BALKENENDE CONDUCTS, ANDRÉ TO CHANGE JOBS WITH THE PRIME MINISTER
A whimsical political piece from a Dutch Newspaper where the Prime Minister and André change places for a day.
May 31, 2010: The orchestra members, just back from South Africa, are rubbing their eyes. The Prime Minister as conductor? Sweepingly, he taps on the music stand and immediately the sound of the Radetzky March is heard. With every note, the Prime Minister seems to become more confident. Until a few of the violinists wink to one another, and suddenly the music changes. Balkenende taps loudly on his music stand: "Ladies and Gentlemen. No opposition, please." "See, that's how you conduct" André pipes in approvingly. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have to leave, I need to go and govern."
That afternoon the sounds of a Stradivarius can be heard coming from "the Little Tower of the Hague" (that is the office of the Prime Minister in the government city of The Hague). But it is short lived. "Doing my job, your Excellency," Balkenende asks him teasingly. With one telephone Rieu is asking for Obama and with the other Sarkozy. "You do this often?", he asks. "Not every day, but we speak regularly by telephone" the Prime minister says.
A little later while in the beautiful Trèveshall (Knights Hall), Balkenende says: "In here it is about serious matters, and there has never been a day here that started with any reluctance".
*Two men with crammed full work schedules. *Two men with a youthful appearance. *Two men who love doing what they do. *Two men who each in their own way direct, one with a hammer the other with a baton.*One is the President of the Dutch counsel of Ministers and the other is a conductor of a world renowned orchestra.
Jan Peter Balkenende and André Rieu met in Maastricht. There was an immediate connection. "Shall we trade jobs for a day?" asked Balkenende cheerfully. "Agreed," was André's immediate response. "But if Putin calls, do I then have to speak Russian?"
"Politics and music have a very important commonality," says Balkenende. We both try to unite people. It can be done with a beautiful swaying melody the way André does, but also with political willingness where people feel yes, this is something we have to do together." "But I receive more applause than you" Rieu says teasingly. "What comes out of the Hague is not always nice music." "That is because there every one wants to play his own music, Balkenende says laughingly. There I have to create unity. Your musicians know that harmony sounds nicer. Go and explain that to politicians who prefer to hear only their own sound."
Photos of this event have been added to André's Website now at: ►http://www.andrerieu.com/site/index.php?id=news&L=0&tx_arpbvactueel_pi1[showUid]=929&cHash=ef4f2f1dba
Funny when I saw the picture with a few people sitting at the nice table, I thought the lady was making André sign some papers (as "PM"), it's only until I clicked on it, enlarged the pic that I realized they're all just enjoying a nice cake! Ha! My kind of life-style :)
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