Istanbul Music Festival to host classical music masters
ISTANBUL
The 53rd edition of the Istanbul Music Festival will take place from June 11 to 26, featuring a rich program of classical music stars at 22 concerts.
More than 45 artists and ensembles will perform, including the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Geneva Camerata, Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra, Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bulgarian National Philharmonic Choir and the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir. Star soloists such as Hélène Grimaud, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Rafał Blechacz, Gautier Capuçon and Alexandre Kantorow will also take the stage.
The 53rd Istanbul Music Festival will kick off on June 11 at 8 p.m. at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) with a world premiere performed by the Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bulgarian National Philharmonic Choir, under the baton of conductor Aziz Shokhakimov.
The concert will open with “The Earth Loves People One by One,” a new composition by Hasan Uçarsu. Also featured in the program will be the “Polovtsian Dances” from Alexander Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, one of the most iconic works in the Russian operatic repertoire.
Cellist Gautier Capuçon will be joined by Alexandre Kantorow, who performed at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, for a special concert on June 12 at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (CRR), as part of the festival.
The chamber orchestra Camerata Salzburg and pianist Hélène Grimaud will take the stage at AKM on June 14 at 8 p.m.
One of Germany’s most renowned ensembles, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, will perform two concerts at the festival.
The first concert will feature Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77, considered one of the four greatest German violin concertos and famously described by Hans von Bülow as “a concerto not for the violin, but against it” due to the difficulty of the solo part. Also on the program is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, often referred to as the “Fate Concerto.”
Celebrated violin virtuoso Frank Peter Zimmermann will join the orchestra for this performance, scheduled for June 19 at 8 p.m. at the Atatürk Cultural Center’s Türk Telekom Opera Hall.
For its second appearance, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, conducted by its Grammy-winning principal conductor Alan Gilbert, will accompany Rafał Blechacz — a two-time Echo Klassik-winning interpreter of Chopin. This concert will take place on June 20 at 8 p.m. at AKM.
The Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra will close the festival on June 26 at 8 p.m. at AKM, performing works by Gioachino Rossini. The concert will be conducted by the orchestra’s artistic director and principal conductor Carlo Tenan and feature the award-winning Slovak Philharmonic Choir.
The festival will also offer free admission to students enrolled in conservatory music and vocal departments.
