Cemal Reşit Rey launched the 2019-2020 season on Wednesday October 9th with the CRR Symphony Orchestra and Choir performing all-time favorite arias and lieds. Concerts have been going on in full swing since then.
On Friday, the 11th, it continued on, this time hosting the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Ukrainian maestra Natalia Ponomarchuk and with Sezai Kocabyik as the soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Oboe Concerto I was there to witness the standing ovation in the end. Sunday evening was an intriguing one, featuring the Presidential Classical Turkish Music Choir performing a song over five centuries old (the “Evc Kâr” of Abdülâlî Efendi!).
Come this week, and you will find four performances, each of a unique genre, and of equal delight.
On Tuesday, October 15th, the heart-throb violinist Charlie Siem is taking stage with pianist Caroline Jaya-Ratnam, in a program of Bach (sonata for solo violin in G-minor) and Beethoven and Grieg (sonatas for violin and piano). Charlie Siem had been the soloist of the IKSV Music Festival opening performance last year with the Tekfen Philharmonic. Tickets cost up to 250 TL, and were sold out. If you missed it last year, or were too broke to afford it, then do seize the chance this time and grab a ticket. They cost only 30, 50, and 80 TL apiece, and can be purchased at the gate.
Charlie Siem is an intriguing name. He is smokin’ hot, and has proved it so: He has modeled for Dior, Hugo Boss, Armani, Chanel, and more. He is the son of a Norwegian billionaire, but instead of following in patriarchal footsteps of business, he has opted for the arduous and demanding profession of becoming a violin virtuoso. Impressive indeed. Kudos to him!
This week will continue on with jazz and fado, hosting – as part of the Akbank Jazz Festival – the Stanley Clarke Band on the 16th; and Cristina Branco, the queen of Fado on Sunday, the 20th.
Concerts continue back to back the following week and days too: The CRR Jazz Orchestra will add some cool vibes to your Monday on the 21st; vocalist Sibel Demir, a talent awarded the 46th Pulawy Jazz Workshop Award last year at the Nadis Young Jazz Vocal Competition last year. On Tuesday, the Vienne Trio Immerse hail from Vienna with a program of Schubert, Beethoven and Piazzolla; and on Thursday, the 24th, the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra takes the stage with Mendelssohn and Oğuzhan Balci, with the latter’s composition featuring kanun, kemence and oud solos.
At 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, the 26th, Azerbaijani pianist and harpsichord virtuoso Assoc. Prof. Islam Manafov will be hosting a free event for kids and young adults, in which he will be both performing and narrating.
On the 26th, 27th, and the 29th, in spirit of Cumhuriyet Bayrami, Filarmonia Istanbul, the CRR Symphonic Orchestra and Choir, and the Istanbul Chamber Orchestra – respectively, come with programs highlighting Turkish composers and history, as well as a selection of Mozart with his Violin Concerto #5, a.k.a. “The Turkish Concerto” for its motifs and rhythms. October will bid farewell with the Dissonace Ensemble on the 31st, playing a Baroque selection.
The talk backstage is that November is going to be even more full and awesome than this month. That will be hard to beat, but then, we are eagerly waiting!
Tickets for all performances can be purchased from the ticket booth inside the venue, on Biletix, or online through the CRR website.
Images sourced via CRR.
