The Jussen brothers raise the curtain on a new season of Istanbul Recitals
By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 14, 2018
The first of the Istanbul Recitals for the 2018-2019 season was given by the brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen at The Seed in Emirgan on October 3. It was, first of all, a pleasure to revisit this attractive venue. The wide terrace overlooking the Bosphorus is still there, and – to...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
Apocalypse now? Istanbul Design Biennial artists and designers explore our increasing dread of approaching global disaster
By Cornucopia UK | October 9, 2018
Image © Kayhan Kaygusuz, courtesy of IKSV Climate change makes the sea level rise. Blustering politicians armed with nuclear weapons pursue reckless policies, and the doomsday clock ticks closer to midnight. Earthquakes threaten the city on the Bosphorus, where the memory of 1999 lingers long, though maybe not long enough....
John Shakespeare Dyson on the dazzling talents lined up for the 2018–2019 Istanbul Recitals at The Seed
By John Shakespeare Dyson | September 16, 2018
Here is a brief overview of the Istanbul Recitals for the 2018–19 season, all of which will be taking place at ‘The Seed’ – the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Emirgan. It has been said that the Istanbul Recitals are one of the chief sources of
yüz akı (‘whiteness of face’,...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
John Dyson has nothing but praise for Cem Mansur’s outstanding youth orchestra
By John Shakespeare Dyson | September 8, 2018
The 2018-2019 season has started – and it has done so with a wonderfully encouraging experience. The Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (Türkiye Gençlik Filarmoni Orkestrası) kicked off the new season in fine style with a concert at the Zorlu Center in Zincirlikuyu, Istanbul, on September 4 – which happened...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
Looking forward to a new season of Istanbul Recitals
By John Scott | August 12, 2018
Dear Cornucopia readers, Here is a brief overview of the Istanbul Recitals for the 2018-2019 season, all of which will be taking place at ‘The Seed’ – at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Emirgan. As the programmes for most of these recitals are as yet unannounced (the Turkish phrase ‘Belli...
Sea change on Istanbul’s Coasts
By Suraya Yusof | July 31, 2018
Imagine this: the sweltering summer heat beats down on unsuspecting Istanbulites. Çay under the shade of balconies does little to abate the humidity, and staying indoors brings misguided moths or malevolent mosquitos. Families and friends journey towards the coastlines for their usual respite: swimming in the Marmara by Istanbul’s most...
BCUC and Knower at the Istanbul Jazz Festival
By Cornucopia UK | July 16, 2018
The Istanbul Jazz Festival always flies a little fast and loose with their definition of ‘jazz’. There are plenty of concerts every year for the traditional-minded jazz aficionado, but tucked into the line-up are always acts that stretch and flex their musicality beyond the borders of typical jazz, and often...
Avishai Cohen's not-quite-jazz concert at the Swissôtel in Maçka
By John Shakespeare Dyson | July 7, 2018
The fourth concert I attended during the İKSV Jazz Festival took place at the Sultan Park in the grounds of the Swissôtel in Maçka, above Dolmabahçe Palace, on Tuesday July 3. The performers on this occasion were the double-bassist Avishai Cohen and his group. The concert started well: Mr Cohen...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Jazz, - Musical Shares
Restoring the stained-glass windows of the Crimean Church in Galata
By Caspar Bigham with photographs by Monica Fritz | July 4, 2018
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To enter Christ Church, hidden in the backstreets surrounding Galata Tower, is to be suddenly transported to England by its neo-Gothic style. Known as the Crimean Memorial Church, or simply the Crimean Church, it was built in commemoration of those who fell in that war – a decision taken by...
Night in an Italian garden – the 25th Istanbul Jazz fest (cont.)
