André Rieu Christmas Concerts Definitively Canceled

 

André Rieu Christmas Concerts Definitively Canceled

 "de Limburger" editors, Sept. 24, 2020: 

André Rieu's Christmas concerts in the MECC in Maastricht are definitely canceled. The violinist announced this on Friday on Face book.

Rieu had previously informed "De Limburger" last month that the concerts planned for 19 and 20 December would most likely be canceled due to the corona measures. Now that decision is final. The concerts will be postponed to December 18 and 19, 2021. Tickets already purchased will remain valid for the new dates.

"Safety comes first, of course, and at the moment we cannot perform the way you and we would like," writes the orchestra leader on Face Book. "My orchestra and I are looking forward to seeing you all in Maastricht in 2021."

From André

Dear fans! The Johann Strauss Orchestra and I were very much looking forward to this year's Christmas concerts. I remember last year's fantastic atmosphere, with so much romance and the fun we had together!

I really enjoyed creating our own winter palace, with hundreds of artists, skaters, dancers and soloists. It was a truly unique experience and I am very sorry that we cannot do that again this year. But safety comes first, of course, and at the moment we cannot act the way you and we would like.

My orchestra and I are looking forward to seeing you all in Maastricht in 2021. Thank you for your patience. All stay healthy! Lots of love!

Ticketholders are advised to keep their tickets as they will remain valid for the new dates: December 18, 2021 at 8:00 PM (replacing 19 December2020) and December 19, 2021 at 3:00 PM (replacing 20 December2020) . These concerts are already on sale and tickets can be purchased at: www.andrerieu.com

 Thanks to John for this article and his translation

Hope Lets André Rieu Live

Hope Lets André Rieu Live

de Telegraaf by Evert Santegoeds.

While ANDRÉ RIEU still has to fight a long battle in his Maastricht to get some extra concerts at the Vrijthof next year, there are also some bright spots in sight. A remarkable advertisement appeared in the German newspaper "Der Bild"  this week. In it, the start of Rieu's new tour with his Johann Strauss Orchestra was announced.

André Rieu cannot wait to return to his familiar stage.

On January 8, Dutch fans of ANDRÉ RIEU's (70) music can again indulge themselves. Not too far across the border, in Cologne, the first concert will again take place. That same month, major German cities like Hanover, Kiel, Rostock, Magdeburg, Nuremberg, Mannheim, Stuttgart, Munich, Dortmund, Frankfurt and Berlin will follow with concerts. And Rieu and his orchestra will again tour this country in May .

In recent months, since the musicians discontinued their tour through America and returned heads over heels to the Netherlands, their work has come to a complete standstill. Rieu was confronted with a loss of millions, since the famous Vrijthof events were completely canceled. With government assistance he was able to stay afloat.

"Hope gives life", says son and manager PIERRE RIEU when PRIVÉ inquired about the German plans. “We also take into consideration that these events by then may not continue. But for now, ticket sales have started well, and we assume that full halls by then will be allowed again, until we hear otherwise. The first concerts would then take place in Germany. ”

The audience is clearly looking forward to the repertoire of the Strauss family and the Limburg violinist who continues to honors Strauss. Highlights of his Vrijthof concerts can now be seen in cinemas. Pierre: "We will let those performances continue for a while. We are now at fifty percent of last year's attendance figures in the cinemas, which we do not think are too bad at this time due to all the limitations.”

On 6 October, the Maastricht the city council will consider the violinist's request to be allowed to perform not twelve, but twenty concerts in 2021 on the most famous square in the south. The PvdA(Political Party) in particular is being obstructive. They argue that the local residents will experience too much of a nuisance from all the events. Residents who are thinking along the way of the  violinist have started a petition to support the world star. Neighborhood network "Binnenstad" proposes a one-time relocation of the yearly fair to make room for more Rieu evenings.

 Thanks to John for his Translation and Ineke for the article 

Relocate The Maastricht Fair For Rieu

 

Residents In The Center of Maastricht: 

Relocate The Fair For Rieu

Photo: Jean_Pierre Geusens

1Limburg, by Jochem Rietjens: In order not to get in the way of André Rieu and Magical Maastricht in 2021, the ten-day fair on the Vrijthof will have to be relocated just once to another location in the city.

