Andre Rieu

The Dutch violinist and band-leader has built an immense global reputation with his Johann Strauss Orchestra, visiting Mexico, South Africa, Australia, the USA, Italy & so on, earning the soubriquet as "king of the waltz". Over 20 years, he has shaped and altered his shows to bring forward new singers as & when, and guest stars to accompany them. He has also developed a productive relationship with broadcasters such as TROS, leading to a long swathe of behind-the-scenes shows, as well as concert dvds. Here are a few of the best numbers they have performed:

The Second Waltz (by Shostakovich - this was the tune which made him a star in Holland)

The Beautiful Blue Danube (one of the most famous waltzes ever)

Bolero (Ravel's famous persistent tune)

Nessun Dorma (with regular contributors, the Platin Tenors)

And The Waltz Goes On (as composed by Sir Anthony Hopkins)

 

Andre Rieu: Waltz With Me
Rising superstar of classical music, this is a half-hour chat with Rieu as he relates his early inspiration, and his motivations for his shows. I watched one on Saturday from Heidelberg and enjoyed it far more than I was expecting to

Andre Rieu: Love Songs
A compilation of staged performances with some lovely scenery, familiar classical tunes like 'Greensleeves' and others abounded. A blissful way to spend an hour.

Andre Rieu - Roses From The South
From the beautiful floral isle of Mainau, another concert showing the Dutch band-leading violinist and his orchestra to full effect.

Andre Rieu: Songs From My Heart
Live from Vrijthof Square in his hometown of Maastricht, the violinist bandleader presents yet another concert, this time from 2005. Once again, the crowd seemed to love it, and there was a wide range of tunes.

Andre Rieu: The Flying Dutchman
Another Holland concert, from 2004, shown in 2 halves. Notable for footage from other concerts performed by Rieu and co around the world, and a 3 year old prodigy with a talent for the violin, and for repeating a tiresome trick involving spitting water. Oh, those wacky Europeans.

Andre Rieu - La Vie Est Belle
From Berlin in I think 2000, a concert that includes the European Pipe Band, and a stirring rendition of Ravel's 'Bolero', amongst its hour & third runtime.

Andre Rieu - Dreaming / Romance
Two medley programmes, with performances culled from his many concerts, linked by Rieu himself in new material from some of the places where he has held concerts, such as Limburg, his birthplace, and Maastricht, his home.

Andre Rieu - Behind The Music
Not quite an hour with a talk to the man himself, and some of the other members of his orchestra. His big break came during a Champions League Final, he now lives in a home where D'artagnan ate his last meal, and which reminds him of his lifelong love of the Tintin adventures. Amongst his recent successes was performing a waltz written by Sir Anthony Hopkins. As you do. And the Waltz, as ever, goes on...

Andre Rieu: My Music, My Life
Excellent hour & half doc from a Dutch show ("Op Reis") which did a special on the Maastricht musician. This also covered the familiar bases, his father, his wife, his children, his violin, his orchestra, his stage show, his globetrotting etc. The craziness of his Schonbrunn set for his World Stadium Tour was shown in detail during setting up for a gig in Toronto. His good fortune with weather was also commented on, as well as the chance boost when he appeared during a football half-time just after a Dutch team had taken the lead, and caught the crowd in a good mood. The rest was history. Who knows what more dreams he may fulfil?

Andre Rieu - Coronation Concert
From April 30th this year, a special event to celebrate the crowning of King Willem Alexander and his Queen, Maxima (?!), live from Amsterdam. In some respects it was a Greatest Hits deal, with a mix of familiar pan-European works. Now out on DVD too.

Andre Rieu: On My Way To New York
6 half-hours for Dutch TV, covering the build-up to his 2006 show at Radio City Music Hall. So we saw his warehouse where previous props are stored, the swish coaches that the orchestra travel on, where they went in the USA. Also vignettes of shopping for clothes, the cook shopping for food, some sightseeing (in NY especially), PR chats over the phone, and finally a bit of the concert. The sense of the camaraderie amongst the players came across well, and their success is understandable.