By John Shakespeare Dyson | July 3, 2018
The venue for the third concert I attended during the 25th İKSV İstanbul Jazz Festival was the grounds of the Palazzo di Venezia in Beyoğlu – a building that now does service as the residence of the Italian Ambassador and the Italian Consul-General. (It is not the Consulate itself, as...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Jazz
Çağrı Sertel and his group crack the sky open with their screaming thunderchords
By John Shakespeare Dyson | July 2, 2018
The second concert I attended during the İKSV İstanbul Jazz Festival took place at Salon İKSV (the İKSV HQ performance space) in Şişhane, Beyoğlu, on June 27. The group responsible for the music – but not for the weather outside, which was spectacularly stormy – consisted of pianist Çağrı Sertel...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Jazz
A highlight of the new Cornucopia is Briony Llewellyn’s piece on a great 19th-century panoramist. In Malta she meets the family…
By Briony LLewellyn | June 29, 2018
A family group is gathered together on the imposing bastions of Fort St Elmo at the tip of Valletta, overlooking the Grand Harbour (private collection, Malta). Their straw hats, fashionable on the Spanish island of Menorca, at the western end of the Mediterranean, suggest they are recent arrivals in the...
The 25th Istanbul Jazz Festival pays tribute to the fine musicians who put Turkish jazz on the map, plus some high notes ahead
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 28, 2018
The Opening Concert of the İKSV İstanbul Jazz Festival – sponsored by Garanti Bank – took place at the Zorlu Center on Tuesday (June 26). The theme was ‘Turkish Jazz through the Generations on the 25th Anniversary of the Festival’, and the occasion provided your reviewer – who knew very...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Jazz
Gardens of Delight: enchanting suzanis at the Afridi Gallery
By Roger Williams | June 26, 2018
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Shabaz Afridi hadn’t quite realised the significance of opening his new gallery on the day of the Brexit referendum. The small advertisement he had placed in the
Financial Times appeared following the vote — and as newspapers were being picked over on news broadcasts, the name of the Afridi gallery...
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Islamic Art, Textiles
In the finale to the Istanbul Recitals 2017–18 season, Karim Said spun a mesmerising web of music across time
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 14, 2018
The piano recital by Karim Said at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum (‘The Seed’) in Emirgan, Istanbul, on Tuesday June 12 was preceded by a talk in which the performer described the rationale behind his choice of the works in what was, to be truthful, an extremely unusual programme. Born into...
How four words on the side of a bus triggered Yeşim Cimcoz’s cure for writer’s block
By Yeşim Cimcoz | June 10, 2018
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‘New York Writes Itself.’ Splattered across a city bus, the words roll past me (writes Yeşim Cimcoz, photographed above by Monica Fritz). Maybe that was what started it all. I grab my mobile phone, write in the web address and before me opens a bright yellow website. People all over...
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Literature
A fond farewell to the Istanbul Music Festival
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 8, 2018
Your reviewer’s final foray into the 46th İKSV İstanbul Music Festival was a concert on the platform of Sirkeci Railway Station on Wednesday, June 6. Featuring the Turkish singer Meral Azizoğlu and the Hungarian ‘Gypsy Fire’ ensemble, the music was preceded by a talk given by the novelist and short...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music
Mischa Maisky and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orhcestra at the Aya İrini – the Istanbul Music Festival reviews (part 4)
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 6, 2018
The fourth event your reviewer attended during the 46th İKSV İstanbul Music Festival was a concert by the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and cellist Mischa Maisky at the Aya İrini on Saturday, June 2. This was a feast of ultra-professional string sound – a real string beano, in fact. (Reader...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music
John Shakespeare Dyson was grolloped by his third Istanbul Festival offering: the Filarmonica della Scala and Daniil Trifonov…
By John Shakespeare Dyson | May 29, 2018
Well, now. Your reviewer is still reeling from the pianist’s performance at the concert on Sunday night (Filarmonica della Scala and Daniil Trifonov at the Lütfi Kırdar Concert Hall, May 27) – the third event he attended during the 46th İKSV İstanbul Music Festival. Will he recover in time to...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music
A visual exploration of the lesser known
By Suraya Yusof | May 29, 2018
A stone's throw away from the bustle of Istiklal Caddesi, the Pera Museum nestles among the ivory façades of Tepebaşı. With its dual focus on historical and contemporary art, the museum has embarked on a series of international collaborations since its inauguration 13 years ago. Memorable shows included
Andy Warhol:...
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Contemporary Art, Photography
