A CONVERSATION WITH HALDUN DORMEN ON THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD OPERETTAS AND MUSICALS "ISTANBUL AND MUSIC" RESEARCH PROGRAM

"Istanbul and Music" Research Program

The second guest to “İstanbul’un Sesleri”, a set of events held by

İMAP, Istanbul and Music Research Program of Istanbul Research Institute was the great theatre artist and director Haldun Dormen. The conversation on the Republican period operettas and musicals at Pera Museum's Auditorium was administered by the İMAP's coordinator Derya Türkan.

A connoisseur himself, Haldun Dormen talked about his art background, early Republican period operettas and musicals in which he pioneered in person. At this special conversation, Derya Türkan shared with the audience his recordings extracted from his private archive.

The conversation started as the great master Haldun Dormen compared and contrasted operettas and musicals, underlining that the sound is highlighted in the first while acting is highlighted in the latter. Listening to a tape recording of an interview by Cemal Reşit Rey about the operettas, we looked at the practices of the time regarding early examples of the operettas. Expressing that Muhlis Sabahattin Ezgi is equally as good as Cemal Reşit Rey, Dormen complained that Ezgi was not known well enough as he deserved.

The original recordings of Vasfi Rıza Zobu, and Bedia Muhavvit of Deli Dolu operetta, which was written and composed in 1936 by Cemal Reşit Rey and Ekrem Reşit brothers, in which the most famous actors and actresses of the Municipal Conservatory of the time starred were shared with the audience.