Thursday, January 21, 2010

Sailing to Byzantium, Part II

"Sailing to Byzantium, Part II
By Benny Ziffer

ISTANBUL (end of December 2009) - Most of my plans of things to do and see here evaporated into thin air upon arrival, so I let myself be carried away with the flow of the new, strange things I encountered while wandering the city's streets. For example, the music blaring from a record shop on the popular Istiklal Avenue pedestrian mall was enough to draw me inside and plunge me into a flurry of names of singers and bands, as well as rare recordings. This is how I became acquainted, for the first time, with Wojciech Bobowski's music. He was one of the great European composers of the generation that preceded Bach - if you consider Istanbul a part of the Continent, which to my regret, is not usually the case."

More:Sailing to Byzantium, Part II - Haaretz - Israel News