Turkish soprano Leyla Gencer, who made her career at Italy's La Scala, has died in Milan, two opera houses said Saturday. She was 80.
The singer who was known as La Diva Turca _ or The Turkish Diva _ died of respiratory problems and heart failure in her home on Friday, La Scala and the Turkish State Opera and Ballet announced.
La Scala expressed "immense sorrow" over Gencer's death and said the singer had "one of the most moving voices of any time."
It said her performances at La Scala had provided "years of unrepeatable splendor."
Gencer, a contemporary of opera legends Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi, made her debut at La Scala in 1957, playing Madame Lidoine in the premier of Francis Poulenc's "Dialogues des Carmelites." She moved to the Milanese opera house after successful performances in "Madame Butterfly" and Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" in Naples.
Her repertoire during a career spanning some 30 years included more than 70 roles. At La Scala, she was cast as The First Woman of Canterbury in the world premier of Pizzeti's "L'Assasinio nella Cattedralle" ("Murder in the Cathedral"). A debut at the Royal Opera House, in London, came in 1962 when she performed Elisabetta in "Don Giovanni."
"Leyla Gencer, a world artist, had become our pride in the international scene and has inscribed her name on the history of opera," said Turkey's Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay.
"The Turkish opera, the international art world, have lost a great personality. She was one of the most important opera singers of the 20th century," said Rengim Gokmen, director of the Turkish State Opera and Ballet.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul also paid tribute, calling the singer "the greatest diva of our operatic history" and "an ambassador of culture for our country."
Gencer was born in Istanbul in 1928, to a Polish mother and a Turkish father. She cut short studies at the Istanbul conservatory in favor of private tutorials from Italian opera singer Giannina Arangi Lombardi in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
She made her opera debut in the city in 1950, cast as Santuzza, in Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana" ("Rustic Chivalry"), a role she would later reprise on world stages.
After retiring from opera in 1985, the singer devoted herself to discovering and training young talent. An annual Turkish-sponsored voice competition is named after her.
"Even if in her final years she was not able to go on stage, she became a leader for Turkish opera stars and trained them," Gokmen said. "We owe her a lot."
La Scala said a funeral will be held Monday in San Babila Church in Milan.
The private Dogan news agency reported that her ashes would then be brought to Istanbul to be scattered over the Bosporus, in line with her wishes. The strait forms the boundary between the European and Asian parts of Turkey.
