Russian Accent | Blog of Nadia Sikorsky

Kyril Zlotnikov: “No one will steer us off our musical path”

On November 27, the Jerusalem Quartet will perform at the Geneva Conservatory. Three of its members speak fluent Russian. I am delighted to present this wonderful chamber music program and to give the floor to one of the ensemble’s co-founders. The interview took place a few days before the shameful incident at the Philharmonie de Paris.

La Forza del destino, or War in a Neutral Country

After a three-year absence, world-renowned Russian soprano Anna Netrebko returned to the Zurich Opera House in the role of Donna Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece, commissioned by Tsar Alexander II and first presented to the public in St. Petersburg. The premiere took place despite the Ukrainian Embassy in Switzerland's demand that it be canceled.

«Deconstructing Félix»

Thus, paraphrasing the title of an old Woody Allen movie, one could title the exhibition "Vallotton Forever," currently showing at the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts in Lausanne and dedicated to one of Switzerland's most famous artists.

Is Russian Culture Doomed?

Cette question est au cœur du nouveau recueil d’essais de Mikhaïl Chichkine, Le Bateau de marbre blanc, paru récemment en français aux éditions lausannoises Éditions Noir sur Blanc et disponible dans les librairies de Suisse, France, Belgique et Canada.

Alain Blum and Emilia Koustova: "History shows us how unpredictable the future is!"

Authors often send me their books, whether literary works or scientific research. Unfortunately, I cannot present them all, which is why I select those that, in my opinion, are likely to generate the most interest among my readers. "Deported for Eternity. Surviving Stalinist Exile, 1939-1991" (« Déportés pour l’éternité. Survivre à l’exil stalinien, 1939-1991 ») is one of them.

Vladimir Jurowski: "Music can afford to be apolitical, but the musician cannot"

On September 15-19, 2025, a festival entitled "Macht Musik" – "Making Music" – will take place in Basel, an event that positions itself as "a festival dedicated to the freedom of art under dictatorship." On opening day, the principal conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (Rundfunk-Sinfoniorchesters Berlin, RSB), Vladimir Jurowski, representative of an illustrious Russian musical dynasty, will take his place at the podium. I offer you an exclusive interview with him; I hope it will answer several questions from my readers. We began in andante and moved to a candid conversation about his career, his relationship with Russia, and his views on the role of artists during times of political crisis.

The Secrets of the Gstaad Palace

The Palace, Roman Polanski’s black comedy, which has proven adept at provoking sharply polarized reactions, has been released in Swiss cinemas, first in the German-speaking part of the country and now in French-speaking Switzerland. The reception it has received has aroused our curiosity.

Vasily Petrenko: “Politics changes, but music remains …”

5, 6 и 7 марта за пульт Оркестра Романдской Швейцарии встанет, на сцене женевского Виктория-холла, российский дирижер, не нуждающийся в представлении любителям классической музыки. Предлагаем вашему вниманию эксклюзивное интервью маэстро.

About the author

Nadia Sikorsky

Nadia Sikorsky was born and raised in Moscow. She graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University and went on to complete her postgraduate studies there, earning a PhD in History. She spent 13 years at UNESCO, first in Paris and then in Geneva. After serving as Director of Communications at Green Cross International, founded by Mikhail Gorbachev, she launched NashaGazeta.ch in 2007, Switzerland’s first Russian-language online daily newspaper.

In 2022, Nadia Sikorsky was named to Le Temps’ Forum des 100, which brings together individuals who, in the newspaper’s view, have “significantly contributed to the success of French-speaking Switzerland”, from across public life, business, politics, science and culture.

After 18 years at the helm of NashaGazeta.ch, Nadia Sikorsky decided to devote herself to what had always held a special place in her work as a journalist: culture in all its diversity. This led to the creation of Russian Accent, a trilingual cultural blog in Russian, French and English, born in the heart of Europe, in Switzerland, which has become her second home and whose multiculturalism and multilingualism have helped shape the character of this new project.

At the heart of the project is the perspective of a European of Russian origin, drawing on more than 35 years of professional experience and a deep knowledge of both cultural traditions. Nadia Sikorsky sees her role as that of a cultural mediator between the two. The title of the blog, Russian Accent, reflects this idea: the accent is neither a linguistic barrier nor a political position, but a distinctive cultural imprint within a European context.

Events
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A new book by the Geneva-based Slavist Jean-Philippe Jaccard and his Russian colleague Andrei Ustinov, now living in San Francisco, has been published by the European University at St Petersburg: Vzir Zaumi. Daniil Harms and the Literary Avant-Garde of the 1920s. In the authors' own words, the volume offers a kind of X-ray of Leningrad's "left-wing " circles and their evolution during the period between Harms's poetic debut and the creation of OBERIU, as well as the dynamics that shaped those circles.

A few days ago, the Lausanne-based publisher Éditions Noir sur Blanc brought out Guzel Yakhina’s novel about the celebrated Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein. French readers will be able to read it in Maud Mabillard’s translation and, importantly, in full, including the ninth chapter omitted from the Russian edition.