Rieu Vocalist Mirusia CapturesThe Netherlands

Rieu Vocalist Mirusia CapturesThe Netherlands

Chapeau Magazine: by Maarten van Laarhoven - Friday, March 31, 2017 Many know her from her performances with André Rieu, who discovered her at a young age and with whom she traveled around the world. The Australian-Dutch soprano Mirusia Louwerse, who was born exactly 32 springs ago in Brisbane, Australia hails from Dutch parents, and is currently engaged in a successful theater tour throughout the Netherlands, with its title "From the Heart." During her performances, one hears the same music as from her earlier this month released CD, which carries the same title.

Mirusia, who at the tender age of 19 is the youngest winner ever to claim the famous Dame Joan Sutherland Competition Award for opera singers in her homeland, and has now been singing the stars from the sky on major international stages for more than ten years with Rieu and his famous Johann Strauss Orchestra.

On his official website, André Rieu speaks about how he came in contact with the blonde soprano after she received that award . "Her aunt, who still lives in the Netherlands, emailed me about the exceptional talent of her niece in Australia. Of course I was curious. I listened to Mirusia's voice on her website, and immediately phoned her and two days later she was in my studio singing."

The world famous violinist describes how tears filled his eyes when, in his own words, he had the always cheerful young singer sing an established aria by Mozart. "With her beautiful voice and her blonde curls it was as if I heard an angel sing."

The Australian born has built a successful solo career with albums which are quite successful with a wide audience. She has a varied repertoire, and alongside her own songs she also includes known materials from pop music, musicals, films and popular classical music
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Even her own new studio album contains a mix of styles. "Geef mij je Angst" (Give Me Your Fear) by Hazes and "La Vergine Degli Angeli" by Verdi peaceful coexist on the new CD, which has become a very personal album to her. Some songs have directly to do with the love for her husband Youri. The famous "Memory" is a tribute to her grandmother and "Als je niet van mij Houdt" (If you do not Love Me, by Boudewijn de Groot) is dedicated to Ruud Merx (trombone player with André Rieu) who died last year of a cardiac arrest during a tour through England

Chapeau Magazine has received five CDs from Mirusia's management to give away. 

What is your best memory of Mirusia during the concerts of André Rieu?

Send your answer to: events@chapeaumagazine.com. The participants with the best five responses will receive the latest Mirusia CD!

Thank You to Ineke for the article and John for Translating it!

Refugee Brought Rieu Success by Marjorie Rieu

Refugee Brought Rieu Success

Maastricht March 20th: From the "Limburger" By Casper Cillekens and Ruud Maas -  What is happening to Maastricht? Marjorie Rieu-Kochmann (69) cannot comprehend it. Why is the PVV (Freedom Party) the largest political party in her birthplace? Why are the largest part of the Limburg citizens so against refugees? To this newspaper she writes: "Thanks to a refugee, for the last thirty years André Rieu can now make millions of people worldwide happy with his music." The refugee she is referring to is her father Edgar, who in 1936 fled from Berlin to Maastricht, because he was a German Jew. The only thing he could carry with him was his collection of records, which inspired André Rieu many years later. Marjorie is telling her story in the castle "House of little Towers" where she and André reside. She thought long and hard about the following statement: "I am not climbing on the barricades and kick someone in the shins. I only want to plead for the refugees. I do not like people who say that refugees are bad people. For the past two years I have had the feeling that I need to do something. I can become quite angry the way refugees are being thought of."

Maybe Marjorie started writing again since she read the letter her father wrote while he was in hiding. He wanted to mail this letter to his also refugee friends after the liberation. "In a typed fourteen page letter he wrote about amongst others, how valiant Maastricht citizens risked their lives by helping them and providing them with addresses where they could hide. " Marjorie wrote that the letter was typed between August 1942 and the liberation of Maastricht in September of 1944, and because she is thinking about publicizing this "time document". He writes about his family and friends, and knew they would not be coming back.

Edgar Kochmann first hid in Arnhem and Nijmegen, and later in Maastricht. He was lucky to have been tipped off by two cousins, telephone operators, of his friend Nelly who would later become Marjorie's mother. Edgar's parents, who had already fled to Maastricht in 1933 and had started a small factory in hat liners, also went into hiding. His father passed away while in hiding due to pneumonia. Horst, one of Edgar's brothers and his wife Friedel did report to the gathering place in Maastricht from which Jews were transported to the transit camp Westerbrok. Friedel died three days later in the gas chambers is Auschwitz, and Horst passed away in a work camp Blechhammer.

She feels she needs to make a statement.

Marjorie Rieu-Kochmann is annoyed about the way refugees are being treated in this country. Her Jewish father had to flee from Germany but was afforded a chance to build a new life here in Limburg.

Thrilling

Marjorie heard little from her father about the war. "He only spoke about funny things. I never heard about the bad ones. Those were thrilling stories. How he, in the attic walked in his stocking feet - balancing himself with his hands on the wall - over the skirting as not to make noise." Her father consciously did not speak much about that time. "That's just the way he was. He said: "That is past, period!"

Her father was born in 1907 in Berlin. As a young man he experienced the 'golden 20's' in that city. He was a branch manager of a shoe store on Alexander square. He loved dancing, in particular the Charleston. He also liked light music and operettas. "Tauber, Caruso and the Comedian Harmonists. He owned a few hundred records. Those were the only things he could take with him from Berlin. Much later I realized how big the transition must have been for him from a world metropolis of Berlin to a small provincial town like Maastricht. He was amazed that mixed swimming was not allowed here." In Maastricht Edgar made his living as a wholesaler in lady's hats. He met his future wife at a dance in 1936. Laughingly he said: "They did too do mixed swimming. In Visé (Belgium) just across the border."

