Saturday May 02

Opera

Wagner’s ‘The Flying Dutchman’

Richard Wagner’s German-language opera The Flying Dutchman (‘Der fliegende Holländer’, 1843), in which both the libretto and the music are by the composer, is based on a satirical novel by Heinrich Heine. The Dutchman, a sailor who has been ‘stripped of his mortality because he defied the seas and storms without yielding’, has been condemned to sail the seas forever on a ghost ship. Allowed to go ashore only once every seven years, he will be rescued from his fate only if he can secure the true and faithful love of a woman. On one of these seven-yearly shore leaves, the ship brings him to a spot close to a village in Norway. There, he meets a man named Daland and stays the night in the house. He then discovers that this man has a daughter. Will her love for the Dutchman save him from his fate?

In his autobiography, Wagner claimed to have been inspired to write this opera by a violently stormy sea crossing from Riga to London that he had made in 1839; during this trip, the ship had been forced to take refuge in the Norwegian fjords. His favourite themes of penance, redemption through love, death and escape from a cruel destiny are once again evident in this work, in which some have seen parallels between the main character’s psychology and that of the composer himself.

In this performance, directed by Sebastian Welker, the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet Orchestra will be conducted by İbrahim Yazıcı, and the chorus by either PaoloVilla or Volkan Akkoç.

Atatürk Cultural Centre (Atatürk Kültür Merkezi or ‘AKM’) Türk Telekom Opera Hall, Gümüşsuyu Mah., Mete Cad. No 2 (formerly Tak-ı Zafer Cad.) – i.e., Taksim Square – Beyoğlu, 34437 Istanbul

15:00

Tickets from Biletinial Prices: 240TL, 335TL, 440TL, 660TL, 890TL

Event website

Saturday May 02

Coffee Concert

Mert Yeşilmenderes (piano)

In this Türk Telekom Prime Coffee Concert, subtitled ‘A Morning in Vienna’ (Viyana’da Bir Sabah), pianist Mert Yeşilmenderes plays Mozart’s Adagio in B minor, K 540, the same composer’s three-movement Piano Sonata No 9 in D major, K 311, and Schubert’s well-loved Four Impromptus, Opus 90 (D 899).

Atatürk Cultural Centre (Atatürk Kültür Merkezi or ‘AKM’) Türk Telekom Opera Hall lower floor foyer, Gümüşsuyu Mah., Mete Cad. No 2 (formerly Tak-ı Zafer Cad.) – i.e., Taksim Square – Beyoğlu, 34437 Istanbul

11:00

Tickets from Biletinial Price: 350TL

Event website

Friday May 08

Orchestral concert, horn concerto

Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Altuğ Tekin (horn)

In this DenizBank Concert, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Murat Cem Orhan, first play Carl Maria von Weber’s 1826 Oberon Overture. They then accompany horn-player Altuğ Tekin in Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No 1 in E flat major, written in 1882-83. In the second half, the orchestra play Schubert’s 1825 Symphony No 9 in C major, D 944, known as ‘The Great’.

Atatürk Cultural Centre (Atatürk Kültür Merkezi or ‘AKM’) Türk Telekom Opera Hall, Gümüşsuyu Mah., Mete Cad. No 2 (formerly Tak-ı Zafer Cad.) – i.e., Taksim Square – Beyoğlu, 34437 Istanbul

20:00

Tickets from Biletinial Prices: 260TL, 325TL, 455TL, 520TL, 650TL Students: 130TL, 162.50TL, 227.50TL, 260TL, 325TL

Event website

Sunday May 10

Chamber music

Saygun String Quartet

This concert, subtitled ‘Quartet Masterworks from Budapest to Istanbul (Budapeşte’den İstanbul’a Quartet Başyapıtları) and one of the events of the 14th Istanbul International Opus Amadeus Chamber Music Festival, is given by the Saygun Quartet – Márta Ábrahám and Aliz Gál (violins), Mevsim Engin (viola) and Barnabás Baranyai (cello). The first work on their programme is Mozart’s String Quartet No 22 in B flat major, K 589. They then play Ahmed Adnan Saygun’s String Quartet No 4, Opus 78 – one of the last works he wrote. Lastly, they will perform Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No 2 in A minor, Opus 13.

