Violinist André Rieu Reminisces With Privé

Violinist Reminisces 

With Privé

André Rieu won Marjorie over at the age of eleven!

Telegraaf by Harry Nijen Twilhaar

While all mega concerts worldwide have been shelved for the time being, ANDRÉ RIEU tries to put his concerns aside for a while by reminiscing about good memories. With PRIVÉ he shares his childhood photos and the waltz king talks about the first, romantic summer holiday with his wife MARJORIE, the love of his life, in Giethoorn. (Small Dutch town known for its beauty and quaintness)

It has been almost sixty years since ANDRÉ RIEU (70) met his wife MARJORIE (72) and from that time on they are almost inseparable. “We were both in elementary school. Our first meeting was during a Saint Nicholas party. I was eleven years old. In the years afterwards, we always kept in touch. True love blossomed between us when I was 25. It turned out that she has been in love with me for all those previous years! 

“When I was at the conservatory in Liège - to which I drove my moped every day - I passed her house. I hoped to get a glimpse of her then. Eventually, the spark crossed over and we came together. We have never let each other go since. ”

Fiasco

He can still remember his first truly romantic summer vacation with Marjorie. That turned out to be  a complete fiasco.

“We went on holiday to Giethoorn with an old Simca 1000(French built car). Along the way everything went completely wrong and I got stuck in the mud in a pasture. No one was around so I walked to a farm to ask for help. I asked a farmer who was milking at that time if he could help us. He did just that. See, we still have pictures of it.”

Photo ARP

On his first holiday with Marjorie, a young Rieu gets his car stuck in the mud ....

Photo ARP

.... only to be helped by a local farmer. André: "And then it went completely wrong. "

“Eventually we were able to continue our journey to Giethoorn. Back then it was not as busy as it is today. We have never been back since. Recently I saw images of crowds of Chinese who flooded Giethoorn before the corona time. Back then it was still quiet and Marjorie and I could enjoy an undisturbed holiday there.”

"Never again a vacation like that ..."

“When our children PIERRE (39) and MARC (42) were born, we went on vacation to Italy where we stayed in a small guesthouse. That first holiday with both children did not exactly go smooth either. In the meantime we now owned a Citroën DS, which had a suspension which you could raise or lower the car. Pierre, who was six weeks old, was in a crib and Marc sat next to him in a small chair. It was very hot when we arrived in Rimini and Pierre cried for at least three continuous days. It was total misery. We decided to just drive back to Maastricht. When we got in the car and the air conditioning provided us cooling, he immediately stopped crying. In the following years, we took our holidays on the Belgian coast because we no longer dared to take any risks.”

Impossible

Nowadays it is increasingly difficult for André and Marjorie to go on holiday. “We have now been married for 45 years and are still crazy about each other. Celebrating a holiday as it was then, in anonymity, is no longer an option. They recognize me everywhere. It is almost impossible to sit on a terrace. You are being recognized in no time at all. Only in Rome is it still reasonable without being asked every minute for an autograph. We go there for three days every year. We have been doing that for twenty years.”

Photo ARP

Later on André Rieu and his wife Marjorie often  went on holiday to Belgium.

"I absolutely can't stand face masks"

“But yes, we did not go anywhere this year. I also don't like wearing face masks. We were recently on the Belgian coast where we were obliged to wear one. What a disaster that was. I can't stand it and become short of breath. Incidentally, I am hopeful. I expect the virus will gradually weaken and that there will be a vaccine. In the meantime, I spend all day at home or am at the office rearranging concerts abroad. I follow the corona developments closely. In the meantime, I am concerned about how long we can last. Financially it is a downright catastrophe for us despite the financial support by the government."

“We are hoping that by next summer, when the municipality of Maastricht grants us a permit for twenty concerts without restrictions - we can be filling the square every evening with 13,000 visitors. Those are eight more concerts  than originally planned. If that approval is granted, we will largely be able to make up the financial losses of this year's Vrijthof concerts. Of course, the virus may of course not bring the entire country to a standstill again. Incidentally, the catering industry around Het Vrijthof also benefits from our concerts. Marjorie and Pierre are now doing the math every day. I am responsible for a large company and the members of my Johann Strauss Orchestra must also be able to continue to pay the mortgage or the rent. All in all, these are exciting times. ”

Thanks to John's Translation and Ineke for the article