Giuseppe Taddei

The Elixir of Love was the result of a commission from a panicked Milanese impresario in 1832. He needed a new opera to replace one that had fallen through, and who better to go to than Donizetti, the man who was known to churn out an entir

When Leyla Gencer died at age 79 in 2008, the obituary in The Guardian (UK) called her “the greatest Turkish opera singer of the 20th century and a singing actor of formidable power and individuality.” Beloved of her fans, who called her “t