Ovation for the waltz by Hopkins at the Rieu concert

An embarrassed and happy 73 year old actor, Sir Anthony Hopkins, received a standing ovation from the public during André Rieu’s concert on Friday in Vrijthof.

By Ray Simeon

The self-composed waltz ‘And the waltz goes on’ was tasteful and even stirred some emotions, in spite of the fact that the waltz lasted only five minutes together with a short intro during the Rieu spectacle on a packed Vrijthof in Maastricht.

“Terrific and daring to start with one waltz. A little heavy and melancholy waltz”, says Cyrus Meher-Homii, general manager of United Music Australia. “A waltz with much more content than the lighthearted work of Strauss,” according to Elke Freitag from Münster, who attended her 78th Rieu concert with her husband Nico.  “Subtle, one completely different waltz than what we are used to. The most spectacular piece of work up to now,” according to Cees Scharloo , a retired choir conductor from Utrecht.

Hopkins’ waltz was one of the highlights of André Rieu’s seventh concert series on theVrijthof . Also the appearance of the Harlem Gospel Choir and the Soweto Gospel Choir from South Africa had the public singing and swaying spontaneously. Together with the cheerfulness you could also feel the reserved and passionate appearance of the South African soprano Kimmy Skota

The evening ended in Maastricht with a potpourri of traditional polonaises that filled Vrijthof.  It was a beautiful evening for the multitude of fans.

Our Thanks to Deirdre for translating this story.