By John Shakespeare Dyson | May 13, 2024
On March 22 I went to the Atatürk Cultural Centre to hear the USA-born Turkish pianist Özgür Aydın play Beethoven’s
Piano Concerto No 4 in G major, accompanied by the Istanbul State Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of the Finnish conductor Ari Rasilainen. In the second half, the orchestra played...
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By Andrew Finkel | May 6, 2024
Readers of
Cornucopia might think they need no introduction to the work of Monica Fritz. For the last decade she has been photographer at large for this magazine, returning from assignments with sharp, often playful, but always unaffected takes on her subject matter. Her repertoire, from portraiture to mosque furniture,...
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behind the scenes
By Monica Fritz | May 5, 2024
Don, Catherine, Barnaby and I arrived in Adiyaman and were collected by Hüseyin Aydın from the Güneș Hotel. As we left the van for a quick kebab in the outskirts of town we were greeted by some curious Syrian children and continued directly to the mountain where Hüseyin bey, our...
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Andrew Finkel continues his popular food blog with a visit to the proudly individual Rutin, photographs by Monica Fritz
By Andrew Finkel | May 1, 2024
Rutin is a tiny, determinedly informal restaurant in a wiggly backstreet of Istanbul’s Beyoğlu (pictured above by Monica Fritz). It translates as ‘routine’, but this strikes me as being a misnomer for what is in many ways a puzzling establishment. Far from being humdrum, Rutin appears to be out on...
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By Cornucopia Connoisseur | April 21, 2024
An afternoon at the Sotheby's and Christie's during Islamic Sales Week is always full of intrigue and beauty. The Russian court was full of Ottoman treasures. Catherine the Great's crowned cipher the year 1789 have been added on top of the handle of this splendid agate Ottoman cup, set with...
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By John Shakespeare Dyson | April 21, 2024
Having recently been to see Rossini’s
Maometto Secundo at the Atatürk Cultural Centre, and having had my appetite for opera whetted as a result, I resolved to repeat the experience. Accordingly, on Thursday March 14 I revisited the AKM (Atatürk Kültür Merkezi), this time to see the Istanbul State Symphony...
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By John Shakespeare Dyson | March 16, 2024
It had been far too long since I had been to the opera in Istanbul, so on February 28 I made a visit to the Atatürk Cultural Centre to attend a performance of Gioachino Rossini’s two-act opera
Maometto Secundo (‘Mehmet II’), first performed in Naples in 1820. Suffice it to...
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İmer Demirer, Ali Perret, Meriç Demirkol and Raci Pişmişoğlu at BOVA
By John Shakespeare Dyson | March 4, 2024
On Sunday February 18 I visited Bova, a small jazz club located in Mis Sokak, Beyoğlu. My companion and I had booked early, and so were given the privilege of sitting very close to the stage. The musicians who entertained us were trumpeter İmer Demirer, pianist Ali Perret, saxophonist Meriç...
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By John Shakespeare Dyson | February 25, 2024
The last time I heard Randy Esen sing was in July 2019, when she was performing at Uniq Istanbul with three other musicians: her husband Aydın Esen on piano and keyboards, Tommy Campbell on drums and Greg Jones on bass guitar. In my blog on this mega-memorable gig I wrote...
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In the backstreets of uppercrust Suadiye, Andrew Finkel seeks out a rare culinary species: a chef who cooks what he likes
By Andrew Finkel. Photographs by Monica Fritz | February 5, 2024
A slow-braised rib of beef wrapped in yufka pastry, served on chilli lime yoghurt with smoked paprika oil I have suffered these long years from a split gastronomic personality. One of my selves seeks out Istanbul restaurants that have a practised understanding of the demands of their genre – the...
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Prokofiev and Bruckner at the Atatürk Cultural Centre
By John Shakespeare Dyson | February 1, 2024
The programme for the concert I attended at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Taksim Square on January 5, 2024 consisted of only two works: Prokofiev’s
Violin Concerto No 1 in D major and Bruckner’s
Symphony No 4. Both were played by the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra under the direction of...
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A feast of antique rugs and textiles in Battersea
By Cornucopia Connoisseur | January 24, 2024
There is something truly wonderful about the the London Antique Rugs and Textile Fair this year. It has slightly fewer exhibitors – 15 in all, which means some friends are missing – but it means their woven treasures can be seen from afar as well as close up, and have...
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İlyas Mirzayev’s Cello Concerto and a tribute to the inspirational conductor Saim Akçıl
By John Shakespeare Dyson | January 5, 2024
On December 2 I attended a concert at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall at which the CRR Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Mr Rengim Gökmen, one of Turkey’s leading wielders of the baton. This was one of a series of concerts – entitled
Yüzyılın Yüzleri (‘The Century’s Faces’) –...
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The first of two reviews looking back on autumn's hightlights
By John Shakespeare Dyson | December 23, 2023
On November 1 I made another visit to Istanbul's Notre Dame de Sion French Lycée in Harbiye to attend a concert by the Belgian pianist Éliane Reyes. This was the second of the musical events organised by this school that I have recently attended, the first having been a concert...
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An inspiring concert at Notre Dame de Sion Lycée in Harbiye
By John Shakespeare Dyson | November 16, 2023
A large number of concerts of both Turkish and Western classical music were organised in Istanbul to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the inauguration of the Republic of Turkey. Bearing in mind the Republican régime’s emphasis on the provision of education for girls, out of all the available possibilities I...
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A captivating performance of the Goldberg Variations by Özgür Aydın in memory of Ayşegül Sarıca
By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 31, 2023
The death in March this year of the distinguished Turkish pianist Ayşegül Sarıca, who was trained in Istanbul and Paris, has recently been marked by a performance of Bach's
Goldberg Variations by fellow Turkish pianist Özgür Aydın. The concert, subtitled ‘A Day of Respect for Ayşegül Sarıca’, took place on...
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The Turkish Republic's Anniversary
By Andrew Finkel photos by Monica Fritz | October 29, 2023
The Turkish Republic turns 100 today – not just another candle on the cake, but a reliving of a moment of defiance. A nascent state claimed a very different destiny from that envisaged for it by the European powers who had defeated a weary empire at the end of the...
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By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 19, 2023
On October 13 I attended a jazz concert by the Ozan Musluoğlu Quintet, a mixed group of Turkish and American musicians, at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall. It was, of course, Friday the 13th, so I took great care to avoid accidents, chivvying my companion so as not to...
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By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 7, 2023
On September 29 I attended a concert at the Zorlu Center – one of the 33rd Akbank Jazz Festival events – given by the American trumpet-player Terence Blanchard, the ‘E-Collective’ (his backing group) and a string quartet by the name of the ‘Turtle Island Quartet’. I must congratulate the man...
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By Andrew Finkel | September 27, 2023
Metin Münir was a clarion voice in the Turkish press – a champion of journalistic quality and integrity that penetrated so much fog and even more nonsense. As editor-in-chief and founder of a slew of English- and Turkish-language publications, he encouraged a generation of highly professional journalists. The newspaper
Güneş which he...
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