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Sep 18, 2007

André Rieu's Live Radio Interviews in Australia


WATCH ~ André Rieu Live in Studio!!
Amazing André Rieu

Violinist and conductor Andre Rieu granted Ernie Sigley a fascinating
interview on Friday,and thanks to Mytalk, you can share the experience
and learn what inspires a musical genius.



From The Australian

September 21, 2007

Andre's Violin Comes With Its Own Guard

MOST musicians would be happy to perform at the Sydney Opera House, but with just 2600 seats, it's too small for the Dutch violinist Andre Rieu.
Instead, he will bring not one, but three replicas of Vienna's Schonbrunn Palace to Australia for a national tour next year. The palace will form the backdrop for his arena concerts.
He will also bring his own orchestra, ice-skaters and a ballroom-full of waltzers: about 250 people in all. "We come with horses, the whole circus," Rieu said in Sydney yesterday. A smaller entourage has accompanied Rieu for this week's promotional visit.

His own television crew is filming him for a "road-soap", plus he has assistants and a security guard for his Stradivarius violin. He said he had 120 people on his payroll. With such overheads, presumably the Opera House is too small. "I have to come to Australia and bring everybody here," he said. "I cannot pay (for) this show, with all the flights and hotels, with 2000 people paying for a ticket. To make it worthwhile, I have to go in big venues. And I have a lot of fans." He wouldn't be drawn on production costs, but said "I don't count in dollars, I count in euros. I am taking big risks to do this."

Rieu has sold 23 million albums worldwide, according to his record company. In Australia, he has sold 300,000 albums, sales largely due to broadcasts of his concerts on pay-TV arts channel Ovation. His concerts - such as that at the Schonbrunn Palace, and New York's Radio City Music Hall - are extravaganzas with lights, costumes and jokes.

Rieu's speciality is light classical music, such as Viennese waltzes by Johann Strauss. He's been called the Liberace of the violin. "I know the name Liberace but I don't know exactly ... he was a pianist, Las Vegas," Rieu said. "I'm more music than showbiz."

Nevertheless, Rieu wants to take classical music out of stuffy concert halls and have some fun. Music had
become elitist, he said. "I take away the fear people have of classical music, by looking them in the eye and making a joke," he said. "And then the ice is broken."

Rieu has founded his own orchestras and production company and, with his wife, still acts as his own agent. "I am 58 now, and my dream is to be 120, taking my audience by the hand and showing them classical music," he said. "It's a long journey. I'm only there for 10 years.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for finding & posting that interview, Sue! Sure wish Andre would do a call-in show in the States too! That was really great - I listened to it twice.
Chris T.

Suzanne Berry said...

Wasn't it great Chris!!
I had tears when they gave that 88 year old man the DVD's and CD. And the caller Mary had me laughing so hard! André was very witty with her and it was really fun to listen to.
I have listened to it twice now too! :)

Anonymous said...

That was GREAT!! Thanks, Sue!!
Eileen

Anonymous said...

I'm SO upset! Andre will be at Wahroonga Mall on Sunday 9/23 at noon but I can't go! I will be getting ready for my daughter's (she is an Andre Rieu fan too!) 4th birthday party!

The "Andre Rieu Week" on Ovation this week has been fantastic! It has been a great chance for me to spend time with my baby daughter.

What a wonderful job he does making classical music available to everyone, including 3-4 year old girls!

I wish we could invite him to join our party so that we might share with him some joy, just as he brings joy to us all the time.

Anonymous said...

I think that Andre would do a call in show here, if anyone would make it available to him. In 2003 (August 9th and he was fantastic), he was in Trenton, NJ (PBS) to promote the next year's concert and we could give the telephone people notes to hand to him. Not really a call-in show, but better than nothing. And the next night he was promoting in Detroit and they arranged a Meet & Greet (free) with about 25 fans. Look how hard we worked (especially Sonja) to get him on Oprah and to no avail.

Anonymous said...

I did it again and didn't sign. Will have to start using my Google account.
Laurie

Anonymous said...

Love your blog - great information about Andre. I've just purchased tickets to Andre's concert in Melbourne Australia for November 2008. Tickets are on sale early as the official release is on 5 December. Details for early purchase are available at
www.infoayft.com/andre/andre_rieu.htm
Thanks
William

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Pierre and André September 30, 2016 Maastricht

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Photo Taken at Mexico City Concert ~ September 2013

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"Hello to all my fans on The Harmony Parlor!"


Soundcheck in Maastricht 2013 (RTL Photo)



Maastricht 2012 ~ "André on The Theater Steps" by Bee

Maastricht 2012 ~ "André and Pierre on The Theater Steps" by Bee

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