OK, Almost a 5 min. interview : here are the salient points: 1) Arangi-Lombardi (A-L) came to Turkey to teach in Ankara but came to Istanbul for a vacation. 2) Leyla sings for her - the 2 arias from Aida - not knowing A-L was famous for her Aida. 3) A-L teaches Leyla to breathe deeply but not high, and to think of the voice as a babbling brook that comes out without touching the throat. 4) This remains with Leyla all her career 5) Leyla always sang Aida, Ballo, Trovatore as A-L taught her.
You are so very welcome!! I just love Leyla! This interview was so great - even if some of the other people at the table speaking made some of the phrases difficult to get. She also spoke with great nostalgia about her family home on the Bosphorous ...even if in need of repair after her father's death. She said the living room was enormous - 20 by 15 meters in size with a high painted ceiling. I visited Istanbul and saw her Milanese apartment that is in the Cultural Foundation building.
you'right, but this isn't exactely an interwiew but a talk during a dinner en petit comité at home of Renato Caccamo in Milan, Of course, when Leyla was speaking the friends were listening at.
This interview was clearly interrupted..and again, I only summarized the main points ... but I would add that Leyla also undoubtedly studied Gioconda with Arangi-Lombardi - as the way that Leyla sings "Enzo adorato, quanto t'amo" is EXACTLY the same way Arangi-Lombardi sang it - with that thumndering crescendo!..although I think that Leyla did it better than Arangi-Lombardi!! There's a lot more to this interview...but I am summarized the salient points. Hope this was helpful!
