The Turkish Daily News warns its female readership to “get ready… a charming chevalier will sweep you off your feet.” Tonight in Istanbul, world-renowned baritone Suat Arıkan is celebrating 25 years in the opera business with a concert at the Hagia Irene Museum.
I’m an opera singer myself, and I’m glad to finally start discovering the existence of a European classical music tradition in Turkey. I do also love Eastern classical music, musique orientale if you will, but there’s something about a Verdi aria coming from a big booming baritone that just does it for me like nothing else, and Arıkan fits the bill. I wish I could be there tonight. Anyone got an extra ticket and a private jet?
After reading the TDN article on the event, I’m surprised at the mention and implication of so many other Turkish classical musicians. I mean, there’s a conservatory here in Antalya, I know that, and I’ve seen the signs for an alleged local opera house and theatre, but I think classical music in general is still very much a fringe thing here, at least in the south of Turkey (perhaps those in Istanbul are luckier). In my classical career I can certainly say I never encountered a Turkish singer, but of course that doesn’t mean they weren’t around. So now it’s my job to make an effort to learn more about this and perhaps see if I can work my way back into a classical music scene that I thought I left behind forever when I left Europe. I’ll see what I can dig up. Does anyone have any recordings of Turkish opera singers they’d care to share with the class? I’m curious to hear what sort of standard we’re talking about. If it’s anything like the other traditional Turkish musicians I’ve heard, then I’m sure we’re in for a treat.