“La Diva Turca” died this morning in Milan. In tribute to the art of Leyla Gencer, here is the soprano in the final scenes of Bellini’s Norma at La Scala on January 13, 1965. She is joined in this performance by Bruno Prevedi (Pollione) and Nicola Zaccaria (Oroveso); Gianandrea Gavazzeni is the conductor.

UPDATE: The “Queen of the Pirates” is heard in complete performances of La Vestale, Francesca da Rimini, Don Giovanni and La Gioconda on Leyla Gencer at Unnatural Acts of Opera. Also, one of the cher public informs La Cieca that Gencer’s true year of birth was 1924, not 1928 as noted in the headline to this posting. However, La Cieca will not allow mere journalistic accuracy to deny Mme. Gencer the diva’s traditional prerogative to draw a veil over such trivia as chronological age.

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