Andre Rieu claims new streaming record
mainThe Dutch Strauss-master screened last weekend’s Maastricht concert to 586 venues across the UK and Ireland.
The box-office numbers are just in. Rieu made £1,447,086, more than any concert ever screened in UK cinemas.
He is now about to screen the concert in 700 cinemas in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Poland, Israel, followed by France, Germany, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil later this year, bringing the total to 1,500.
The world can’t get enough of Andre Rieu.
The demand for well-packaged mediocrity is boundless.
Just wait until Linda Brava starts to stream her new tour!
I watch Andre Rieu’s extravaganzas for a little while from time to time when they appear on TV. I want to try and understand what is the fascination with this man in his ridiculous livery and contradictory ‘mullet’ (as we call hair like that in Australia). It’s got me; I just can’t explain it. I want to be kind – if only because those musicians were all trained much like every other, and who are most definitely not being challenged like their peers.
Money is a powerful incentive. And Rieu appears to me a bog-standard violinist himself. But the audiences love it – just as I love my music – so it doesn’t seem right somehow to find fault with that.
A person sitting at home wishing to stream an album of Strauss waltzes decides to go for Rieu rather than, say, a VPhil New Year’s Concert, or Willi Boskovsky with the Johann Strauss Orchester, or any of the hundreds of superior renditions available on the same streaming service.
WHY?????
I’d say it’s more like they just hadn’t heard of the Wiener Philharmoniker, or thought it was just too elite for them!
Who says their peers are being challenged?
I’m told their peers (graduates of European music schools) in the Berliner Philharmoniker ARE being challenged. Daily.
Well, he’s not doing any harm and if his concerts even encourages a tiny section of his audience to explore further then that’s great.
If his audience explored any further he’d be out of business pretty quickly. But he somehow convinces them that he’s the real deal and they stick with him.
Trash begets trash
Extremely impressive from Rieu.
[redacted]. This isn’t really to do with ‘streaming’. This concerts are being broadcast to cinemas, whereas steaming is more or less exclusively to do with such online platforms as Spotify, Apple Music, Netflix etc.
It’s not hard to understand why he’s so popular. He and his musicians love what they do, and you can tell that. He sells schmaltz, but they have their hearts in it and it comes across as genuine, not cynical. His shows are entertaining, they make you feel good and put a smile on peoples’ faces, and are genuinely uplifting.
I’ve never bought an Andre Rieu ticket and never will (and I’ll admit I’m stunned at what he charges and clearly gets!). But I respect Andre Rieu for what he does, because in his own way, he’s the real deal. Not only is there no harm in any of it, but if he actually opens up peoples’ ears and hearts, and brings them to the great composers, so much the better. He’s not stealing money from the coffers of the local orchestra or opera company. His audience probably doesn’t go to either. But maybe they might be more open to it.
He doesn’t claim to be Paganini, Heifetz, Kreisler, Oistrakh or Perlman and, as far as I’m aware, he doesn’t try to undermine the serious stuff. It’s harmless, so good to see a few reasonable comments here.
Always amuses me how, the closer a popular performer comes to giving serious classical performances without actually doing so, the more bile he or she seems to attract.
“Always amuses me how, the closer a popular performer comes to giving serious classical performances without actually doing so, the more bile he or she seems to attract.”
Nicely put – and food for thought!
Well I don’t understand why some people don’t enjoy Andre Rieu as I for one could not seat through a “normal and boring orchestra ”
Hes bringing beautiful music with his orchestra whom really enjoy themselves you only need to see there faces.
He’s bringing all age groups from children & the older generation to and them in the middle. When he plays the serious waltzs you only have to look at his face he takes us on that journey with him. There is no reason for people to be critical as he brings a lot of joy to many and that’s why he is doing what does best.
You have to admire Rieu for great showmanship. Watching my wife’s DVDs of him (something I don’t often admit to), I notice he never acknowledges that there were three Viennese Strausses, or says which one’s music he’s playing. Talking down to the audience, or not wanting to let mere detail detract from the show?
There are hard-working back-row musicians in his orchestra whom the camera ignores in these DVDs. Seems unfair to me.
I found these comments interesting. Some while back a musician in his orchestra was unwell and performances were cancelled. Comments were all about how humane and kind Andre Rieu was and how his music brought joy to millions. When I ventured to say that I had never seen him but after I looked on YouTube I had found the whole thing appalling particularly his treatment of Borodin’s On the Steppes of Central Asia, I was censured.
Just look at his audiences, their joy is manifest. The man is a promotional genius and a damned fine entertainer. But I’ll be damned if I would put down a man like Andre Rieu, he has moved the musical mountain. Let the purists go and be presumptuous asses. .They are stuffed shirts who probably can’t carry a tune. Rieu has brought joy to millions. .Who in our age has done morer to further the existence of lovely music among the masses?? He is a gift!!
It seems to me that that elite classical music is upset with Andre Rieu because for so many years they have hijacked an upper class stuffy audience and performed in an equally stuffy manner; and we wonder why so many orchestras have had to pack up when AR is making a bundle. The boring hush, cant clap a good mid piece solo ( even the ballet allows you to clap a good solo, duo dance mid performance) cant say to your partner at the performance, “I enjoyed that section” without a shush. If you clap at the wrong time, it is worse that climbing out of your coffin in front of 700 people. French horns, stand up when you have given us a mellow 8 bars, tympani, you work wonders at the back with all those instruments, take a bow when you play a magical rhythmical accompaniment for our delight. Bring back the “bravo” man and encourage him ( I would do it if i was brave enough!) Orchestral musicians, smile at the end of a technical section, we know how mach practice it took to get that right, you deserve to feel goods about your performance, even if you are one of ten in the team. Don’t go sour grapes on AR, sharpen up your own game first; if you want to survive.
I’m sorry but this is not true, last year Christmas with André did £1.6mln so this is no record.
During the last months I was moved to tears by Damrau’s Traviata. I came back absolutely enthusiastic from Billy Joel in Frankfurt. I was amazed and fascinated by Petrenko’s Siegfried in Munich and danced at AC/DC’s Dusseldorf show. This July I had huge fun at André Rieu’s concerts in Maastricht. I am looking forward every year to the New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. I do believe that variety and openness are the key to a happy life. I would hate to miss out on a great experience just because of klischees and predjudice.
Because when it comes down to it: Music is about EMOTIONS. And that is why André Rieu is rightfully so successful.