Fazıl Say gives '50th Year' concert in İzmir

İZMİR

Internationally acclaimed Turkish pianist and composer Fazıl Say fascinated art enthusiasts with a captivating performance on the night of Jan. 5 in the western province of İzmir.

Held at the Ahmed Adnan Saygun Art Center (AASSM), the concert featured the İzmir premiere of Say’s latest piano compositions. Tickets for the concert, titled "50 Years at the Piano," sold out quickly. Say, who was on stage for 75 minutes, received a standing ovation from the audience at the end of the performance.

The concert included Say’s new work “Kehanetler Tapınağı Klaros” (Klaros, Temple of Prophecies), which powerfully portrays Klaros, known as a center of oracles and prophecies. Other pieces included “Küçük Kara Balık” (The Little Black Fish), inspired by Samad Behrangi’s work, and the piano version of his well-known composition “İnsan İnsan” (Human Human).

Another new piece premiered in İzmir was Bosphorus Romance, composed for flute and piano, in which Say was accompanied by accomplished flutist Aslıhan And. In addition to these premieres, Say’s “Karatoprak” (Black Earth) and Franz Schubert’s “Arpeggione Sonata” were also performed.

Addressing the audience before the concert, Say said, "This marks exactly my 50th year at the piano — Jan. 5, 1975, to Jan. 5, 2025. Being in this hall, which has Türkiye’s finest acoustics and where we have recorded so much, is a privilege for me as well. Many of the pieces you will hear tonight are being performed for the first time. This is their İzmir debut."

"The first piece, which is quite connected to İzmir, is ‘Temple of Prophecies Klaros,’ composed in 2024. Klaros is an ancient city near Menderes district, known as the capital of oracles and prophecies, with stories spanning 3,000 to 3,500 years. It deeply inspired me. The idea of creating an experimental composition about Klaros — to depict the world of oracles and prophecies through the piano as a contemporary piece — was fascinating to me. My aim was to take an imaginative journey back thousands of years," Say added.