Violinist André Rieu Performs At The Telstra Dome

Mirusia and André Rieu at The Telstra Dome!

The New Age Nov. 14, 2002 By Barny Zwartz

THE Andre Rieu juggernaut finally hit Melbourne last night and the opening concert of his Australian tour struck the right note.
It's a bit like a highly sophisticated version of the Wiggles: constant action, variety, humour — and all great fun. The audience came so disposed to enjoy themselves that many gave a standing ovation after the opening item (and regularly thereafter).
The secret is twofold: a breathtaking showbiz experience and Rieu's magnetic enthusiasm. Rieu, this shaggy-haired, perpetually smiling former back-bench orchestral violinist, is simply a phenomenon. The man who beat Madonna to top the ARIA charts in May has 70 platinum discs for sales in Australia and has sold 1.8 million DVDs and CDs in this country, half in this year alone.
The vast 700-tonne recreation of the Habsburgs' summer palace that, as it were, sets the stage, is so ambitious that the mere 220 containers needed to bring it to Melbourne seem a miracle of efficiency. It features two ice rinks, a fountain, dance floors and high-quality giant screens.
The theme is imperial Vienna, but the repertoire travels far and wide: from Strauss to Andrew Lloyd Webber, from Purcell to 76 Trombones. The "composer who if he were alive would have a No. 1 record every week" (Mozart) is dispatched in a swift medley: Eine Kleine Nachtmusic segueing after a few bars to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Don Giovanni, Figaro, the 21st piano concerto and Alla Turca sonata.
It's a mistake for the purists to be offended, to think of this as a classical concert. The mood is informal and the genre is light — schmaltz, but schmaltz played with relentlessly infectious verve by an orchestra of attractive young ladies (and a few men) and an array of even lovelier singers and dancers.