The Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra under the sensitive baton of Nikos Haliassas at the Caddebostan Cultural Centre
By John Shakespeare Dyson | May 7, 2019
On 26 April I ventured across the Bosphorus to attend a concert by the İstanbul State Symphony Orchestra at the Caddebostan Cultural Centre. It was with some trepidation that I took the Metrobus over the First Bosphorus Bridge to its terminus at Söğütlüçeşme, in the hinterland behind Kadıköy: the sight...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
By John Shakespeare Dyson | April 14, 2019
The American pianist Stephen Kovacevich gave the seventh in the series of Istanbul Recitals at The Seed in Emirgan on April 12. Seven may be a lucky number for some, but not, unfortunately, for Mr Kovacevich (the first ‘c’ in his name is pronounced as an ‘s’, by the way,...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
John Shakespeare Dyson is happily surprised by a thoroughly re-energised Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra
By John Shakespeare Dyson | April 14, 2019
Mussorgsky and Shostakovich were on the menu at a concert by the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra on April 5. It was pleasing to see the auditorium at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall nearly full: classical music concerts in Istanbul are getting more and more popular by the year. Standards...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
The Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra with Bomsori Kim
By John Shakespeare Dyson | March 24, 2019
The Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra gave a concert at the Lütfi Kırdar Concert Hall in Istanbul on March 21, 2019 – the day after the Spring Equinox, which happened to coincide with a full moon. The huge open space outside the concert hall, an observation platform set above the valley leading...
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By John Shakespeare Dyson | February 18, 2019
The latest in the 2018–19 series of İstanbul Recitals was given by the American pianist Andrew Tyson at the Seed, the concert hall attached to the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Emirgan, on Friday February 15. As was the case with last month’s recital, the weather was cold, wet and windy....
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Musical Shares: Gilad Atzmon, Sarp Maden and Friends play Istanbul’s newest jazz venue
By John Shakespeare Dyson | February 3, 2019
The Gilad Atzmon / Sarp Maden Quartet – with Gilad Atzmon (above) on saxophone, Sarp Maden on guitar, Ercüment Orkut on piano, Eylem Pelit on bass guitar and Derin Bayhan on drums – performed in a curtain-raising event at Istanbul's new jazz club Touché, located beside the PSM (Performance Arts...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Jazz, - Musical Shares
By John Shakespeare Dyson | January 17, 2019
After a hiatus caused by a stay in delectable Tameside for the run-up to the festive season, I am back in Istanbul. On Saturday, January 12 I braved the appalling weather (almost as cold, wet and dismal as Manchester in August) to listen to a recital by Freddy Kempf (pictured...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
By Jamie Leptien | November 30, 2018
The 2019 Istanbul Theatre Festival rolls into its final weekend, and for the first time in three years, I didn't miss it all. This past Thursday I joined a full house in the Zorlu PSM Main Theatre for the second of two four-dance performances given by Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT)....
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Music & Performing Arts
By John Shakespeare Dyson | November 23, 2018
The second in the series of Istanbul Recitals for the 2018–19 season was given by the French pianist Alexandre Tharaud at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Emirgan on November 13. For this recital the usual concert hall – The Seed – was not available, so the performance had to take...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
By John Shakespeare Dyson | November 11, 2018
The next concert in the current series organised by Talent Unlimited, a British charity that supports young musicians and gives them a platform on which to demonstrate their skills, is to be given in St James’s Church, Piccadilly, London, on Thursday November 29 at 7 pm. On the programme are...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
Autumn colours from the Tekfen Philharmonic and the brilliant Omar Tomasoni
By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 30, 2018
The Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra has recently enlivened our late-October evenings with a series of concerts in Ankara, Mersin and Istanbul entitled
Autumn Classics. The one I attended on Friday took place in the Lütfi Kırdar Concert Hall, Istanbul. The first half was largely devoted to works showcasing the talents of...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
Musical Shares continues with a concert on Heybeliada
By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 27, 2018
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In September I attended a concert in the old Greek seminary on the island of Heybeli (photographed here by Monica Fritz). Heybeli has always been my favourite among the Princes’ Islands, those oases of peace and quiet in the Sea of Marmara that face the beskyscrapered coastline stretching eastwards from...
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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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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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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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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
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
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
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
