André Rieu To Appeal To Government If Necessary

The "King of the Waltz" Wants To Appeal To The Government If Necessary

De Telegraph/Privé, by Evert Santegoeds

André Rieu: "After Trumps speech we immediately flew back"

The sounds of André Rieu's Johann Strauss orchestra are for the time being silent. The concerts of the Waltz King who normally plays music all over the world, have been canceled all over the planet. André and his people were in America when the corona crisis hit mercilessly. And after hearing Donald Trump, he did not know how fast he had to return home. His entire empire is at a standstill. "I cannot rule out that I too will have to knock on the governments door," says the affected Rieu to Privé.

For André Rieu (70) and his Johann Strauss Orchestra, these are also dramatic times. The world famous orchestra leader, who has been home now for several weeks in Maastricht, is still hopeful that the virus will not disrupt everyone's lives for too long. He had to cancel eight concerts in the United States. He and his entire entourage had travelled there, but only one concert in Florida could be performed."After that it was over and done. We of course had adapted to strict government measures. When President Trump announced that he was going to cut air traffic home for some time, I knew enough and we immediately flew back ..."

Government Support

For the time being the agenda for April is empty. There are concerts planned in May for Cologne. The traditional summer concerts on the Vrijthof in Maastricht have currently NOT been cancelled. He does not dare to think about that, but André says, "if this is really going to take a long time, we may also have to ask for support from the government, who has announced a package of measures for entrepreneurs."

The star artist from Limburg is currently missing out on a lot of income, while his costs are continuing. He is not immune to the situation but says, "I am and remain positive and hope that this drama, world-wide will not last too long for everyone. Of course we cannot maintain this for eternity. 

I am also responsible for my orchestra members and their families, who are now all together at home." And they too remain positive. "I have a lot of contact with them via Face Time and Skype. A few days ago, we all 'together' played "Ode an die Freude" (All men shall be brothers). I received a lot of videos from which we made a clip and are going to post that, Very nice and emotional, we wanted to lift each other up. It is also admirable what musicians do. That in Italy, where the virus has caused so much misery, the people can bring joy from their balconies and open windows"...

None Of The Orchestra Is Sick Yet

Can you imagine how it will go on?

Up until now we have been lucky to find new dates for all cancelled concerts. We'll catch up with the performances in  England and Ireland in September, Hamburg and Bremen in October. The concerts which we would be doing now in the United States have been moved to next year. Even more performances have been planned there! At the end of October we hope to perform for the first time in Oslo. We have many fans there. Although we do not come together, we continue to work very hard.  But of course much depends on how long all this is going to take. Luckily no concerts have permanently been canceled. Everyone wants to see us back real soon!."

Your orchestra members are not only from the Netherlands

"That's right. Many people often think that I have an entire Dutch Orchestra.  Our orchestra members and soloists come from the entire world: the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Russia and Canada. They all have their own worries about their home fronts. But amongst themselves, they are always ready for each other. And everyone is healthy. No one has been infected yet. Let us hope it stays like that."

Aren't you afraid of becoming ill yourself?

"No, but it is important to stick to the rules that we are solitary and take care of ourselves and others. We all have to put our shoulder to the wheel, that is most important. And what our doctors and medical personnel present, is really fantastic.

Do you continue to pay your personnel?

"Yes, everyone will continue to be paid. In recent years we have done financially well with many concerts, but now we are suffering losses and that cannot go on too long. We may also have to ask for support from the government, who has announced a package of measures to relieve entrepreneurs. It is still too early to speak about damages. But the fact that we are now not playing in America is really quite drastic. We flew to Tampa for our first concert. During the intermission President Trump held his speech. At that moment I knew exactly what to do, and decided to fly back as soon as possible. I am responsible for over one hundred people. We managed to book all our people out for the next day and get everyone home. Some had to change flights and in all it amounted to one hundred thirteen flights!"

The star violinist is also at home there in Maastricht and among other things, he kills the time by being a kitchen prince.

You are home for a while now. What is it you do?

 

"I have many meetings with the team. In addition, you can find me a lot in our studio. And since my grandchildren are not allowed to come to our home, we only have contact with them on-line. I talk with Marjorie about ideas for the new CD which should be released toward the end of the year and I started to cook fanatically. That is a fun activity. And that is why I have to work out a lot, the day will end! But I miss performing. And  miss the grandchildren. Two of them live practically next door and I am not allowed to go see them."

The Most Exciting Are Of CourseThe Vrijthof Concerts

"It is too early to say anything about them yet. It is now the end of March, the concerts are not until July. We hope of course that the situation will be getting better and everything will take place. Most important right now is that we all stay healthy, and help the people who need help."

Fortunately, we don't have to miss your music completely.

"No, we post many concerts and video clips on-line, on you-tube, Face Book and our own website. Our Tuscany concert is now on-line and many were very happy with that. It is nice to be able to cheer the people up a bit. We are also receiving many requests from TV stations. Now the AVRO-TROS for instance is airing our first series "Welcome to my World"  every afternoon. I hope those are bright spots.

Thanks to John for the Translation and Ineke for the article.