The Dialogue of Hearts: Anjelika Akbar Concert at KPI
/Kiev Polytechnic Institute” The National Technical University Newspaper, June 2nd 2011/
-When I realized that the University’s Centre for Culture and Art was completely full today and saw a grand piano on the stage, I immediately got excited for the performer because the hall was full of many noisy college and high school students who are only interested in youth trends, discotheques and having fun, as some people might think. It seemed as if the teenagers were dragged here by their teachers whereas the classical music pieces listed in the programme required a completely different atmosphere… Then a self-confident, tall lady wearing a red dress went up on the stage. Anjelika Akbar – a world-renowned pianist, composer, music doctor, UNESCO representative, writer, translator, and a happy wife with two children. Anjelika Akbar, who has Ukrainian roots and been living in Turkey for almost 20 years, is a star at the top of contemporary music and the composer of 400 pieces including symphonic, choral, chamber and instrumental compositions.
Anjelika’s very first words when she addressed the audience were so intimate that everyone was fascinated. With a slight accent, she told about her childhood, how her absolute pitch was discovered at the age of four, her education in music school and conservatory and of course her father’s impact on shaping her character. I guess Anjelika’s father, Stanislav Timchenko, who was present in the hall and who is a colleague of ours, an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Sociology and Law, must have been very proud of his daughter. The waves of family warmth quickly surrounded the complete hall. Moreover, Anjelika said “feel yourselves at home or with friends”. So, musical moments followed one after the other in such an atmosphere of mutual tenderness…
Of course, a lot of piano virtuosos visit Ukraine. Despite the clamour that there is a cultural crisis, the capital’s conservatory and philharmonic halls are completely full as a rule of thumb. However, most of the pianists are men, specialized in certain composer’s work. Here we saw a lady who enjoys both internal harmony and extraordinary passion in the way she renders music, who makes music reach perfection with her feminine light. Each and every piece she played was turning out to become a short play as she presented short preludes for the concert pieces and even completed some of them with her songs. Anjelika played Bach a l’Orientale, the Astor Piazzolla tangos, the works of Turkish composers and of course her own compositions. If we try to unveil the mystery of the extraordinary impact of Anjelika’s music on people, only one thing can be said – she plays with all her heart and soul. Only such a way of playing can warm up the hearts of the audience no matter where they live or how old they are. It was as if everybody in the hall became one in a living organism that shivered with the waves of music and shared the very same sentiments. “The “Libertango” of Piazzola, the waltz which is dedicated to his elder son “Yürek” which could be translated as “heart” and the “Küçük Çoban” (Little Peasant) by the Turkish composer Erkin were applauded with great enthusiasm for a long time. “Yalnız Çınar” (The Lone Sycamore) ballad that is about sensitive social issues and the fate of Nazım Hikmet, and Akbar's original compositions, particularly the “Kosovo” piece which tells the tragic events of Yugoslavia, made deep impression. Stanislav Timchenko’s showing up on the stage to play his "Kamo Gradeşi" (Quo vadis – Where are you heading?) composition that he composed after visiting the Roden sculptures exhibition, created an extra wave of excitement.
Many more could be said about the friendly Turkish students and the staff of Turkish official institutions in the Ukraine present in the hall, the exceptional sense of humour of our heroine, her interest in philosophy, people who couldn’t find any vacant seats in the hall and the typical technical problems encountered when the videos were being shown. It is also worth mentioning how long she received a standing ovation at the end of the programme.
Yet, the best way to put an end is citing our guest's own words. “I am sure that the most important thing in life is not the blood you carry, or your religion, or voicing your political beliefs. It is the sound of the heart that has no connection with a body, or wisdom or a belief. It has connection only with love that exists in all of us; that is how we are going to blossom peace and love in our hearts and create oasis of peace in the midst of the chaos of life!”
Marina Prepotenskaya,
The Ukraine National Technical University “Kiev Polytechnic Institute” Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy, poet, radio presenter