"For two years now I feel I need to do something. It makes me so angry the way people think about refugees".

Marjorie Rieu-Kochmann

Wall

Her father continued to treasure everything German. He did not mind, contrary to some in his environment, that his daughter studied German. "My father said that he did not suffer under the German people, but through the Nazi's. We continued to shop across the border and continuously visited family in Berlin. A very special note: I was there when the wall was built, August 13, 1961."

Father was very interested in the politics. "I had to be quiet when on Sundays he would listen to G.B.J. Hiltermann who would give his views of the world on the radio. I loathed that. That might be the reason why I do not care much for politics." After her German studies in Nijmegen, Marjorie taught for seven years. "I did not really care too much for that at all." When she and André became parents she stopped teaching. She was by then already, very much involved with the newly organized Maastricht Salon Orchestra. "André was still searching for his own distinctive repertoire. I let him listen to several of my father's records. He did not know that kind of music, but was immediately sold."

She knows for certain that without that inspiration, born from those records, Rieu would never have become so successful worldwide. Even at times when doubt struck Rieu, it was Marjorie's father who helped André persist. "My father was raised with the Prussian discipline of never giving up." Edgar passed away in 2000, at 92 years of age. "Luckily he was able to enjoy Andrés break through."

Barbeque

Because of this family history there is a lot of understanding for the refugees in the Rieu house."When it became known that an asylum center would be established here on this street, André spontaneously said that - whenever it would be established - he would organize a barbeque for those people."

(Pictures are from the Rieu-Kochmann Family)

Thank you to John for the article and Translation of it.

WORLD PREMIER WEST SIDE STORY LIVE IN OPEN AIR

WORLD PREMIER

WEST SIDE STORY LIVE IN OPEN AIR

THEATER ON THE VRIJTHOF AND THE PHILHARMONIC "ZUID-NEDERLAND" 

ON THE VRIJTHOF IN MAASTRICHT

By Jo Cortenraedt: Chief Editor Chapeau Magazine The Theater on the Vrijthof and the philharmonic "Zuid-Nederland" are in ecstasy already. They are anxiously awaiting for their spectacular mega-production which will take place live on Monday July l0 on the Vrijthof in Maastricht. For the first time in the world the famous film West Side Story will be played outdoors by a large philharmonic orchestra while the audience simultaneously can watch the entire film above the stage. A synchronized combination of film and live music, and that in the middle of a large square.

This has been made possible thanks to the commitment of many, to begin with André Rieu, who 'just' happen to make his temporary stage and all the technical facilities available for this co-production of the philharmonic "Zuid-Nederland" and "the Theater on the Vrijthof". "This is fantastic and we are very grateful to André Rieu" said Jos Roeden, artistic programmer for the philharmonic. "That means that we are able to used "state-of-the-art" equipment both in terms of sound as well as many large digital screens around the square. This also fits entirely in our ambition to not always perform in the usual concert halls, but also to participate in major projects and events which brings our music closer to the people."

Peter Noten, program director of the Theatre on the Vrijthof, can hardly suppress his enthusiasm. "This is going to be fantastic. We can barely fit a thousand people in our theater and now for this concert we suddenly have a availability of 10,000 people. And all that with this film musical, which has worldwide fame.

It has taken quite some efforts to receive the rights for this production, because they are still part of the estate of composer Leonard Bernstein. But it all worked out. A special team from America will come over to assist us with the implementation of our production. And we had a choice of only a limited number of conductors who are allowed to perform these workings. That turned out to be Wayne Marshall who is very familiar with this musical and who will also perform in our theater later this year as a concert pianist."

Andre Rieu makes stage and equipment available

In 2014 Noten saw "West side Story" live, with an Orchestra in London which played in combination with the film. "That was in the Royal Albert Hall. It's very exciting because every note must be played exactly at the right time. The entire performance lasts almost three hours and you sit on the edge of your seat. "We consider this a highlight to our 25th jubilee year as Theater on the Vrijthof;" said Jean Boelen, director of the Theater on the Vrijthof. Obviously we are very lucky that we can combine this with the concerts ofAndré Rieu who so generously made everything available to us. If we had to build it ourselves, I am afraid our budget would not been able to afford this." Stefan Rosu, director of the philharmonic "Zuid- Netherland", says that the orchestra will be the largest with nearly 100 musicians and that the orchestra is being strengthened with extra specialists, such as five saxophonists, due to the technical challenges (e.g. the coordination of movie and music on the main square) we are very happy with conductor Wayne Marshall who knows these workings very well, has already done the film version and a good "jazzer". The big challenge is to at certain times to follow the exact rhythm of the film, so that the musicians themselves can look at the images of the film. They must therefore fully rely on the directions of the conductor. And of course there should be a substantial amount of rehearsing in order to get it all in sync."

The story of the musical and film West Side Story is about the romance between Tony and Maria, each belonging to a different street gang in New York. That creates heartbreaking moments. It's an engaging blend of story, song, clans, music and games. The film dates back to 196I and earned no less than Ten Oscars " The film is now completely digitalized so that the images are razor sharp," says Peter Noten. 
The presale for the musical starts March 8, and the prices have purposely been kept low. Seat prices are between 25 and 55 euro, depending on their location. There are also, just like with André Rieu concerts, combined terrace arrangements available.

Thank You to John for the Translation and Ineke for the article