In February of last year, he already filled an eager audience with his unerring and super-popular mix of waltzes, film music, opera and classical music. He is the Dutch violinist André Rieu, who together with his Johann Strauss Orchestra returns to the Palau Sant Jordi today (8 pm) to share music and good vibes with the 15,689 fans who sold out weeks ago.
He is also the conductor of the largest private orchestra on the international scene touring annually with a repertoire that changes slightly, and that must hit the target because each tour brings together more than half a million attendees around the world. This great lover of Tintin comics and the classical musician with the most sold records in history speaks from his house in Maastricht.
What will be heard in Barcelona unlike a year ago?
Normally I have a program with which I tour around the world. The repertoire is designed at the beginning of each year by my wife and I, and depending on where we are, we interpret a local piece. The concert in Barcelona will follow that line, because it is what everyone in the world likes. It is the way of playing it that I think such a varied audience likes [at their concert a year ago in Barcelona, ??the orchestral group and their choir performed the popular song Macarena].
Do you think the public reaction varies by country or city?
No. All people, regardless of age, gender or country, come to listen to music that comes from our hearts and that we play convinced of it. And this is exactly what the public notices right away.
You are very addicted to work, you don’t stop. What inspires you to continue day by day with that predisposition?
Because I think it’s great to be alive, I’m very happy to be alive, and that’s why I enjoy life every day. That is my attitude and for me it is an engine to play and see how music reaches people, how they enjoy it and how they share it with us. If you see that you make the world happier with my music, with our music, what else do you want?
What is your highest priority when you are on stage?
The most important thing is to do the concert with the public. My father was a director of classical music and at that time competition in that area was very common, the typical “I’m better than you”. And maybe that’s why, that’s not my case, I don’t travel the world to show how good we are, no: we do it to make people happy. That does not take away, beware, that in general in my field there is still an enormous rivalry between musicians, and that is something that I constantly hate. Because making music is not a contract, it is making people cry, be happy…
Is it difficult to keep an orchestra like the Johan Strauss alive after so many years?
They could work elsewhere but they stay with me, from which I can deduce that I’m not doing badly, that I’m a good boss… It makes me very happy that they prefer to be with me. The older ones have been there for 35 years, and they share the stage with the younger ones, and that fills me with pride.
What is the requirement to be part of it?
They come to my studio, they play, I quote them the next day to rehearse with the rest and when they do I see right away if they are there just for the money alone or… I expect my musicians to be in the orchestra one hundred percent with their art, It’s all I ask of you.
And from there the success of the orchestra?
Of course it’s because of the way we interpret the music, and the second thing is, and they notice it very well, that I want them to be there with their hearts.
You have said that you are never angry. Is your music an expression of that flow?
It is something that you shape over the years, but in my case it is about my way of being since I was very young. From the moment I began to have people in my charge, to work with them, and your way of being seeks empathy. And with that you can also avoid many problems of all kinds.
And also break barriers. When she noticed that the music breaks them?
From a very young age. I come from the world of classical music, when I was little I went to see my father’s concerts, and I heard very beautiful pieces that touched my heart, and that is precisely what I play, pieces that I think touch people’s hearts.
You have said that Johan Strauss was a true pop star.
He was a genius, the pieces were so well written that it is an immense pleasure to play them every night. When you play a well-done waltz well, people immediately start smiling. And he was immensely popular at the time, and the proof of this is that he had five orchestras!
When you are at home, what do you and your wife listen to?
We listen to all kinds of music, but I am going to confess one thing and that is that my wife and I like the same thing, be it Michael Jackson or Bruce Springsteen or waltzes or pop hits. And that has always been the case and that is something that greatly facilitates all the work and the connection with the public.
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