December Will Most Likely Be Canceled. Rieu Confirms

 André Rieu's planned Christmas concerts in the MECC in Maastricht on 19 and 20 December will most likely be canceled. André Rieu confirmed this Friday evening. 

"As soon as we are certain, we will communicate that immediately." In the meantime, the famous violinist and orchestra leader is looking for alternative dates in December 2021.

de Limburger by Ruud Maas: The famous violinist and orchestra leader stated this in a response to "De Limburger: “The way it looks now, there is a good chance that the concerts will not take place. As soon as we are certain about this, we will communicate that immediately and then we will move the concerts to December 2021. Tickets will of course remain valid for the new dates.”

Rieu thus responded to statements by general director Rob van de Wiel of the Maastricht conference center earlier this Friday. Van de Wiel considers it almost impossible that with the current corona measures he can welcome 12,000 people per evening. “What I can definitely imagine is that we are going to talk about an alternative. We hope to see if André Rieu will be happy to perform in the M-theater which we just presented to the public and which can accommodate 1250 people. But I dare not to say whether he wants that or not.”

Christmas Atmosphere

In early March, just before the corona paralyzed the country, Rieu announced that he wanted to give the Christmas concerts in the MECC in 2020, just like last year. The first edition in his home town tasted for more. More than 30,000 fans from all over the world came to the shows transformed into a winter atmosphere. The conference center was transformed into a Christmas world with 300 dancers, 82 skaters, sopranos, tenors and a gospel choir. “For me, Christmas is the most beautiful time of the year and I prefer to spend it in the company of my friends, family and fans in my own city. The atmosphere in the MECC last year was fantastic. So romantic and at the same time is very cheerful,” the violinist said in March.

Prohibited

This summer, Rieu was forced to postpone his twelve Vrijthof concerts (normally good for 150,000 fans from ninety countries) for a year by government orders. "This news is heartbreaking for many - and it is very difficult for us to accept this decision," he said. These concerts have since been moved to July1st to18th - 2021.

Earlier this week, Rieu in an interview with Humberto Tan said that the chance is small that he will be on the podium soon. “I have already said: I can't do anything with that 5 feet social distancing. I can already see it happening, I enter the stage and let everyone sing, but that is not allowed. No dancing either: forget it. Everything that makes our concerts fun is now banned. So I can only do it - and I will only do it again - when everything is allowed.”

Thanks to John for the Article and his Translation