Abbey packed out for

A PACKED Bellapais Abbey resounded to the strains of the Reloaded-2 concert performed by Burhan Öçal and Alexey Botvinov at the 16th International North Cyprus Music Festival.

Last Friday night’s concert, part of the festival organised by the North Cyprus Music Association in collaboration with the Presidency, Foreign Ministry and Tourism and Environment Ministry, was attended by Russian, Ukrainian, British and Turkish Cypriot music-lovers, among them Tourism and Environment Minister Fikri Ataoğlu.

Renowned Ukrainian pianist Mr Botvinov and İstanbul- and Zürich-based Turkish percussionist Mr Öçal performed compositions by Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev. The concert was part of a 20-date tour by the duo.

The festival continued at Bellapais this week with a recital by pianist Gülseren Sadak on Monday — a late stand-in for South-based musicians Wolfgang Schroeder and Jens Georg Bachmann, who pulled out of a scheduled concert after Greek Cypriot opposition — and a taste of tango from the Salman and Korad bandoneon and guitar duo on Wednesday.

Last night was set to feature a theatrical Shakespeare and Music stage show by thespian Ayşe Lebriz Berkem, promising Shakespearian ballads with soprano Linet Saul, with 17th century lute and viol accompaniment by Diego Leveriç and Bülent Oral.