Marjorie Rieu

Andre Rieu has come to my notice in the last six months as I see the DVDs in the library go out all the time and as he has come to Australia. I have been watching some of his DVDs and most I have enjoyed. What strikes me the most is that he makes music fun for people. But I have talked to people who do not like so much what he is doing SO I wanted to read this book to find out more about the man himself and his philosophies.
Andre's father was a conductor and Andre went to his first concert at a very young age. The sight of the violin bows going up and down in perfect time filled him with awe and after that he dreamed of standing on stage and playing music for people. For many years he was a member of a small salon orchestra the Maastricht Salon Orchestra (with five players) and was introduced to new music such as that by Strauss, which his father had played with the Linburg orchestra but which was often looked down on in classical circles. He became the boss of this orchestra that lasted for twenty years. Andre discovered how much music can mean to people that it can make them happy, that it can enable them to forget their cares and troubles, at least for a short time. He also began talking between the pieces as a way to connect further with the audience. He discovered that the audiences liked this. The road to where he is now was a long hard road but in short after a time he had the desire to have a larger orchestra and play a bigger variety of music, the music he loved. So the Johann Strauss Orchestra was founded initially with twelve musicians, and first touring in 1988. He also gave up playing in his fathers orchestra so he could play his kind of music. Musicians in his orchestra had to like the kind of music he liked and more importantly take pleasure in playing it ie have fun. For Andre it is important to be able to look at the people in the audience, to see whether they hare having fun - to connect with them. He himself wants to decide when the concert should finish, when the time has come to give no more encores.
I enjoyed reading this book and learning more about Andre. I love music. I admire what he is doing in making classical music fun for people. Will people who go to his concerts and enjoy them then feel comfortable going to a 'traditional' orchestra concert? I don' t know the answer, but I believe there is room for both kinds and I see nothing wrong with people getting up in the aisles and dancing , and clapping all the way through the music.… (lisätietoja)