2009 Victoria Derby Day in Melbourne New best mates, Nine's Today personality Richard Wilkins and violinist, composer André Rieu, hung out at the Lexus marquee on *Derby Day.
Aside from Bingle, the other big winners of the day were the small faction of NSW Detectives who infiltrated the marquee. Clearly cultured types, they observed violinist André Rieu walking by and politely asked if they may take a photo for their collection. Rieu agreed.
However, it quickly emerged Rieu was not quite the fan of Australian customs as his time here might suggest. As the police boys put out their paws for a handshake introduction, Rieu reeled back in what was taken as genuine horror, clenching his hand into a fist so it could not be held.
It seems the customary firm Australian handshake is a no-no for a man who plays a $2million (2???) Stradivarius. Perhaps his hands were now bruised from the constant brutal handshaking.
*Derby Day is like our Kentucky Derby events here. This was taken from an article on it in the Sunday Telegraph today. It was the only part on André in the article. You can read the whole article if you want here in ►The Sunday Telegraph
2 comments:
Interesting. I don't blame Andre for preventing overly firm handshakes. Those hands are worth much more than a Strad.
2005 was the last year that he did station Meet & Greets (sponsored by various PBS stations) for 100 fans with an average price of $500 a pair ~ including your tickets. An overzealous fan gave him a crushing handshake, really injuring his hand. It was announced prior to his appearing at the Toronto M & G that there would be no handshaking. And that was the last year of station M & G's with Andre and a rotation of about 12 orchestra members. I was fortunate to have attended a number of them and he would also sign products and we'd get a picture. Some are posted on Sonja's Translation site on a Fan's page.
Forgot to sign my name.
Long-time fan,
Laurie
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