Atatürk Cultural Centre (Atatürk Kültür Merkezi or ‘AKM’) Theatre Hall (Tiyatro Salonu), Gümüşsuyu Mah., Mete Cad. No 2 (formerly Tak-ı Zafer Cad.) – i.e., Taksim Square – Beyoğlu, 34437 Istanbul

20:30

Tickets from Biletinial Prices: 800TL, 1000TL, 1250TL Students: 400TL, 500TL, 625TL

Event website

Friday May 15

Concertos for 5 instruments

Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra

In this DenizBank Concert, organised in honour of 19th May (Atatürk Commemoration, Youth and Sports Day), the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hasan Niyazi Tura, accompanies five musicians in concertos for their various instruments. The first item on the programme is Giovanni Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto No 2 in B minor (soloist: Büşra Başoğlu). This is followed by Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No 1 in D flat major (soloist: Mark Eren Aykan) and Artie Shaw’s Concerto for Clarinet (soloist: Melis Ünver). The last two works on the programme are Jacques Ibert’s Flute Concerto (soloist: Elif Duru Özçelik) and Emmanuel Séjourné’s Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra (soloist: Efe Yaşar).

Atatürk Cultural Centre (Atatürk Kültür Merkezi or ‘AKM’) Türk Telekom Opera Hall, Gümüşsuyu Mah., Mete Cad. No 2 (formerly Tak-ı Zafer Cad.) – i.e., Taksim Square – Beyoğlu, 34437 Istanbul

Time: either 20:00 (according to the Biletinial page) or 21:00 (according to the AKM page); my guess is that the Biletinial page is accurate.

Tickets from Biletinial Prices: 260TL, 325TL, 455TL, 520TL, 650TL Students: 130TL, 162.50TL, 227.50TL, 260TL, 325TL

Event website

Saturday May 16

Coffee Concert

‘Youth Concert’ (piano and accordion)

In this Türk Telekom Prime Coffee Concert, subtitled ‘Youth Concert’ (Gençlik Konseri), the first item features pianist Yahya Azimoğlu in movements I and IV from Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 29 in B flat major, Opus 106 (the so-called ‘Hammerklavier’ sonata). He then plays Klavierstück VIII by Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007). Following this, accordionist Deniz Tercan plays a selection of short pieces, and pianist Utku Asan plays Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Atatürk Cultural Centre (Atatürk Kültür Merkezi or ‘AKM’) Türk Telekom Opera Hall lower floor foyer, Gümüşsuyu Mah., Mete Cad. No 2 (formerly Tak-ı Zafer Cad.) – i.e., Taksim Square – Beyoğlu, 34437 Istanbul

11:00

Tickets from Biletinial Price: 350TL

Event website

Saturday May 23

Coffee Concert

Flute & piano recital

In this Türk Telekom Prime Concert, subtitled ‘Intercontinental Melodies’ (Kıtalararası Ezgiler), flautist Nihan Atalay Curti is accompanied on the piano by Isaac Friedhoff-Calvo in works by composers from a variety of countries: Takashi Yoshimatsu (Japan), Salvador Brotons (Catalonia/Spain), Federico Mompou (Catalonia/Spain), Isaac Friedhoff-Calvo (Catalonia/Spain), Albert Roussel (France), Hasan Uçarsu (Turkey) and Aaron Copland (USA).

Atatürk Cultural Centre (Atatürk Kültür Merkezi or ‘AKM’) Türk Telekom Opera Hall lower floor foyer, Gümüşsuyu Mah., Mete Cad. No 2 (formerly Tak-ı Zafer Cad.) – i.e., Taksim Square – Beyoğlu, 34437 Istanbul

11:00

Tickets from Biletinial Price: 350TL

Event website