André Rieu To Launch His World Stadium Tour

André Rieu to Launch his World Tour in Toronto With the Largest Set Ever

TORONTO, December 11, 2007

On December 14 and 15, André Rieu will launch his World Stadium Concert Tour, "A Romantic Vienna Night", in Toronto. For this tour, André Rieu has had a full-scale copy of Schönbrunn - the Viennese castle - built. The set will be the largest one ever built for a tour show: 125 meters wide, 30 meters deep and 35 meters high.

For André Rieu, this is his dream come true. "In 2006, we played at the actual Schönbrunn in Vienna, the castle of Empress Sissi and Emperor Franz Joseph. The concert was a huge success, and the castle was the perfect background for the music we brought. However, not everyone had the opportunity to come to Vienna to see us play. For this reason, we developed the idea to bring Vienna to the rest of the world," says André Rieu.

Rieu is presenting "his" Schönbrunn castle complete with two ice rinks and a ballroom of over 300 m2. Neither effort nor expense have been spared: a ballroom with real golden chandeliers; a hand-painted ceiling; the original fountains rebuilt at full scale; 14 carriages with 36 horses from Vienna. It will take six days for the 100 stage designers to build the set.

And a set of such a scale evidently demands a host of artists. 250 artists are accompanying Rieu on his world tour, all dressed in lush romantic costumes, including The Platin Tenors, Carmen Monarcha, Carla Mafioletti, Mirusia Louwerse and Suzan Erens, among others. The maestro is especially proud that he will be accompanied by real Viennese artists. "I am very honored to be able to count on the world-famous ballet group of the Wiener Staatsopera. I couldn't ask for a more suitable ballet company," says Rieu, who has also hired eighty debutants of the famous Viennese ballet school Elmayer.

"However, no matter how great and important the set may be, everything is there mainly to support the most important thing of all - the music. The stage must support the music, not the other way around." As always, the program consists of many waltzes, by Strauss, Lehàr, and others, as well as romantic melodies taken from operas and musicals.

Concerts of the World Stadium Tour are already scheduled in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Australia.