A series of recitals featuring Hungarian musicians is taking place throughout this year at the Naval Museum in Beşiktaş – probably the most visually stunning concert venue in the whole of Istanbul. The backdrop to the performance area is formed by some of the gigantic rowing boats, sumptuously inlaid with mother-of-pearl, that were used to take the sultans and their womenfolk on pleasure trips up the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. The floor-to-ceiling window at the far end of the hall, meanwhile, allows the audience a view of the distant lights of Üsküdar across the waterway, and in the foreground of ferries coming in to dock at the nearby landing stage.
The recitals are being arranged by the Hungarian Cultural Centre in conjunction with Artisan Sanat, an organisation that has put on a large number of musical events in Istanbul, and this year’s programme places a special emphasis on the music of Franz (‘Ferenc’ in Hungarian) Liszt. February 23 saw a recital by József Balog, one of his country’s foremost piano virtuosi; in the next concert in the series, pianist Adrienne Krausz performs waltzes by Brahms and Chopin, Chopin’s stirring Polonaise in A flat major, and works by Liszt including two csárdás (Hungarian folk dances) and his famous Mephisto Waltz No 1, described as being the epitome of ‘passion, sensuality and dramatics’.
JSD
Hungarian-Turkish Year of Culture: Gábor Farkas
Hungarian-Turkish Year of Culture: Róza Radnóti
Issue 66, December 2023
Turkey’s Centenary Issue
