello che immaginavo,l'ho trovata più armoniosa di Tokyo,e ho mangiato delle cose molto buone,soprattutto la carne di manzo di una loro razza autoctona,preparata sui carboni al tavolo.
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| Korea |
[Oct. 1st, 2007|01:16 pm] |
Vado a Seoul per una settimana.Ciao a tutti.
I'm going to Seoul for a week.See you all. |
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| Recital |
[Sep. 28th, 2007|05:49 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Milan | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | satisfied | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Mild und Leise wie er laechelt | ] |
I accompanied a nice short recital last night in a small concert hall in Milan,the Centro Sirin,with my Georgian soprano,Diana Veronese.We started with 9 Rachmaninov romances,
Не пой,красавица,при мне,ты песен Грузии -very appropriate...:-)))
Давно ль мой друг
Сон
В молчаньи ночи тайной all from opus 4
Отрывок из А.Мюссе
Как мне больно
Здесь хорошо from opus 21
Не может быть
Диссонанс (appropriately named) from opus 34
Then after the break we did two Brahms lieder,
Von ewiger Liebe
Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer
Then two Schumann,
Aus den Hebraeischen Gesaengen
Zwielicht
Two of Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder,
Schmerzen
Traeume
and to finish Isolde's Liebestod with the Liszt piano transcription as accompaniment.
The audience seemed to enjoy it,but they really woke up when we did the Habanera from Carmen as an Encore!!! |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 16th, 2007|03:02 pm] |
Hallo everyone,it's a long time since I updated,I've been travelling quite a bit,just coming home for a day or two between things,so I'm afraid I've let my LJ dwindle a bit.
What's been going on? Well,I spent two weeks in Jesi,the birthplace of Pergolesi and Spontini,doing a masterclass for the singers of the Opera house of Astana,the new capital of Kazakhstan.Interesting,they have some very good voices,but all trained in the Russian school which doesn't understand the difference between supporting and pushing,as a consequence when they stop pushing they have no projection.After a course on correct respiration with my good friend Alessandro Patalini,they were able to take in much of what I was teaching them,and improved very much,learning how to support elastically,and were very enthustiastic and asked me to Kazakhstan for a month next year. (-40c in the winter,+40c in the summer!)
Since then I was mostly in Venice,seeing friends and relaxing,also watching a Musical put on at the Fenice,called "Il principe della gioventù",the prince of youth,written by Riz Ortolani,the film-music composer,and staged by my good friend Pier Luigi Pizzi.Pizzi by the way has just won the Olimpici prize (the most important Italian prize for the Theatre)as best director for the play I wrote the music for this winter,and which we took to Moscow in March.
Back in Milan,I went to listen to two concerts of the excellent Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowskij,one at the Scala where he performed Brahms' 1st symphony and accompanied Salvatore Accardo in the Brahms Concerto,and I was happy to hear Accardo back on good form after health problems with his elbow, and the other at the Verdi Auditorium with a more experimental programme of Kodaly,Astor Piazolla and Rachmaninov,who one would think had little in common but in fact went together very well.La Scala has invited him for a new production of Shostakovich's "The Nose" which will be very good if they can make the dates correspond.
Next week I'll play a recital with a Georgian Soprano,Diana Veronese,(her husband's Italian,hence the name)and we'll do a mixed programme of Rachmaninov,Schumann,Brahms and Wagner.
Then on the 1st of October I'm going to Seoul,Korea,just for a week,for a concert with some Korean singers.
Next season I'm going to be a bit more adventurous with my repertoire-I love Mozart and Rossini,but I've done so much of them in the last few years that I need to change now-fourteen years consecutively at the Pesaro festival has been nice,but you can have too much of a good thing,and in the last few of these years I haven't always appreciated all the stagings that have been chosen by Zedda mostly for his own reasons(i.e.so that he gets to conduct the performances in other Theatres of the co-productions)so the next project is "The Rake's Progress"(Strawinsky)in Palermo.A change is as good as a rest!!!