This is a suggestion made by the Inner City Neighborhood Network in the discussion about stretching the Maastricht 60-day events norm.

 Corona Crisis

This standard has been set to keep the number of events on the historic town square within its bounds. However, due to the corona crisis, the mayor and the aldermen of Maastricht would like to extend that to 71 days in 2021.

Against

Magical Maastricht can then be extended by three days and gives André Rieu eight extra playing days. Due to the corona pandemic, these activities could not take place in 2020. The PvdA (Political party) has already announced that it is dead-strong against this expansion. The Maastricht Social Democrats believe that the interests of the residents of the city center should not be subordinated to the economic interests of the stand-alone violinist.

Letter

Those residents are now involved in the discussion by sending a letter to the mayor, the aldermen and the municipal councilors of Maastricht. In that letter, the Inner City Neighborhood Network asks not to change the sixty-day norm, but to move the ten-day fair that takes place every year in mid-May on the Vrijthof to a different location.

Alternative Place

Then those ten days will become available on the Vrijthof, and they will be for Rieu and Magical Maastricht, so the Neighborhood Network suggests. Because the network also says that it sees  these events are of great economic value to Maastricht. The residents' network proposes the Frontenpark, the Sphinxkwartier or the Groene Loper as an alternative location for the Maastricht fair.

Fun

The Maastricht Center Management Foundation states in a letter to the Municipal Executive and the city council that it is in favor of the onetime extension of the 60-day standard. The entrepreneurial platform indicates that it somewhat mitigates the negative economic consequences of the corona virus outbreak of 2020, and that it is good for local employment and the residents can enjoy the eleven extra days on the Vrijthof.

On 6 October, the city council of Maastricht will consider the question to extend the 60-day standard for a one time change.

Thanks to John for his Translation Ineke for the article

Proposal: Extra Days For Rieu on The Maastricht Vrijthof in 2021

 Proposal: Extra Days For André Rieu and Magical Maastricht on The Vrijthof in 2021

André Rieu's one hundredth Vrijthof Concert on July 21, 2019.

Photo: Mitchell Giebels' archive

de Limburger by Annelies Hendrikx: The 60-day norm for events on the Vrijthof in Maastricht will for one-time be expanded  to 71 in 2021. André Rieu and his Magical Maastricht are the lucky ones.

André Rieu will be allowed to increase the number of concerts on the square from Twelve to Twenty ... 

Proposal

The council of mayor and aldermen announced a council proposal to that effect, which will be discussed in the council meeting on 6 October. The 60-day standard is set in the 2016-2020 events policy and in the associated events regulation. The one-time extension of the number of days is the authority of the city council.

Damage

"Rieu in particular is forced to provide more performances in order to limit the economic damage to his company as a result of the corona crisis", writes alderman John Aarts in a council information letter. The economic impact of the crisis is very tangible and enormous for the organizers of events, says Aarts. "Also because of the effects on employment in retail, the hotel and catering industry and suppliers, is it desirable to organize more activities and events in 2021 on a one-time basis."

The councilor emphasizes that the safety and health of the residents remain paramount. “That is why events, and therefore the expansion thereof, can only continue if the corona measures allow for it. In doing so, the municipality follows the advice of the State and the Security Region. If they don't offer this space, the events will of course not take place at all. ”

Not happy

During a meeting last week between Aarts and the mayor on one side and inner-city residents and entrepreneurs on the other, residents in particular showed that the risks - even in a post-corona period - are too great, says a municipal spokesperson. The entrepreneurs are in favor; the residents are far from happy with the expansion. They stated in a letter to the city council that the actual number of days that the Vrijthof will be occupied in 2021 according to this proposal will be many times higher than 71.

"Not considered are city-wide events such as carnival, events that take up less than half of the square (such as Het Parcours) and André Rieu's" in-between days "(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)." If these are included, as well as the construction and dismantling days of events, the residents come up to 193 days of occupation of the Vrijthof for 2021."

Thanks to John for the article and his translation

 

Violinist André Rieu Reminisces With Privé

Violinist Reminisces 

With Privé

André Rieu won Marjorie over at the age of eleven!

