Cornucopia in London
By Monica Fritz | January 23, 2026
A 17th-entury tapestry fragment at James Cohen Antique Carpets (LARTA 2026) Sadly, sadly, Sunday is the final day of the London Antique rug and Textile Art Fair, (open from 11am to 8pm till January 25th). If you are in London come visit our stand in this wonderful fair full of treasures....
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By John Shakespeare Dyson | January 17, 2026
On November 28 I attended a concert at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in which the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Sascha Goetzel (photograph by Özge Balkan). This event, one of the DenizBank Concerts, started off with an announcement that the first item on the programme – Debussy’s
Prélude...
Posted in
Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
The photographs of Timurtaş Onan
By Cornucopia Connoisseur | January 10, 2026
In its latest issue,
Cornucopia published a highly personal portrait of Beyoğlu, the defiantly bohemian district of European Istanbul, with a moving tribute to its spirited history by Maureen Freely. As she writes, 'Beyoğlu, as we now call it, has always been a place apart'. Well, there is now a...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
The TRT Big Band and the magnificent Sibel Köse
By John Shakespeare Dyson | January 2, 2026
On November 26 I visited the Atatürk Cultural Centre’s Theatre Hall to hear the TRT Istanbul Radio Light Music and Jazz Orchestra – in other words, the TRT Big Band – accompany vocalist Sibel Köse in a series of rollicking jazz classics. The last time I had heard Sibel sing...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
An Indian extravaganza in Istanbul marked an emotional milestone in curator Serra Oruç's lifelong passion for textiles
By Serra Oruç | December 13, 2025
In late November an exhibition I curated opened at Metrohan (the old Gare de Pera, on İstiklal Caddesi), bringing together collectors, enthusiasts, experts and designers to celebrate India’s rich textile heritage. Why, for the first time, was Istanbul hosting this Woven Legacies Exhibition? Largely because Turkey and India, both of...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By John Shakespeare Dyson | November 30, 2025
On Wednesday November 19 I visited a relatively new concert venue, attracted by the promise of a performance of some
chansons (French art songs, otherwise known as
mélodies) by Fauré, Debussy and Ravel. The event took place in a former Roman Catholic church in Yeldeğirmeni, the quarter in the Kadıköy district...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
The quality and professionalism of another new youth orchestra leaves even our crotchety critic on a Beethoven high
By John Shakespeare Dyson | November 16, 2025
November may be a time of mounting winter darkness and incoming seasonal depression, but it has sprung at least one welcome surprise – the first public performance of the season by the ADK Istanbul Youth Orchestra, an outfit of whose existence I was previously unaware. Their concert at the Süreyya...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
Conductor Cem Mansur has created an annual wonder: the Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra
By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 6, 2025
The Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra held its annual Istanbul concert at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Taksim Square on August 28. I now look forward to these events with keen anticipation as the standard of playing is always extremely high, thus promising good things for the future of Western...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By Monica Fritz | October 1, 2025
Sadly, on December 6th we lost the great British photographer Martin Parr. If anyone's photos spoke for themselves they were his. Martin Parr was known to most for his colour work and his subtle wit though his older black and white work was also very strong. He was one of...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By Andrew Finkel | September 22, 2025
Andrew Finkel Photo by Monica Fritz Buried somewhere in my subconscious is a reader's letter that appeared in The Times magazine, the glossy Saturday supplement of the early 1990s, when I was working as the paper's Istanbul correspondent. It was prompted by a Jonathan Meades restaurant review that...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By John Shakespeare Dyson | September 17, 2025
Where are the songs of summer? Aye, where are they now? Well, they are stored in our memories, where they will hopefully allow us to fondly replay them in our minds as a respite from winter gloom. For me, one of the most memorable of this summer’s musical experiences was...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By John Shakespeare Dyson | September 4, 2025
Kınalıada, the smallest of the four main Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara, is a place that until this summer, despite my 48-year residence in the city, I had never visited. Accordingly, when I saw in the programme for this year’s İKSV Istanbul Music Festival that a concert was...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By Monica Fritz | August 1, 2025
Ara Güler and Martin Parr in Istanbul 2017 Sadly, on December 6th we lost the great British photographer Martin Parr. If anyone's photos spoke for themselves they were his. Martin Parr was known to most for his colour work and his subtle wit though his older black and white work...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
Mystical music at the İKSV Istanbul Music Festival
By John Shakespeare Dyson | July 17, 2025
It was a great privilege to be on the Fıstıklı Terrace of the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Emirgan once again, this time to listen to a concert of pieces performed on traditional Turkish and Azeri instruments.
Tellerin Aşkı (‘Strings in Love’), an event that took place on June 23, was...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By John Shakespeare Dyson | July 3, 2025
On June 21 I went to the Süreyya Opera House in Kadıköy for a concert – part of the 2025 İKSV Istanbul Music Festival. Entitled
Female Stars of Tomorrow (Yarının Kadın Yıldızları), it showcased the talents of 13 young female musicians who have enjoyed the financial support of the Industrial...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
Reinhold Gliere's Horn Concerto is a revelation at the CRR
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 18, 2025
Reinhold Glière, a composer who had not previously crossed my radar, proved to be something of a discovery when the CRR Orchestra, conducted by Carlo Tenan, accompanied the Turkish horn-player Can Kiracı in his
Horn Concerto in B flat major at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall on May 9....
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
The opening concert of the 2025 Istanbul Music Festival
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 13, 2025
Wednesday saw the opening concert of the 2025 İKSV Istanbul Music Festival, which this year, the 53rd, has taken the theme, ‘Beyond Borders’. (Photo: the Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra, by Salih Üstündağ). After the speeches, the lucky recipients of this year's awards were announced. First up was the young Turkish violinist Bade Daştan...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 9, 2025
This year’s İKSV Istanbul Music Festival, the 53rd in the series, is scheduled to run from June 11 to 26. Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İstanbul Kültür Sanat Vakfı or ‘İKSV’) and centred around the theme of ‘Beyond Borders’, the 25 concerts feature more than 45...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 5, 2025
On April 18 I made my way to the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall for a tribute event commemorating the jazz and pop singer Ayten Alpman (1930-2012) (image source:
Ayten Alpman’ı anıyoruz! Kadıköy Life). Ms Alpman’s singing career began in the early 1950s, when she was encouraged to sing jazz by the...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
By Cornucopia Connoisseur | May 25, 2025
On Boxing Day 1893, 32,251 travellers descended on Constantinople, not Istanbul’s historical peninsula, but rather a colossal replica of the city, constructed under the vast glass-and-iron canopy of Olympia in West London. For a multitude unlikely to make the journey across Europe, Constantinople in London represented the real thing. Passengers...
Tagged
bosphorus,
istanbul
