The Magic Of Andre Rieu's Music
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World-renowned violinist
André Rieu tells Lynn Santer
about the causes he supports
and how he helped
grow a forest in the Sahara.
The MAGIC of
André Rieu’s
Music
SANTER’S STARS
At XL we often talk about magic and
pivotal turning points in time; we talk
about how to live the dream by following
our flow. I don’t believe there has ever
been a better example of this than André
Rieu.
André studied as a classical violinist under the strict regime
of his father, an orchestral conductor in Holland. Although he
shared his father’s love and respect of classical music, André
burned with a passion to bring what was traditionally seen as
the realm of the elite to the world (in fact, he dreams of being
the first person to perform in outer space!)
Breaking Barriers
His love of music breaks all boundaries, not only appreciating
the beauty and the brilliance of the marvellous melodies he
performs, but recognising that if people listened to music
instead of looking at one anothers differences, the world might
be a much more peaceful place. Yet, in the early years, when
he tried to bring his dream to life, record companies laughed
at him, purists frowned at him, and he was lucky to secure
engagements playing for free in retirement homes. But one of
those pivotal magical turning points changed all that.
In what must be the least likely place for a classical violinist
to find his big break, André was invited to play during the
interval at a football match in Holland. Thousands upon
thousands of raucous fans sang, waved and swayed along to
the fateful strains of The Second Waltz. With tears of disbelief,
wonder and elation faintly glistening in his eyes, André’s world
was changed forever.
True Pure Pleasure
On a personal note, I have to share but one example of how he
has managed to bring classical music to those who would not
normally savour one of the world’s true, pure pleasures.
I admit to being a bit of a purist myself when it comes to
classical music, as was my father before me. Father and I
would enjoy nothing more than to sit with a warmed cognac,
delighting to the strains of Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninoff, but it
was a joy my mother didn’t share.
My mother, like many people, is visual — and where
André Rieu excels is in bringing a visual spectacular to his
audience. Whether it be by a log fire in his home, or in front
of the many 20,000 strong audiences he performs to (with his
orchestra dressed in period costumes of sumptuous colour),
the trademarks of André Rieu’s performances are smiles,
unashamed joy and even — to the horror of purists — laughter.
Even an André Screen Saver
When my mother first heard about André, she raced out to buy
one of his DVDs, then another and another, until she owned
them all. She had never purchased a DVD before — ever! For
the first time in her life she wanted to know how to use my
father’s enormously complex HI FI system. She even has André
as a screen saver!
But her reasoning is the same as that of the millions of fans
who have enthusiastically devoured André ‘s music, seen his
DVDs turn platinum 54 times, and secured him nine of the top
ten spots on the DVD charts simultaneously — something not
even achieved by Elvis or the Beatles! André simply, purely,
magically, makes people feel good.
Sadly, we lost my father nearly three years ago, but there’s
no doubt in my mother’s mind that he sent information about
André to her, so that with his passing, the magic of music
would not be lost from their home. You will understand,
therefore, when André came to Australia for a media tour, I
knew I had to make contact. Generous and gracious as ever,
Mr Rieu has told me about something he rarely shares with
the media; not a story about his music, but about his less-sung
passion, his philanthropic contribution to the world.
Benefit Concert for Burkina Faso
“The fate of the world’s poor and environment protection” he
said, “are two problems that my wife Marjorie and I both take
very much to heart. Shortly after the Hieringebiete concert of
1987, Sjef Vink, a commentator for Radio Limburg, phoned me
to ask if I would be willing to discuss a benefit concert.
“Sjef is a member of the Maastricht-Niou Committee, which
concerns itself with the welfare of the people in the African
country of Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the
Sahel region along the southern range of the Sahara. I wanted
to give the concert with the motto Save the Sahel Region,
Plant a Tree for Ten Guilders. The proceeds were all to go to
Burkina Faso for the purpose of planting trees. Our hope was
to make part of the increasingly barren Sahel region, which for
years had been suffering from severe drought, productive and
livable again.
