Leyla Gencer, nata Ayşe Leyla (Istanbul 1928 - Milano 2008)

Ayşe Leyla Çeyrekgil was born in Istanbul on October 10, 1928, daughter of Hasanzade İbrahim Bey (later the law of 1934 adopted the surname Çeyrekgil), a prominent entrepreneur descending turkish from an original Sunni Muslim family of Safranbolu, and Lexanda Angela Minakovska , Polish noblewoman Roman Catholic, but later a convert to Islam. He spent most of his childhood in Çubuklu, in Anatolia, in the region of the Bosporus. She studied singing at the Conservatory of Istanbul and later, in private, in Ankara, with Italian soprano Giannina Arangi-Lombardi. The December 11, 1946 wedding Ibrahim Gencer, bank manager, a member of a prominent family. His first public appearance, in an amateur performance, takes place in Ankara in 1950, with the interpretation of Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana. In Italy debuts July 16, 1953, at the Arena Flegrea in Naples, still in the role of Santuzza, to great critical and commercial success. At the Teatro San Carlo in Naples will play in the year following a superb Madama Butterfly (February 1954) directed by Gabriele Santini and Tatjana nell'Eugenio Onegin (March 1954), with the orchestral conducting Tullio Serafin with Jolanda Gardino, Agnes Dubbini Oralia Dominguez, Giuseppe Campora, Piero De Palma, Gino Bechi, Italo Tajo and Pliny Clabassi. Portrait photo autographed by the artist.

Excellent condition

Material
Photography; 18x24 cm