Russian Accent | Blog of Nadia Sikorsky

Musical Waves on Lake Lucerne

From 12 to 18 January 2026, the city on the shores of Lake Lucerne will host the international music festival Le Piano symphonique, whose inspirer, or “associated pianist”, is none other than Martha Argerich herself.

World Literature Through the Faces of Its Authors
24.12.2025

The splendid album created by Luc Debraine and published by the Lausanne-based Éditions Noir sur Blanc offers us the rare pleasure of seeing the real faces of those who, for decades, have nourished our imaginations.

The “Wool Paintings” and the Russian Trace in the Alice Bailly Exhibition
09.12.2025

Two rooms of the Kunsthaus Zürich are hosting, until 15 February 2026, an exhibition devoted to the artist Alice Bailly (1872–1938), born in Geneva and deceased in Lausanne. This presentation is the result of a collaboration between the Zurich museum and the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts of Lausanne (MCBA).

“The Angel of Death” on Swiss Screens
24.11.2025

Kirill Serebrennikov’s film The Disappearance of Josef Mengele, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this May and is devoted to the Nazi criminal who managed to elude justice, has now reached screens across the country.

Kyril Zlotnikov: “No one will steer us off our musical path”
19.11.2025

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
04.11.2025

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»
30.10.2025

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.

About the author

Nadia Sikorsky

Nadia Sikorsky grew up in Moscow where she obtained a master's degree in journalism and a doctorate in history from Moscow State University. After 13 years at UNESCO, in Paris and then in Geneva, and having served as director of communications at Green Cross International founded by Mikhail Gorbachev, she developed NashaGazeta.ch, the first online Russian-language daily newspaper, launched in 2007.

In 2022, she found herself among those who, according to Le Temps editorial board, "significantly contributed to the success of French-speaking Switzerland," thus appearing among opinion makers and economic, political, scientific and cultural leaders: the Forum of 100.

After 18 years leading NashaGazeta.ch, Nadia Sikorsky decided to return to her roots and focus on what truly fascinates her: culture in all its diversity. This decision took the form of this trilingual cultural blog (Russian, English, French) born in the heart of Europe – in Switzerland, her adopted country, the country distinguished by its multiculturalism and multilingualism.

Nadia Sikorsky does not present herself as a "Russian voice," but as the voice of a European of Russian origin with the benefit of more than 30 years of professional experience in the cultural world. She positions herself as a cultural mediator between Russian and European traditions; the title of the blog, "The Russian Accent," captures this essence – the accent being not a linguistic barrier, not a political position but a distinctive cultural imprint in the European context.

Events
Brauner
saint laurent
banks
Most read
Daniil Harms: Between Reason and Zaum

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.

Run or Stay?

That is the question at the heart of Swiss writer Micha Lewinsky's debut novel, Ben, or the Art of Escape, recently published in French by Phébus.

“Russians in the Air” and the British Salamander

If you are still enjoying your summer holiday, or only preparing for it, let me recommend an excellent holiday read: Nick Harkaway’s Karla’s Choice, a compelling spy novel that skillfully takes us back to a not-so-distant past.