Süreyya Opera House in Kadıköy. Photo: Slawomira Kozieniec
“New York City is the Mecca of culture, there’s so much going on it’s overwhelming, but it’s the same thing here now. Istanbul has actually surpassed NYC in its own way. NYC has one symphony orchestra whereas Istanbul has three – so there’s more of a symphonic life here.” Former opera singer and fashion designer Alexandra Ivanoff knows what she is talking about. She lived in New York City for many years.
Ivanoff, now a music critic for several publications, including Time Out Istanbul, describes her life in Istanbul in an interview with Hürriyet Daily News as “a continual adventure” and says that the only thing that she misses about her former home, New York, was its “special brand of humor.”
She puts down Istanbul’s unique charm to the fact that it lies at the crossroads of many different cultures and their respective influences.
Read more of her interview with Hürriyet Daily News here http://bit.ly/ft4Dbb