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France Bleu Isère Interview 26.08.2017 (extracts)
Scots Wha Hae in festival :
The Festival Berlioz has begun its history in Lyon in 1979 before being settled in Berlioz hometown, at La Côte Saint-André (F-Isère) in 1994.
The 2017 edition has been entitled Berlioz in London in the time of the World Expos or more simply So British : it has ended with a new record crowds with more than 30 000 visitors during the fortnight.
The festival Director has chosen the Scots Wha Hae show during the all event for musical wanderings, concerts, gigs, etc… in connection with the very British programme and the multiple orchestra coming from the United Kingdom and playing on the remarkable stage of the Castle Louis XI.
Connecting classical music and Celtic music can appear at first as a risky bet, despite of the British theme : the wonderful welcome of the audience has validated this choice.
By the way, one can remember that Hector Berlioz has used a traditional Scottish tune in his Rob Roy overture (1831) : “Scots Wha Hae” to discover on this site.
Press-book : Scots Wha Hae at Festival Berlioz
The Scots Wha Hae show fits to many kinds of festivals (*) :
- unplugged option : with the Highland bagpipe and a Scottish outfit to welcome the audience, for original musical interludes, etc.
- in concert : complete show with many celtic instruments (bagpipes, bombards, Irish whistles), comments on the Scottish outfit and on some famous celtic tunes (Amazing Grace, Flower Of Scotland, Auld Lang Syne, etc.)
(*) one think at first about celtic festivals but why should we limit oneself? The two options of the show are able to merge with many kinds, due to the originality of the bagpipe tone, the mobility of the show in its unplugged version and to the rich and authentic heritage conveyed by an artist with more than twenty years of various concerts and experiences.
For example, this page is illustrated by the Berlioz festival which took place during August 2017 in France : the Scots Wha Hae show was played at 21 times during two weeks of classical music.
Eric Maclewis - Scots Wha Hae on Festival