Saluti a tutti!!!E' da tanto che non scrivo,ma sono stato sempre in viaggio,e a casa solo per pochi giorni tra un viaggio e l'altro.Perciò ho trascurato abbastanza l'LJ.
Che cosa ho combinato in questo periodo?Bene,sono stato un paio di settimane a Jesi,la città natale di Pergolesi e Spontini,per fare un Masterclass ai cantanti dell'Opera di Astana,la nuova capitale del Kazakhstan.Interessante, hanno alcune voci molto belle,ma tutte impostate secondo la scuola Russa, che non sa distinguere fra l'appoggio e la spinta,perciò quando smettono di spingere non hanno proiezione.Dopo un corso di corretta respirazione con il mio buon amico Alessandro Patalini,sono stati in grado di assorbire buona parte di ciò che gli insegnavo,e sono migliorati moltissimo,imparando a sostenere elasticamente,ed erano molto entusiasti e mi hanno chiesto di andare in Kazakhstan per un mese l'anno prossimo.(-40 d'inverno,+40 d'estate!)
Da allora sono stato soprattutto a Venezia,per vedere amici e riposare, e per vedere un Musical che è andato in scena alla Fenice,"Il Principe della Gioventù"scritto da Riz Ortolani,il compositore cinematografico,con la regia del mio buon amico Pier Luigi Pizzi.Pizzi a proposito ha appena vinto il Premio Gli Olimpici,il più importante premio Italiano per il Teatro,come miglior regista per la commedia per la quale ho scritto le musiche quest'inverno,e che abbiamo portato a Mosca in marzo.
Di ritorno a Milano,ho assistito a due concerti dell'eccellente direttore d'orchestra Russo Vladimir Jurowskij,uno alla Scala,dove ha diretto la 1a sinfonia di Brahms,e ha accompagnato Salvatore Accardo nel concerto di Brahms.Mi ha fatto piacere sentire Accardo tornato in piena forma dopo i problemi di salute che ha avuto al gomito.L'altro concerto era all'Auditorium della Verdi,e ha proposto un programma più avventuroso,di Kodaly,Astor Piazzolla e Rachmaninov,che sembrano aver ben poco in comune,ma in realtà stavano benissimo insieme.La Scala lo ha invitato per una nuova produzione del "Naso" di Shostakovich,che sarà bellissimo se riescono a coordinare le date.
La settimana prossima suonerò un recital con un soprano Georgiano,Diana Veronese,(suo marito è Italiano,onde il nome)e faremo un programma misto di Rachmaninov,Schumann,Brahms e Wagner.
Poi il 1o Ottobre vado a Seoul,Corea,solo per una settimana per un concerto con dei cantanti Coreani.
La prossima stagione voglio essere un po' più avventuroso con il repertorio-amo moltissimo Mozart e Rossini,ma negli ultimi anni ne ho fatto fin troppo,tanto che adesso ho bisogno di cambiare un po'-quattordici anni di seguito al festival di Pesaro sono stati belli,ma si può anche averne troppo, tanto più che non ho sempre apprezzato tutte le regie degli ultimi anni, scelti da Zedda soprattutto per motivi suoi(cioè perchè lui sia invitato a dirigere le recite negli altri Teatri delle coproduzioni)quindi il prossimo progetto è "La Carriera d'un Libertino" (Strawinsky) a Palermo. Meglio cambiare,neh?
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 12th, 2007|04:04 pm] |
Una coppia di Zingari a Livorno lascia bruciare la baracca con dentro i bambini.Nessuno mi deve dire che il libretto del Trovatore è assurdo!!!Azucena docet!!!
A couple of Gypsies in Livorno allow their hut to burn with their babies inside.Nobody must say that the libretto of Il Trovatore is absurd!!! Azucena docet!!! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 23rd, 2007|12:29 pm] |
Vado a Venezia.
I'm going to Venice.
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ricky600's journal