Andre Rieu: Live in Maastricht V : Under The Stars
With the usual help from the Platin Tenors, Rieu's show was enhanced not only by the Harlem Gospel Choir uniting with the Soweto Gospel Choir, and the Trio St Petersburg, but a guest appearance from Sir Anthony Hopkins, to witness the first performance of the waltz which he, Hopkins, had written and got in touch with Rieu to show. An intriguing show.

The World of Andre Rieu: Fiesta Mexicana
A concert from Mexico City, mixed with many behind-the-scenes moments, and street voxpops, and a running theme with a family dubbed Andre's biggest fans (in Mexico), who eventually get to meet their hero.

Andre Rieu - Welcome to My World
A mammoth 10-part series which in many cases merely rehashed previous gigs, to allow Rieu to share some behind-the-scenes tales of life on the road. He's got a great PR operation, that much is clear.

Andre Rieu - At the Royal Albert Hall
From New Year's Eve, 2001, in the heart of London. Interesting to see which band members were around a decade ago, and to see Rieu looking younger.

Andre Rieu - Live From Dublin
From 2003, thankfully showing titles on screen for once. The local guest was John Sheehan, whose fiddle-playing fitted in well.

Andre Rieu - The Fairy Tale
A 6xhalf-hour series primarily focussing on a major gig at Efteling with a fairy-tale theme. The middle episodes spent more on trips to Australia & Japan (the former were berserk for his music; the latter had their own quirky approach to the gigs). The Efteling gig was maybe summed up when, in order to have the best audience view of the concert, a garden fountain got dug up! They had weather troubles when it came to it, as well.

Andre Rieu: Romantic Paradise
From Cortona, Tuscany, and outdoor gig in a packed town square. He did his banter in Italian. This 2003 gig also featured the singing of Carmen Monarcha and Carla Maffioletti.

Andre Rieu in Der Semperoper
From the famous Semper Opera House, Dresden (thus, banter in German), a long gig from 2008 with a running theme about a wedding, it featured the dancing of Viennese debutantes, the singing of regulars Carmen Monarcha, Mirusia Louwerse and the Platin Tenors, and the guest singing of Morschi Franz.

Andre Rieu: My African Dream
From his first South African tour in 2010, mainly chit-chat punctuated by footage from shows in Sun City and Cape Town. Possibly his first usage of Kimi Skota, whom he described as a "black diamond" which I'm not entirely sure is PC. But the tour seemed to go well, particularly after near-cancellation because of the Icelandic ash fiasco.

Andre Rieu: Gala Concert
From Hamburg, on New Year's Eve 2002, with some tracks captioned, though not for long (perhaps unable to keep up). One guest was comedian Otto Waalkes, presumably a big favourite in Germany, but the humour didn't seem to travel. The encore included some rare old-time rock & roll standards, which made a change from the heavily-classical fare.

Andre Rieu: Radio City Music Hall (aka New York Memories)
Possibly from 2006, with usual guests the Platin Tenors, and unusual guests in little prodigy Akim Kamara, and the Harlem Gospel Choir, who may well have fitted the tone, but bored me rigid. Many great musical moments, though.

Andre Rieu: Live In Maastricht II
From 2008, the gang paid tribute to the late Pavarotti with the Platin Tenors doing "Nessun Dorma", teenage trumpet prodigy Melissa Venema did a couple of numbers, and the Mastrechter Staar Male Voice choir also joined in the fun. The finale was a medley. It was an average show, really.

Andre Rieu - Live in Maastricht III
From 2009, and with a tribute to the late Michael Jackson, a special band of 400 violinists (!), the usual divas and the Platin Tenors, and an encore featuring Heino, apparently big news in Holland. Good show, though.

Andre Rieu - Live in Vienna
From 2007, in Michaeler Square, near the Hofburg Palace. Besides the usual faces were guests Karl Moik and Dagmar Koller. It seems melancholy to note that Susan Erens has been phased out by later shows as new faces break the line-up: here, it's Mirusia Louwerse making her debut at age just 20.

His latest UK album, "Love in Venice", spent 2 weeks in the top 10 on release, suggesting he retains a strong fanbase here.

Andre Rieu: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Live in Maastricht IV
From the Vrithjof Square in 2010, with Carmen, Mirusia and the Platin Tenors. Much reference to his premier tour of South Africa, with Kimi Skota, as well as two different children's groups. Other guests, The Berlin Comedian Harmonists provided a surprising contrast to the rest of it, though.

