The Waltz King Andre Rieu and Yanni
Photo courtesy of Wire Image
Chicago Tribune
May 15, 2009
The Waltz King, and Yanni
Rieu: Long reviled by classical purists, it took Rieu 10 years to find a record company. "People like to put a label on somebody. They didn't know where to put me, so they didn't put me at all."
Dated Linda Evans?
Yanni: Yes, for many years.
Rieu: No.
Pet peeve
Yanni: "Yanni Voices" is an almost-pop album that you should never, ever, describe as New Age. Really, just don't. "Forget the New Age stuff, don't even bring that up," he says. "That is, like, funny. ... That's not what it is."
Rieu: Time magazine once called him "the superstar nobody knows." "People come to the concert and they say, 'Who's that? I've never heard of him.' And then they're surprised [at how good it is]," Rieu says.
Eerie connection to John Tesh
Yanni: Once played in a band with him.
Rieu: Both play covers of Dion's "My Heart Will Go On."
Why the concerts resemble rock shows
Yanni: "The concert has enormous energy. It's the biggest production I've ever taken out on the road."
Rieu: "The only thing that makes my concert different than a rock concert is the music. The rest is the same."
Thing he's really protective of
Yanni: The novice vocalists from the "Voices" album, with whom he's touring. "They're my kids," he says. "I'm very protective. I try to explain to them ... the strain of being on the road."
Rieu: His violin, a Stradivarius, has its own bodyguard.
On burning out, fading away, etc.
Yanni: "It's difficult to get bored because there's so much variety. I've been doing this for a long time. If anybody was going to get bored, it's going to be me
Rieu: "The only thing I want to do is go on. ... It's a nice life. Sometimes it's a little bit too much, but it's a nice life."
Categories: ANDRE RIEU, Articles-Interviews
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