January 9, 2021

André Rieu thinking about selling Stradivarius to save orchestra

Filed under: Music by Orangemaster @ 12:21 pm

André Rieu

World-famous Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu, who featured on Dutch stamps and in an Australian soap opera, is considering selling his Stradivarius violin to keep his orchestra afloat.

The 71-year-old conductor is having a hard time doing nothing. Like many of his peers, he really misses performing. Rieu says he is ready to do everything to avoid firing his staff. Before that happens, he’ll sell his what should be a 1667 Stradivarius, which, for anybody who doesn’t know, is worth a few million euro, if not more.

Hopefully Rieu will be able to perform in his home of Maastricht, Limburg in the summer of 2021, but nobody should be holding their breath at this point.

(Link: ad.nl, Photo of André Rieu by Charlie1965nrw Some rights reserved)

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December 31, 2009

Orangemaster’s favourite postings of 2009

Filed under: Dutch first,General,Literature,Music,Sports,Weird by Orangemaster @ 11:35 am

This year it’s my turn to do a list of top stories we’ve featured.

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August 7, 2009

André Rieu plays in famous Australian soap

Filed under: Music,Weird by Orangemaster @ 3:12 pm

World-famous violinist and orchestra leader André Rieu, the man some of you love and others love to hate, has really done it this time. The Australian soap Neighbours, which is very popular in the UK, is known for some odd storylines, but according to UK site LastBroadcast, “they have strayed from ‘a bit random’ into full-on WTF territory.”

And that’s where our man André comes in — at No. 1! We were already surprised when he got his own postage stamps in July, but now he can be seen coming out of a whale of a limo to serenade Paul and Rebecca on Ramsay Street with other residents join in the ballroom dancing. I’m at a loss for words and so was André when he was reading his lines (or so it sounds like).

(Link: lastbroadcast.co.uk, via nrcnext.nl, thanks Alex for the tip!)

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July 10, 2009

André Rieu gets his own stamps

Filed under: Music,Shows by Orangemaster @ 10:23 am
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On 14 July, world-famous violinist and orchestra leader will be presented with a postage stamp booklet featuring him with his violin, walking the dog (!) and what not on the main square of Maastricht, Het Vrijthof. On this very square, he will be performing an open air concert for the fifth year in a row, although this time it will be the 30-year anniversary of his frilly-dress, pastel-clad Johann Strauss orchestra. And yes, he’s from Maastricht, Limburg and speaks Dutch with that special softness that my main co-blogger does.

Although André Rieu is unquestionably the Waltz King in the eyes of the common man, he grates the nerves of many a native for his obvious kitsch factor, campy music and his perfectionistic ways. He annoys classical musicians, saying that they are jealous of his success, has been seen on Dutch reality television yelling at his employees for not being fully committed, and has been known to keep the tighest of reigns on this business, considering his immediate family runs it. The latter seems to make perfect sense to me.

Either way, the man is a huge Dutch star and probably deserves a stamp or two. If my grandmother were Dutch and still alive, she would have called his music “beautiful music” and been bang on.

(Link: trouw.nl, Photos: ezdun.com)

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