Instruments for André Rieu Being Renovated



André Rieu and the Johoann Strauss Orchestra by Al Girard

Instruments for André Rieu Being Renovated

February 23, 2011: The Pongauer instrument maker Lechner contributes his part to the good sound in André Rieu's orchestra. He cleans the brass instruments for the musicians.

Overhauling Six Instruments

Martin Lechner and his team received six brass instruments from the Dutch orchestra André Rieu for general overhaul. Lechner had sold them several years ago to the musician from the Netherlands.

Now, just before the concert in Salzburg, the brass instruments will be thoroughly cleaned, says Martin Lechner, "they consist of two C-and a B-flat trumpet, a tenor trombone, as well as a jazz and bass trombone"

Cleaning is Done Exclusively by Hand

Approximately once a year an instrument of a professional orchestra musician is professionally cleaned, says his son Christian Lechner ... exclusively by hand.

"To ensure the accuracy of the valves, we are talking about tenth and sometimes a hundredths of a millimeter," says Christian. "That is why it is so very important that we do this by hand. In cases like this, a machine can not do the work so precisely. It also takes experience, say a year or two as an apprentice, before you are really efficient."

Five Hours To Clean a Trumpet

"It takes three to five hours to completely clean a tumpett. So, for example, the green oxidation that looks like the patina of a church tower, is carefully chipped away" says Martin Lechner, "We of course carry copper sheeting and everything we need. But our basic material is indeed copper."

The instruments will be returned to the musician Wednesday afternoon, just prior to the sound check.

An little article that Ineke sent from Kathi's German website http://andrerieu.npage.de/ and John ©Translated it for us.