24.09.2009, Hürriyet Daily News

'Magic Flute’ to Wow Music Lovers

Known as the 'magic flute,' one of the internationally renowned flautists Şefika Kutluer will give two concerts this month. She will interpret the most popular Beatles and Presley songs with a classical touch in Ankara. At her second show in Konya she will perform the 'Mevlana Concerto' by famous Azerbeijani composer İlyas Mirzayev

The internationally acclaimed flautist Şefika Kutluer will treat music enthusiasts to two bewitching concerts this month both in the capital and in Konya.

Dubbed the "Magic Flute" by international media and music authorities, Kutluer will feature an unforgettable blend of classical music and pop tunes at the concert to take place at the Bilkent Concert Hall in Ankara on Friday at 8 p.m. Kutluer will be reinterpreting unforgettable popular songs by the Beatles and the King of Rock'n Roll, Elvis Presley, for classical music in the Baroque style.

Kutluer will perform Beatles and Presley songs accompanied by the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra under the baton of acclaimed composer Peter Breiner, who is well known for his arrangements, including Baroque versions of the Beatles and a similar adaptation of Elvis Presley. Breiner has blended the Beatles and Presley songs with pieces by famous Baroque composers Antonio Lucio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach.

Among the songs Kutluer will perform in the first half of the concert are famed "Imagine" by Beatles John Lennon as well as the Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road," "Eight Days a Week," "She is Leaving Home," "We Can Work it Out," "Hey Jude" and "Yellow Submarine."

Elvis and Beatles in Bach and Vivaldi tunes

"What we need in the world is hidden behind the lines in the Beatles' 'Imagine.' The lines implies the messages of peace and love that we all crave," Kutluer told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

In the second half of the concert, Kutluer will perform Presley's unforgettable "Jailhouse Rock," "Blue Moon," "Let it Be Me," "Put the Blame on Me" and "Mean Woman Blues." Kutluer will also perform The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night," "Girl," "And I love Her," "Paperback Writer," and "Help" in Baroque style in the second half of the concert.

Proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to the Turkish Aid Foundation for Weak and Homeless People. Tickets for the Ankara concert are available at the Bilkent Concert Hall box office and Dost bookstores in Kızılay, Kavaklıdere, Ankuva and at Beymen on Arjantin Street. Free buses will be available from Tunus Street, Sıhhıye and the National Library bus stops one hour before the concert takes place. For detailed information you can visit www.bso.bilkent.edu.tr

Kutluer's second performance will take place in Konya where Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, the great 13th century Turkish philosopher and poet, will be commemorated in his hometown to mark the 802nd anniversary of his birth.

Kutluer will perform the "Mevlana Concerto" by Azerbeijani composer İlyas Mirzayev. The concerto starts with the 4th Salute of the Sema, the ceremony of whirling dervishes who were followers of Rumi, by İsmail Dede Efendi, a Mevlevi and one of the most important Turkish classical composers.

The concerto also features Mirzayev's adaptation of "saz semai," a famous waltz melody of Tanburi Cemil Bey, a Turkish master of classical style, in instrumental form.

"I am so pleased to perform pieces on the day of Mevlana s birth by composers I admire such as Tanburi Cemil Bey and İsmail Dede Efendi," Kutluer told the Daily News. "It is a great pleasure for me to perform the old Turkish masters' pieces in classical form. "The concert will take place at the Konya Mevlana Culture Center on Sept. 30 at 5:30 p.m. and will be free of charge.

Wide music repertoire

In addition to her existing 15, Kutluer has also released a new album called "Mevlana Rumi," which was recorded in Prague last year to the accompaniment of the Virtuosi of Prague orchestra.

The album likewise includes Mirzayev's flute concerto, "From Mevlana to Our Day" and two others works by the same composer, "Yunus Emre Overture" and "Ismail Dede Efendi Gülnihal."

Taking her place as one of the most distinguished flute soloists in the world, Kutluer has released many albums together with several famous conductors and orchestras including Zubii Mehta, Peter Breiner, the Berlin Philharmonic, the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic and the British Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kutluer has a wide repertoire, ranging from Baroque, classical and romantic to fusion works of Eastern and Western music.

Having received several international prizes including 1st Prize at the Vienna Int'l Flute Contest, she was awarded the Presidential medal in 1985, the highest honor Turkey bestows on an individual, aid in 1998 she became a state artist.