Scottish Chamber Orchestra returns to Duns

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra returns to Duns next month, bringing Mozart, Haydn and Medelssohn’s Hebrides Overture to the Volunteer Hall.
SBBN SCO visit Duns June 2014SBBN SCO visit Duns June 2014
SBBN SCO visit Duns June 2014

They will be under the expert eye of violinist and director Florian Donderer.

Speaking from Bremen, the Berlin-born Florian said that he was looking forward to retracing his steps on the Orchestra’s tour of southern Scotland.

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“When I was studying in London I visited Scotland,” he said, “but that wasn’t playing music - I went on a cycling tour all round the country, which was very different for me.”

Florian is looking forward to playing some of his favourite chamber music “standards” as he calls them, and making them fresh with the help of the orchestra.

“Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture,” he says, “is one of my favourite pieces, even though every orchestra player has done it so many times.

“It’s almost like, how dare I do this, coming over to Scotland from Germany? But it will be slightly different this time to when I last played it with an orchestra in Asia.”

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That will be in part because Florian is going to be conducting the SCO while sitting amongst them as a violinist.

“There are different ways of conducting,” he continues, “and mostly that means standing in the middle with your baton.

“But when you play along, it means that you rely on every wind and string instrument to go along with you, and that can make things really exciting and fresh.

“We hope to show that in the Mozart piece, the ‘Turkish’ Concerto. The Italian directions in the score are ‘allegro aperto’, which means joyous and open. We want that.

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“It’s very exciting to play with an orchestra in this way, and I’m really excited about it.

“There is a chance to talk when we practice, and discuss strategy, but then when you start the performance, you all just set off together.”

○The Scottish Chamber appear at Duns Volunteer Hall on Saturday June 7, at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £12.50 advance/£14 on the door/£5 concessions. Buy them in person at Duns News Plus, 48 Market Square, Duns.

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