Pierre Rieu Knows What He Really Can Do!

Pierre Now Knows What He Really Can Do!
Moth of The Waltz

Telegraaf December 23rd 2007 (Dutch newspaper)

Translated by Ineke

Of course André Rieu is THE star of the Romantic Viennese Night. But behind the scenes his son Pierre is pulling the strings.
The young production manager has the leadership over hundreds of employees and they build up the biggest décor of the world. They work all day and night. (It takes five days and nights to build up and three to tear down.) This Schoenbrunn décor is a hell of a job.
The first performance of this immense show was on 14 December 2007 in Toronto, Canada. It is their intention to travel around the world, taking this décor with them now.

Fatherly feelings come over André. "Yes, my wife Marjorie and I are worry about Pierre. We wonder if he does not work too hard. Of course we are concerned for him. He works for me, but it is not a normal employer/employee relationship. He is first and always will be my son!

In a sky box in the Rogers Stadium, the most popular Maastricht inhabitant(the mayor of Maastricht Gerd Leers who says André is the best ambassador of his city), is looking at an immense scenery of pipes. Two Toronto shows came to an end. André has a strict planning. The next day he has to perform for a German TV program. He can control everything except the Toronto weather, which did not co-operate … The snow and the blizzard could destroy their plans to fly to Germany.

Pierre acknowledged there was a lot of stress and tension. For instance, no power, even ten minutes before the show had to start! Pierre usually works together with a team of 250 workers. In Canada he had to hire another amount of 250 Canadian people. It seems to be the law to hire local people. It wasn't successful. 10% did not show up, the others were not capable. Due to that, the show almost went wrong. Pierre is dressed in a yellow safety jacket and he wears a golden helmet. He likes to work with the workers. Working together stimulates a good atmosphere. We all love to do this job together.

After secondary school Pierre started to study law. At that time he already combined his study with the construction works of the concerts. Finally he chose fulltime for that job. Pierre was 19 years old and his father told the workers: he is your new boss from now on. We all had to get used to that! André had a practical and financial reason to contract his son. André had often been defrauded by companies to which he boarded out jobs. Especially in the USA and Canada. People who cost him a fortune but added nothing. I totally trust Pierre. One word is enough. He controls everything.
I knew he could do it, from the time he was 2 years old, he was moving a heavy piano stool.
Pierre controls the entire technical realization. Not only the building up of the décor, but also the fountains, light, balloons, snow, horses, almost 100 chandeliers, the ice rinks.

André is also controlling lots of details. "Yes, that is the way I am. I want to know everything about direction, video images, choreography, costumes, technical aspects, and of course the music".
I totally have confidence in Pierre, but it remains my show and my money.
Pierre: "The co-operation with my father (seven years ago) did not run smoothly at the start. My father interfered with everything when it was not yet finished. I clarified I did not like that. Fortunately now, we can talk about every problem and it is running perfectly".

Pierre is 26 years old now and he does not see his bed often, he is working too hard. How old do you think you'll become? "I hope 27", he answered. "But it is so nice to do! When everything turns out well, I get a kick out of that. At the end of the first show my father and I fell crying into each other's arms, with everybody around. So much tension fell off. Everything went well, that was a big relief. All working together, we made it!

Pierre admires the orchestra members. They are so capable! One day I got a responsible job after five weeks of studying law. Finally this week I woke up feeling for the first time, I too am capable. I can plan, construct, lead a team and maintain a nice atmosphere.

Christmas is coming. We celebrate these days with the entire family. I look forward to seeing my mother Marjorie and brother Marc again. My mother is afraid to fly, so she does not join us on tours. And… I can make time for my girlfriend Eefje. I met her during the recordings in the Efteling fairytale park. Yes, really, this is another fairy tale!