Best-selling author Lynn Santer has been an advisor to the British
Government, a fixed-wing light aircraft pilot, a conservationist, ‘Auntie Lynn’
to children around the world benefiting from her ‘Magical Scarecrows’
project, and a friend to the famous and fabulous.
www.lynnsanter.com
A Real Forest
“At the time no one could have known that this concert would
be the catalyst both of a large-scale reforestation project and of
my future company, André Rieu Productions, Inc. I want to do my
work well and have fun with it, like a little boy, but there are so
many other things in my life.
Marjorie and I have now been involved with the reforestation
project since 1988. To begin with I wondered if it could ever
succeed but now, it’s incredible, there’s a real forest there. The
people can plant vegetables again. It’s fantastic and I want to go
on putting a lot of effort into this project.”
Marjorie, Pierre and Marc
As André mentions Maastricht, you can’t help but notice
deep affection in his voice, for this is his beloved home
town in Holland, to which he is fiercely loyal. Outside of his
immeasurable love of music, his other profound passions are
for his soulmate, his wife Marjorie, and his two sons, Pierre and
Marc, all of whom are involved in the ever-burgeoning empire of
André Rieu.
“The members of the Maastricht-Niou Committee, Marjorie
and I all quickly realised we had bitten off more than we could
chew in trying to organise this gala benefit concert. It soon
turned into a race against time, but somehow we made it work.
All the VIPs we asked to attend accepted our invitation, including
representatives of environmental protection agencies, and Radio
Limburg agreed to broadcast the concert ‘live’, so that listeners
at home could phone in and make pledges to plant trees as
well. Of course, there were last minute dramas — in fact, at one
point everything was threatening to go wrong; but the concert
finally raised 40,000 guilders (then about $US20,000), an amount
neither the committee nor I had dreamed possible.
Planting 5,000 Trees
“A couple of months later Sjef and
Professor Van Cotthem (an expert in the
field who has made great discoveries in
the fight against deforestation) left for
Burkina Faso, along with a team from the
University of Ghent, to plant ‘our’ forest
with their own hands. Initially, it was a
forest of 5,000 trees, and it was baptized
Bois de l’Amitie Maastricht-Niou (Forest
of Friendship between Maastricht and
Niou).
“Naturally, we were extremely proud to
have accomplished this with our music.
The trees planted have since reached
heights of five to six metres and fulfilled
their purpose of making barren land
fertile once more. Thousands of trees
have since been added to the friendship
forest, and of course money continues to
be needed to maintain the fight, so I will
remain forever vigilant and committed to
this cause.”
A Child Protégé
If this isn’t impressive enough, André
always listens; and when he received
a letter telling him about an African/
German child protégé, some real magic
happened. Akim Camara first heard André play when he was
only two years old. After the concert, he told his mother
he wanted to play the violin just like André. His mother
purchased a violin and sent him to lessons, whereupon his
teacher immediately knew there was something very special
about this child.
At the age of three little, Akim played with André in front of
his first audience, and at five performed in the world-renowned
Radio City Music Hall with André standing proudly by his side.
First Time in Australia
In November and December, André will be performing for
the first time in Australia with a full-size reproduction of the
Empress Sisi’s castle in Vienna, the Schonbrunn Palace, the
largest transportable set ever!
With star soloists, the Vienna State Opera Ballet, André’s
Johann Strauss Orchestra and Choir, 80 Vienna Debutantes,
the Golden Coach of Empress Sisi and Emperor Franz-Joseph,
the Vienna Figure Skating Association, horse-drawn carriages
and footmen, a complete golden ballroom with genuine
golden chandeliers, a full ice rink and world champion figure
skaters, this is going to be a performance for the record
books!
It takes 80 containers to transport this extravaganza with
100 stage builders, two 160 tonne cranes, and 250 staff to put
it all together. And you can bet mum and I will be there!
thank you this is one of the best articles about Andre'without a doubt a really great picture of this beautiful Man who chooses to entertain us to nurture people into loving music because of Him The Jso & Andre's arrangement of such beautiful melodies;