Andre Rieu's Concert A Classic
Photo. . . . Jeanine Ann
Rieu's concert a classic
BY JEANETTE STEWART, THE STARPHOENIX
Though their numbers were few, Saskatoon fans provided a warm welcome for the world's modern waltz king.
Dutch violinist Andre Rieu and his orchestra stopped in Saskatoon Monday evening to perform at Credit Union Centre.
While the pieces he chose were short, light and not incredibly challenging, Rieu performed en pointe with material that made the concert experience breezy and fun. He alternated between playing his 1732 Stradivarius violin and conducting his orchestra throughout the more than two hour show, breaking up the pieces with comedic banter and plenty of references to his Saskatoon audience.
"Music is the most beautiful thing we have in life," he says, introducing the first waltz, after Rieu and his orchestra entered to Seventy Six Trombones piped over the speakers.
Throughout it was his well-timed banter that helped turn the cavernous hockey stadium into what felt like a rather intimate event for a couple thousand fans.
Rieu has worked to make classical accessible for more than two decades. He formed his popular Johann Strauss Orchestra in 1987 and has released over 40 albums, numerous concert specials on DVD and TV extravaganzas.
While detractors call his genre "schmaltz waltz," his raison d'être is to bring classical to the masses, popularizing the waltzes in much the same way his orchestra's namesake did more than a century ago.
Over the years Rieu's own Johann Strauss Orchestra has grown from 12 to the 60 musicians currently part of his rapid North American fall tour. The large telegenic orchestra completes the spectacle, replete with sparkling ball gowns for the ladies and full tux and tails for the men.
The audience was decidedly older than the typical 20-something rock show crowd, but were nearly as enthusiastic in their response.
It's easy to see why Rieu's 2010 tour was one of the top-grossing productions of the year worldwide. From the vocalists hamming it up in the back to balloon drops and a surprising snowstorm of confetti or a musical blacksmith performing an anvil solo and a bit of a striptease, Rieu kept the focus on entertainment.
Thank to Jean Wallis of Canada for this article
OH WOW OUR ANDRé ROCKS!!! I remember the anvil solo and 'striptease' at our Cape Town concert in March 2011. Excellent review by JEANETTE STEWART! This lady knows her music.
Thank you JEAN, you are doing a great job in keeping us up to date.
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Hi Jean thank you yet again for a lovely rite up rearding out wonderful man. Hugs and Luv Ruth
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there is a song with the words,"everything old is new again", Andre' does this for us, thank you for sharing the above;
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"Though their numbers were few, Saskatoon fans provided a warm welcome for the world's modern waltz king".
What! Surely Canada is not leaving seats empty !
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looks great to me !!!
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i've been trying each day for the last week to become a gold member, when i fill in details a message comes up saying another person is using same addy, i was free member, but want to become gold member, i've tried asking for help but noeone seems to listen, i wanted to join in time to buy Christmas gifts etc, can anyone help?
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Hi Margery, You should be able to click on 'become gold member' and fill in the information. I will go into the site and check again. Hugs
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Hi Margery, I did check and on the left it says 'become gold member' but I could only go so far because I am a gold member already and was logged in as such. I would write to the help desk and ask them what could be wrong. Has anyone else had this problem?? Thanks
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Hi Jeanine, Iam a gold member at last!!, i thought i'd try my free membership so i signed in, and lo and behold there was a link which said
'upgrade to gold membership' i just followed directions and hey presto! i am now a gold member, it was so simple i wonder why the help desk didn't advise me to do that! i'll be able to buy things from Andre's websight now, i bought the Mexican Fiesta dvd the other day, it's fantastic i'd love to buy Marjories books, can i get them in English? regards margery.
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Oh good for you Margery. I am so glad it worked for you. Yes Marjorie's book is in English if you are speaking of "My Music, My Life". It is available in the Webshop. Hugs to you
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thanks jeanine anne for taking the trouble to help me, i got email today from helpdesk, they said they could cancel my free membership, then i could join as gold member.
i'll let you know if or when it happens.
regards, margery
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MHi Jeanine Ann, Ive been getting trouble trying to become a gold member, I filled in all the details on the left hand side and then they said there was already a member of the same email address, which of course was me because I am a free member, what do I do
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