Telegraaf by Harry Nijen Twilhaar

While all mega concerts worldwide have been shelved for the time being, ANDRÉ RIEU tries to put his concerns aside for a while by reminiscing about good memories. With PRIVÉ he shares his childhood photos and the waltz king talks about the first, romantic summer holiday with his wife MARJORIE, the love of his life, in Giethoorn. (Small Dutch town known for its beauty and quaintness)

It has been almost sixty years since ANDRÉ RIEU (70) met his wife MARJORIE (72) and from that time on they are almost inseparable. “We were both in elementary school. Our first meeting was during a Saint Nicholas party. I was eleven years old. In the years afterwards, we always kept in touch. True love blossomed between us when I was 25. It turned out that she has been in love with me for all those previous years! 

“When I was at the conservatory in Liège - to which I drove my moped every day - I passed her house. I hoped to get a glimpse of her then. Eventually, the spark crossed over and we came together. We have never let each other go since. ”

Fiasco

He can still remember his first truly romantic summer vacation with Marjorie. That turned out to be  a complete fiasco.

“We went on holiday to Giethoorn with an old Simca 1000(French built car). Along the way everything went completely wrong and I got stuck in the mud in a pasture. No one was around so I walked to a farm to ask for help. I asked a farmer who was milking at that time if he could help us. He did just that. See, we still have pictures of it.”

Photo ARP

On his first holiday with Marjorie, a young Rieu gets his car stuck in the mud ....

Photo ARP

.... only to be helped by a local farmer. André: "And then it went completely wrong. "

“Eventually we were able to continue our journey to Giethoorn. Back then it was not as busy as it is today. We have never been back since. Recently I saw images of crowds of Chinese who flooded Giethoorn before the corona time. Back then it was still quiet and Marjorie and I could enjoy an undisturbed holiday there.”

"Never again a vacation like that ..."

“When our children PIERRE (39) and MARC (42) were born, we went on vacation to Italy where we stayed in a small guesthouse. That first holiday with both children did not exactly go smooth either. In the meantime we now owned a Citroën DS, which had a suspension which you could raise or lower the car. Pierre, who was six weeks old, was in a crib and Marc sat next to him in a small chair. It was very hot when we arrived in Rimini and Pierre cried for at least three continuous days. It was total misery. We decided to just drive back to Maastricht. When we got in the car and the air conditioning provided us cooling, he immediately stopped crying. In the following years, we took our holidays on the Belgian coast because we no longer dared to take any risks.”

Impossible

Nowadays it is increasingly difficult for André and Marjorie to go on holiday. “We have now been married for 45 years and are still crazy about each other. Celebrating a holiday as it was then, in anonymity, is no longer an option. They recognize me everywhere. It is almost impossible to sit on a terrace. You are being recognized in no time at all. Only in Rome is it still reasonable without being asked every minute for an autograph. We go there for three days every year. We have been doing that for twenty years.”

Photo ARP

Later on André Rieu and his wife Marjorie often  went on holiday to Belgium.

"I absolutely can't stand face masks"

“But yes, we did not go anywhere this year. I also don't like wearing face masks. We were recently on the Belgian coast where we were obliged to wear one. What a disaster that was. I can't stand it and become short of breath. Incidentally, I am hopeful. I expect the virus will gradually weaken and that there will be a vaccine. In the meantime, I spend all day at home or am at the office rearranging concerts abroad. I follow the corona developments closely. In the meantime, I am concerned about how long we can last. Financially it is a downright catastrophe for us despite the financial support by the government."

“We are hoping that by next summer, when the municipality of Maastricht grants us a permit for twenty concerts without restrictions - we can be filling the square every evening with 13,000 visitors. Those are eight more concerts  than originally planned. If that approval is granted, we will largely be able to make up the financial losses of this year's Vrijthof concerts. Of course, the virus may of course not bring the entire country to a standstill again. Incidentally, the catering industry around Het Vrijthof also benefits from our concerts. Marjorie and Pierre are now doing the math every day. I am responsible for a large company and the members of my Johann Strauss Orchestra must also be able to continue to pay the mortgage or the rent. All in all, these are exciting times. ”

Thanks to John's Translation and Ineke for the article