A captivating performance of the Goldberg Variations by Özgür Aydın in memory of Ayşegül Sarıca
By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 31, 2023
The death in March this year of the distinguished Turkish pianist Ayşegül Sarıca, who was trained in Istanbul and Paris, has recently been marked by a performance of Bach's
Goldberg Variations by fellow Turkish pianist Özgür Aydın. The concert, subtitled ‘A Day of Respect for Ayşegül Sarıca’, took place on...
The Turkish Republic's Anniversary
By Andrew Finkel photos by Monica Fritz | October 29, 2023
The Turkish Republic turns 100 today – not just another candle on the cake, but a reliving of a moment of defiance. A nascent state claimed a very different destiny from that envisaged for it by the European powers who had defeated a weary empire at the end of the...
By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 19, 2023
On October 13 I attended a jazz concert by the Ozan Musluoğlu Quintet, a mixed group of Turkish and American musicians, at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall. It was, of course, Friday the 13th, so I took great care to avoid accidents, chivvying my companion so as not to...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Jazz, - Musical Shares
By John Shakespeare Dyson | October 7, 2023
On September 29 I attended a concert at the Zorlu Center – one of the 33rd Akbank Jazz Festival events – given by the American trumpet-player Terence Blanchard, the ‘E-Collective’ (his backing group) and a string quartet by the name of the ‘Turtle Island Quartet’. I must congratulate the man...
By Andrew Finkel | September 27, 2023
Metin Münir was a clarion voice in the Turkish press – a champion of journalistic quality and integrity that penetrated so much fog and even more nonsense. As editor-in-chief and founder of a slew of English- and Turkish-language publications, he encouraged a generation of highly professional journalists. The newspaper
Güneş which he...
By John Shakespeare Dyson | September 27, 2023
On September 4 I attended a concert at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Harbiye – one of the events of the 3rd Istanbul International Chamber Music Festival, held at this venue. My ticket, which allowed me to sit in the centre of the auditorium and as close to...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
By John Scott | September 14, 2023
Barnaby Rogerson and Orhan Cem Çetin in conversation with Don McCullin at the Pera Museum: Book Launch / Don McCullin / 10 September 2023 from Orhan Cem Çetin on Vimeo.
A sad farewell
By Cornucopia | September 4, 2023
On August 8 friends learnt with great sadness of the loss of Sir Timothy Daunt. Sir Timothy was British Ambassador to Turkey from 1986 to 1992 and together with his wife, Patricia, created a bond of friends and friendships rare in modern British-Turkish relations. Their love and understanding of Turkey...
The Elif Göztepe Quintet, Selen Gülün Blue Band and İmer Demirer Trio put the ‘jazz’ into the Istanbul Jazz Festival
By John Shakespeare Dyson | August 29, 2023
Percussionist Can Kozlu, recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, joined the İmer Demirer Trio in the last concert of the Jazz Festival (photo: Salih Üstundağ) Looking back on the summer that was, on July 19 I attended a concert at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, the last event...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Jazz, - Musical Shares
In the first of a new blog series, Cornucopia's restaurant reviewer, Andrew Finkel, tests The Counter in London's Ladbroke Grove
By Andrew Finkel | August 25, 2023
Kemal Demirasal, The Counter's Executive Chef I confess that on my increasingly frequent trips to London, I rarely seek out Turkish food. It seems the wrong ritual, much in the same way I almost never drink rakı at my own Istanbul dinner table. Emigré cuisine can be like émigré politics,...
The Afyonkarahisar Archaeology Museum Opens New Doors
By Mina Turunç | August 7, 2023
After years of construction, the new Afyonkarahisar Archaeological Museum certainly exceeds long-awaited expectations. Founded in 1933, it was originally located in the historic city centre of Afyonkarahisar. Serving as a landmark of the area, it boasted a stunning collection of the region’s rich offerings spanning thousands of years. But eventually...
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Main Featured Turkey
‘Isabel Muñoz: A New Story’ captures the enigma of Göbeklitepe
By Mina Turunç | July 26, 2023
Towering monoliths in contrasting shades of black and white make for an intimidating atmosphere at the Pera Museum’s latest exhibition,
Isabel Muñoz: A New Story. Spanning two floors of the museum, it displays the Spanish photographer’s journey through the ancient ruins of southeastern Turkey, where she photographed, at the museum's suggestion,...
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Exhibitions
By John Shakespeare Dyson | July 25, 2023
It was the end of a hot day, and having arrived in Ortaköy early for the Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara's concert, I sauntered down to the square by the Bosphorus that is dominated by the Greater Mecidiye Mosque – the one that juts out into the waterway close by the...
The Orchestre National de Metz Grand Est at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall
By John Shakespeare Dyson | July 15, 2023
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On July 6 I attended a concert by the Orchestre National de Metz Grand Est at Istanbul's Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall. The event was in aid of the Enstrüman Destek Fonu (Instrument Support Fund), a campaign organised by the İKSV to buy instruments for students and teachers of music...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
Postcard from Marmara Island
By Monica Fritz | July 8, 2023
Marmara Island, source of Proconnesian marble that covers the walls of Ayasofya, is a surprisingly remote place given that it is quite so close to Istanbul, and so easy to get to. In 3 hours you are immersed in a world of Aegean maquis, Black Sea villagers and the dark green...
The Erimtan Archeological Museum turns an unflinching eye on the terminal consequences of modernity
By Mina Turunç | July 6, 2023
At first glance,
Where Are We? (
Neredeyiz?) appears out of place in an archaeology museum. The Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum’s first two floors are occupied by the permanent collection, laden with ancient objects recovered from the Hittite, Urartu, Assyrian, Achaemenid and Byzantine sites. Delicate ceramic fragments, votive statues and white-washed...
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Contemporary Art, Exhibitions
The Istanbul Jazz Festival in a nutshell...
By John Shakespeare Dyson | July 5, 2023
Summer is upon us, and the 30th İKSV Istanbul Jazz Festival, like some celestial charabanc, is about to rev up and whisk us off to some interesting musical destinations. I need to make it clear at the outset that I have not found much jazz on the programme for this...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Jazz, - Musical Shares
By Monica Fritz | July 1, 2023
Paris has its Centre Pompidou. There’s the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City; in Athens, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC). And now Istanbul, too, has a major contribution from Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano. After a wait of five years, the Istanbul Modern – the...
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Contemporary Art, Main Featured Turkey
Our Istanbul Music Festival reviews conclude with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg – Mozart takes the final bow
By John Shakespeare Dyson | July 1, 2023
The last of the concerts I attended during the 2023 İKSV Istanbul Music Festival was given by the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, conducted by Matthew Halls, at the Atatürk Cultural Centre on June 16. The proceedings began with Mozart’s
Serenade No. 13 in G major, K 525, a work popularly known...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
Peerless musicianship from Anne-Sophie Mutter at the Istanbul Music Festival
By John Shakespeare Dyson | June 25, 2023
The 51st İKSV Istanbul Music Festival continues. The third concert I attended was given by Anne-Sophie Mutter and Mutter’s Virtuosi at the Atatürk Cultural Centre (AKM) in Taksim Square on Tuesday, June 13. The programme consisted of baroque works by Vivaldi, JS Bach and Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George, plus...
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Music & Performing Arts, - Classical Music, - Musical Shares
