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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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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Cornucopia and Turkey’s finest photographer
By Cornucopia UK | November 12, 2018
Writing in the current issue of
Cornucopia (No.57), Andrew Finkel penned a portrait of Turkey’s most famous photographer, whom he had known. The Ara Güler Museum had recently opened in Bomontiada, on Güler's 90th birthday. "If you close your eyes a try to recreate a post-war Istanbul,” Finkel wrote, “it...
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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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Touting for the history traveller at WTM
By Cornucopia UK | November 6, 2018
Heritage is a central theme of Turkey’s stand at this year’s World Travel Mart in East London, which opened yesterday. ‘Home of Göbeklıtepe’ was a typical banner and the ‘Home’ theme continues with 'Home of Rumi', 'Home of 'Haghia Sofia' and so on. Tourist numbers have been up this year,...
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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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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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New galleries at the British Museum make the connections
By Cornucopia UK | October 22, 2018
These exquisite pages depicting a woman in a bathhouse, with cut-outs of cyclamen, lilac, roses and tulips, are from a 'Persianate' Costume Album commissioned by Peter Mundy, an employee of the Levant Company in Istanbul from 1617 to 1620. It is just one on many fabulous items on show at...
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Showing the way for future archaeology exhibitions
By Cornucopia UK | October 16, 2018
It caused excitement when it was discovered by the late
James Mellaart in 1958, and Çatalhöyük is causing excitement today, with a hi-tech exhibition to mark the end of the recent 25-year research project at the Neolithic site. Sponsored by ANAMED (Koç University Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisations),
The Curious...
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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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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....
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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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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...
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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...
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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...
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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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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...
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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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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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