André Rieu ~ Hero in Australia

André Rieu ~ Hero in Australia

Tonight starts the Docusoap about André Rieu’s Australian victory tour. The Limburg violinist and Orchestra leader is a mega star down under. KRO Magazine asked an Australian Fan about the extent and the secret of his success.

Xtra 21.30 NED. 1 ~ Netherlands
Katholieke Radio Omroep/The Catholic Radio Broadcasting System
André Rieu in Australia by Jaap Backx
*English Translation by John

Interview: Australia has totally fallen for the musical charms of André Rieu. The Maastricht “King of the Waltz” sold approximately 2.5 million CD’s and DVD’s down under and is therefore one of the best selling artists down under.

The success was evident in Rieu’s first Australian tour. Together with his orchestra, in 2008, he performed eleven concerts, in which more than 264,000 attendees were swept away in his sugar sweet fairytale world.

As always and also in Australia live, Rieu performed on a grand scale with the Viennese Schönbrunn Castle as a stage setting, including a golden coach, ice dancers and ballet. In the road soap “André Rieu in Australia”, we follow him and a 500 man crew while on the road, before and during his concerts, and are present during his media performances, such as his guest role in the soap “Neighbours” and a performance of the Australian version of “Dancing with the Stars”.

A large group of Rieu fans find themselves via the internet. They stay in contact through so-called “friendship groups” and Fan Sites, such as www.aussiefansforandrerieu-webpage.org Jann Treyvaud is the administrator of this site and she confirms Rieu’s star status in her native country. "André’s CD’s and DVD’s are sold out in a few days, and when he conducts an interview or appears on TV, the viewer numbers for that program skyrocket. The interest in his concerts is enormous ~ tickets are sold out in no time, sometimes a year in advance. Some fans follow him from city to city, in spite of the large distances. Australia has an unquenchable hunger for everything that has anything to do with André."

Treyvaud attended two Australian concerts herself, and in July will travel to the Netherlands, just like many of her countrymen, to attend Rieu’s yearly performances on the Vrijthof in Maastricht. “André presents his public with an unforgettable evening. He mixes classical with fun and gives the people the feeling they are part of the concert. You are temporarily transported into another world”. According to Treyvaud, Rieu’s success stems from his fresh and positive approach. “He has opened the world of classical music and stripped it of its exclusive and rigid character. His public really loves him”.

Note from Ineke: This article shall appear in the KRO magazine of next week, in Dutch of course, for the Docu Soap starts at May 22nd. Ruud and I are on a short vacation in Scotland between May 20th and June 1st, so you have to have a little patience, but after that we'll post the episodes on our website.

*English Translation © Copyrighted by John de Jong