Who Is André Rieu

Sports Minister Judy Spence André Rieu and Mirusia

Brisbane Times

March 9, 2008

As his horse drawn carriage whisks him into Suncorp Stadium, a beautiful opera singer at his side and views of his gigantic castle playing on the big screen, the question begs - Who is Andre Rieu?
A prince, a pop-star or a time-traveller from the time of Beethoven and Strauss?
The best bet would be to ask your mum: just like every tween knows who Hannah Montana is, chances are the over-55s will have heard of Rieu.
The enigmatic Rieu, dubbed "The King of Waltz" is a Dutch conductor whose concert DVDs last year made up 48 per cent of all the DVDs sold in Australia.
Rieu will bring a lavish recreation of a Viennese castle to Suncorp Stadium for two big concerts in December.
Taking up one entire side of the stadium, 250 performers will transport the audience to classical Vienna complete with waltz, ice-rinks, ballroom, horse and carriage and giant fountains.
The humble Rieu was surprised to hear that he had sold more concert tickets at Suncorp than superstar acts like "The Police" and "Robbie Williams."
After being told to take his waltz music "back to your Grandmother's house" by major recording labels back in 1995, Rieu finally found a label and that year sold 850,000 albums in the Netherlands alone.
Rieu grew his Australian fan base from concerts broadcast on the Ovation channel on Foxtel and there were plenty of fans who paid up to $2000 for the chance to meet Rieu in the flesh at Suncorp today .
And what is the source of the allure of Rieu?
According to fan Catharina Hampson-Brans, it's his ability to reach everyone with his melodic music.
"He brings together so many people, the rich, the poor, young, old, all can appreciate his music," she said.
Resplendent in a saffron ball gown right out of a period drama, a Brisbane native also brought a local flavour to the event.
Mirusia is the main singer in Rieu's show and has come a long way from when she initially thought the offer to come and produce music with Rieu was a joke.
"It was just unbelievable, but I couldn't pass up the chance and was in Holland two days later."
The magic of Rieu's "Romantic Night in Vienna" will waltz into Brisbane to play for an estimated 54,000 people on December 3 and 4.

Thank You Chris for sending this!