Perth Man Helps Andre Rieu
Perth Fan Helps Save André Rieu
Rebekah Devlin - The Sunday Times
CLASSICAL music superstar Andre Rieu has credited a Perth fan with helping save his career.
In September Rieu was struck down with a debilitating infection of the vestibular nerve, which affected his balance.
Unable even to stand unaided, he had to postpone his Australian tour.
He said: "The doctor came to me and said, 'This virus, there's no pill, no medication, there's only one thing, you have to rest and wait 'til it's gone'. And I did that."
Amidst the piles of encouraging letters, emails, cakes, bottles of wine, pictures, stones and sculptures sent in by fans, the musician found a letter from Perth man Bill Henshall, suggesting an exercise regime.
"There was a very kind letter from Perth," Rieu said. "They wrote, 'Andre, I had the same thing and the doctor didn't give me pills, but he gave me exercises to come back and balance'.
"My recovery was due to the rest, of course, but also the exercises from Perth."
Mr Henshall, 68, suffered from vertigo a few years ago and found the exercises worked wonders. So he sat down at his computer and wrote Rieu a letter.
"My motivation was purely and simply if it was going to work for him, everyone was going to be the beneficiary of it," Mr Henshall said. "He gives so much enjoyment to so many people."
He said he addressed the letter to "Andre Rieu, Maastricht, the Netherlands".
"That's it, that's all that was on the envelope," he said. "I'm tickled pink that he got it (and) I'm so pleased it helped him. I'm flabbergasted and gobsmacked, but in a very agreeable fashion."
Mr Henshall and his wife Anna are big fans of the musical maestro they even travelled to Melbourne to attend one of his concerts.
Rieu has now rescheduled his Australian tour, which will kick off in Adelaide on May 3, and hinted he would invite the couple to one of his concerts.
"I'm really, really very grateful to these people in Perth," he said.
"Imagine me not performing again, it was very scary. But I always had the confidence.
"Marjorie, my wife, and Pierre, my son, said, 'Whatever happens we love you and if you never can play any more we are going to do something else'. They gave me power to believe that everything would be OK."
He said the heartache he felt at disappointing fans weighed heavily. He'd never cancelled a show before, let alone an entire tour.
"It was the saddest day of my life that I had to cancel the tour," he said.
Rieu was laid up at home for three months, unable even to read or watch TV, but said that, thankfully, he could still listen to music.
"I did nothing," he said. "I couldn't do anything because I was dizzy. It's terrible, terrible when you're so dizzy that you can't even stand up."
Now he has completed a tour of the US and is brimming with enthusiasm.
"I feel completely OK again, even better than ever before," he said.
However, his illness has meant some major lifestyle changes.
"I listened to the doctors, I listened to my wife, I listened to my son who said, 'Andre you do too much, you work too much, you should really eliminate things, a lot of things which are not concerning the music'," he said.
"I cannot say 'no'. But now I have my son and my wife who say 'no' for me. I say immediately 'yes', but then they overrule me and say 'no'. It's good, I feel protected and I feel safe. My agenda was always full, now it's empty besides the concerts.
"I didn't lose kilos, but I lost kilos in my mind. I feel better than ever on stage, that's why I'm here, that's why I'm on this Earth, to make music."
Sadly, though, he won't be visiting Perth when he tours Australia next year.
Bill Henshall, from Perth, will now be as well known in Australia as Mirusia Louwerse (Soprano Soloist).
I'd bet a shiney dime that at some point in time, Bill Henshall will appear on stage, next to Mirusia.
You know Bill Henshall will be given an introduction & a brief spotlight by Andre when he attends a concert in Australia.
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Lovely story!!! Last year I called International Exchange in Maastricht to obtain office of Andre/JSO and was told:there is no listing. They put me through to main Info bureau who did not have a postal address for him. Looks like Andre does not need these!!? or is the information not recorded?? Perhaps PR may wish to follow up. I know that Andre himself does not have the time but one would think there is an official address??
Charles from Auckland New Zealand
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André Rieu Productions BV
Postbus 1329
NL-6201
BH Maastricht
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very thoughtful of that gentleman to send those execises to out Beautiful Man, I don't wish to contemplate a life without Andre" & His JSO, also please note it was a man who wrote to Andre' I get sick of those idiots who say He only appeals to aged pensioner women, I guess one must feel sorry for the uneducated ;
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Thankyou Bill Henshall for what you shared with André, who must know how much he is loved and valued.
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