Andre Rieu - Happy Birthday! A celebration of 25 years of the Johann Strauss Orchestra
From 2012, his usual summer concert back home in Vrithjof Square in Maastricht. Here, he brought back former fave Carla Maffioletti, but saved his big guest for the ending - Father Abraham, of Smurf fame. Rather a bizarre idea, and one way in which European thinking differs wildly from that in Britain or America. Still, a decent enough show, and the Platin Tenors did Nessun Dorma, which always gets my vote.

Andre Rieu - Christmas Spectacular
Clearly, tis the season for new material here. This 2011 show mixed Christmas numbers old & older, generally church hymns or old style efforts like "Little Drummer Boy" or "Sleigh Ride". Perhaps an indication that the European festivity is less Godless, for want of less ugly English, than is often seen in mainstream parts of Britain and America.

Andre Rieu - Wonderful World : Live in Maastricht
Over 2 hours from his usual spot in Vrijthof Square, from 2015. He has some special guests from Romania including the legendary Georghe Zamphir, and I notice the Platin Tenors have had a line-up change. Seemed all jolly enough, but captions would have been nice.

Andre Rieu - Silvester in Wien / New Year's Eve in Vienna
From NYE 2001, apparently (though either that or his London show above must be wrong), this was a lengthy bash, without the solos that are so often a part of his shows, and a few medleys at times.

Andre Rieu - Christmas Around The World
From 2005, with Susan, Carmen & Carla on usual duty, the zany antics of Manoe & her clarinet, and guests from the Nagasaki Boys & Girls Choir. Again, a mix of the sacred and the genteel, yet still crowd-pleasing.

Andre Rieu - Silvester Punsch aka New Year's Eve Punch
From Hanover on NYE 2003. This was a lengthy show as ever, with the A team of Carmen, Carla and Susan providing the musical basis for guest stars like British tenor Russell Watson, violin group Bond, and finally tiresome local comic Otto. The latter did 2 numbers, the second of which "Danes Don't Lie" used the same tune as "When a Child is Born". Oh, the hilarity. At least Bond and Watson were good.

Andre Rieu - Live in Sydney
From 2009, this longer-than-normal show fits the usual pattern except in its final star guest, Dame Edna Everage, who gets several minutes to chat to the crowd and leave Rieu as her stooge, before a few patriotic treats, and letting her violin-playing nephew get his chance to play with the orchestra. It gives a novel edge when the usual crowd-teasing slow finales are overwhelmed by something the crowd can take plenty of.

Andre Rieu & Friends - Live in Maastricht VII
From the usual place, the Vrijthof Square, in 2013. The early part of this show seemed a reprise from his efforts at the Coronation Concert for the new King of Holland and his Argentinian Queen. Besides the Platin Tenors and the usual divas, he welcomed Jermaine Jackson, and Trini Lopez. A bit lengthier show than some, though the usual haphazard sense of layering remained.

Andre Rieu - Love in Venice
From 2014, the usual annual concert (as above), but with some set designs to indicate a Venezian sensibility. The Platin Tenors did Nessun Dorma, too. The youthful success of a Talent show came on to recreate her operatic success. There was some talk about it being the 10th staging of this annual concert, as well as the 20th or 25th anniversary of his orchestra's big breakthrough moment, and his own 35th anniversary, when leading a previous version of the current Johann Strauss Orchestra. Whatever, it was another solid enough show.

Andre Rieu - Live In Brazil
From Sao Paulo, in 2013, the usual sort of show with its somewhat haphazard structure. Carla Maffioletti and Carmen Monarcha were able to play the local card for once, and Kimi Skota made a useful complement, whilst the Platin Tenors did their usual sort of thing. The crowd were so passionate as to still be singing along, even after Rieu had led his Orchestra off and was getting changed to leave the arena.

His pre-Christmas concerts in the UK had to be postponed after the untimely death of his trombonist Ruud Merx:

He was only 47

Ruud Merx, trombonist with André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra, has died after suffering a heart attack during the orchestra's UK tour. Merx, who had been with the orchestra for over 20 years, was in a coma after the initial attack last week, but died on December 22nd.

Merx was married to a violinist in the Orchestra. RIP

The shows will be rescheduled for March.