"ANTHONY HOPKINS MEETS ANDRÉ RIEU"
de Limburger April 15, 2011 by Tim Geurts: An important visitor for Andre Rieu this past week. None other than the British Oscar winner Anthony "Hannibal Lector" Hopkins who visited Limburg and Holland’s most famous violinist.
Several months ago, Sir Anthony Hopkins approached André Rieu with the question if the violinist and orchestra leader would like to play a waltz composed by him . After Rieu had confirmed his answer, Hopkins, together with his wife Stella Annoyave paid a personal visit to Maastricht to listen to the end result. André’s son Pierre was also in attendance.
"Anthony arrived in the Netherlands on Saturday, but we were still abroad, so Anthony visited us at our house on Sunday. That’s when André let him listen to his waltz for the first time. He had written this waltz in 1968, but had never listened to it before. When he heard it, he burst into tears. That’s how beautiful he thought it was."
The contacts between Rieu and Hopkins were made a few months ago. "Two months ago, Anthony Hopkins approached our New York office with his request if André would like to play his waltz. Anthony then sent him the sheet music and André arranged it into a waltz. The first "raw" version was sent to Anthony via MP3, who could then listen to his waltz on his iPhone somewhere at an airport. He answered back right away: "I am in Texas." He also indicated that he would like to come to Maastricht." And last weekend was when that event took place. Pierre was rather impressed with the British actor. "Anthony Hopkins is an icon in the movie world. Who does not know him? But he appeared to be a very likable individual. We are even allowed to call him Tony".
On Monday, André and his orchestra dove into the studio. "We had invited Anthony there and let him know that we would be rehearsing between 9:30 and 12:30. So you expect someone like him to arrive at 10:30, but no, on the contrary, he was there at five after nine. He did not want to miss a thing. His wife Stella was there too and found everything to be beautiful".
foto’s HillCreek Pictures B.V.
The movie star was so enthusiastic about the past weekend that he will shortly be returning to Maastricht. "He lives in LA, in Malibu, but was quite impressed by Maastricht. During the Vrijthof concerts, André will play Anthony’s waltz and he will be there. Since he does not want to miss a single thing, he will spend three weeks in Maastricht".
And in closing, Pierre thinks that the name Anthony Hopkins might open other doors for André. "These people know people … we have not had our big breakthrough in the US yet, so who knows what the name Anthony Hopkins can bring. And then of course there is also the Hollywood Film in which André will play the music. "We are very well versed in the music world and in the movie business, Anthony Hopkins is tops. If we ever have the chance to get these two to work together, we would be crazy not to do that. I would definitely not rule that out". And has Anthony Hopkins given any indication that he is interested in working together? "That, I will leave up in the air for now".
Thanks to John for finding and ©Translating this article.
No comments:
Post a Comment