The countdown has begun for this year’s İKSV Music Festival, which is to begin on 6th June. Classical music enthusiasts may have already read my piece on this subject in the latest edition of Cornucopia magazine, but I will assume that you have long forgotten everything I said (I myself have), and that a gentle reminder may be necessary.
The opening concert on Monday 6th June is to take place in the newly-opened Türk Telekom Opera Hall at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Taksim Square. Starting time: 8 pm. The Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Aziz Shokhakimov, will be accompanying Russian-American pianist Kirill Gerstein in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Also on the programme are Ferit Tüzün’s Humoresque, inspired by Nasreddin Hodja, and Bernstein’s West Side Story.
Kirill Gerstein is a Russian-Jewish pianist – a Scorpio born in Voronezh in 1979 – who is now an American citizen; he currently resides in Berlin. Here he is in Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, accompanied by the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln under the baton of François-Xavier Roth:
Before the music begins, the usual speechifying and prize-giving will take place; this year, the Honour Award is to be given to the composer Özkan Manav, who comes from Mersin. Here are two works by him in vastly contrasting styles – first, Haydar Haydar, performed in Ankara by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Robin Ticciati:
Now, his Countryside Landscapes: Winter for Strings, a much more modern work with lots of cold shivers. Don’t listen while you’re driving, or the sudden discord at 05:42 may make you slam your foot on the brakes unintentionally. If you feel like screaming, however, the section that begins here might make an entirely appropriate accompaniment:
The following day (Tuesday, June 7, at 8 pm), Fazıl Say, accompanied by the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra (conductor: Can Okan) is to play Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, followed by some works of his own. In one of these (Portraits), Mr. Say will be joined by flautist Bülent Evcil; also on the menu is his Istanbul Symphony. Between 6:30 and 7:30 there will be a talk or talks (in Turkish) by Mr Aydın Büke and Ms Zeynep Oral on the subject of the İKSV Festival’s 50th anniversary, which is being celebrated this year.
I now find myself in an unusual situation – that of listing a performance I have not listened to. (The reason is my ignoble, and as yet unconquerable, aversion to Mr. Say’s compositions, of course; readers of this blog will be aware of my weakness in this regard.) But anyway, here goes. As a special concession to Fazıl Say fans, here is his Istanbul Symphony (Symphony No. 1) played by the hr-sinfonieorchester (i.e., the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra), conducted by Howard Griffiths:
On Wednesday June 8, at 8 pm, the Borusan Quartet will be performing at the Süreyya Opera House in Kadıköy with French harpist Xavier de Maistre. Their programme includes a harp concerto by the French composer François-Adrien Boieldieu (1775-1834) that is described by Wikipedia as ‘one of the masterpieces of the harp repertory’. This will be followed by Debussy’s Danse sacrée et danse profane (what else?) and Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No. 3. As a taster for the Tchaikovsky quartet, written in 1876 (the year he finished Swan Lake), here is a performance by the Borodin Quartet. Don’t miss the third movement, a grief-laden elegy for the composer’s violinist friend Ferdinand Laub; it starts at 19:26. The first movement isn’t all sweetness and light, either: it sets the tone of grimness that pervades the work until the last movement. After all, E flat minor is never the cheeriest of keys. The programme notes by James Reel, available on YouTube, are particularly instructive:
Thursday 9th June (starting time: 8 pm) sees the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, conducted by Giovanni Antonini, accompany Austrian lyric soprano Anna Prohaska in a programme of arias by Mozart and Haydn. These are preceded by Beethoven’s 1801 Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, the composer’s only full-length ballet, and are followed by his Symphony No. 2. Frankly, I had never heard of The Creatures of Prometheus, but here it is in a performance by the Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic (a collection of young musicians from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden) under the baton of Kristjan Järvi:
The venue for a concert of Turkish classical music on Friday June 10, at 9 pm is the 5th-century Cistern of Theodosius (Şerefiye Sarnıcı) between Sultanahmet and Çemberlitaş. Singer Çağlar Fidan, kanun-player Asineth Fotini Kokkala and Nikos Papageorgiou on tambur and lavta will be presenting a programme of works by Ottoman composers of the 16th and 17th centuries. (The kanun, by the way, is a Turkish version of the zither, while a tambur is a Turkish stringed instrument with a small, round body that was traditionally plucked until the famous virtuoso Tamburî Cemil Bey (1873-1916) came along and played it with a bow. The lavta is a Turkish version of the lute.)
The first of the Weekend Classics (Hafta Sonu Klâsikleri) concerts, which take place in the open air for the convenience of families with children, is to be given by the Boğaziçi Gençlik Korosu (‘Bosphorus Youth Chorus’), conducted by Masis Aram Gözmek, on Saturday June 11. The venue: Fenerbahçe Park.
Serious classical stuff starts again on Monday, June 12 with a concert by the Presidential Symphony Orchestra (Cumhurbaşkanlığı Senfoni Orkestrası) – conducted by Cem-i Can Deliorman – and French cellist Gautier Capuçon. After Enstantaneler, a piece by the Turkish composer Cemal Reşit Rey, Mr. Capuçon will play Elgar’s Cello Concerto. In the second half, the orchestra will play Dvořák’s 9th Symphony, the ‘New World’. Between 6:30 and 7:30 there will be a talk (or talks) in Turkish on Cemal Reşit Rey by Ms Evin İlyasoğlu and Prof Ertuğrul Sevsay. The concert will then begin at 8 pm.