Andre Rieu, waltz king

Updated: November 21, 2011, 7:43 AM

Andre Rieu looks placid enough — a genial, handsome Dutchman, 62 years old, his violin tucked under his chin.

But this is a man who knows no bounds.

As one of the world’s top-selling arena acts, Rieu has accomplished a feat that puts Ringling Brothers to shame. He has taken the waltzes of 19th century Vienna and marketed them to millions.

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Concert Preview

Andre Rieu

7:30 p.m., Monday, First Niagara Center. Tickets, firstniagaracenter.com, are $47.50 to $141.50.

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Tonight, when Rieu arrives in First Niagara Center, Buffalo will get its first glimpse of the spectacle that has made Rieu one of the world’s top arena acts.

In an email interview — Rieu is in Europe — he makes bold promises.

“IF PEOPLE BRING THEIR HEART TO MY CONCERTS AND OPEN UP TO THE MUSIC, THEY WILL HAVE AN UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT!” he writes. “I WANT PEOPLE TO LEAVE THE CONCERT WITH A SMILE AND A ‘WOW’ FEELING!”

Did Rieu hit the caps-lock key by mistake? Even if he did, the capital letters seem to reflect his personality.

Peter van Scozza, a popular Buffalo-area performer who plays as a strolling violinist at weddings and restaurants and leads the Premier String Quartet, caught Rieu’s act in Toronto’s Rogers Arena and could not get over it.

“He was the best entertainer I’ve ever seen,” van Scozza says. “The encores were never-ending. Every one that you heard, you thought was the ultimate tune. And then there would be another one.

“He had such marvelous musicians. And he had all these good-looking people. Pretty girls, not in black, but in pinks and light blues, all these colors. There was this international feeling. You felt as if you were on top of the world.”

‘Punch your own face’  Rieu’s glamour, amplification, crowds and sheer excess can overwhelm listeners accustomed to more intimate surroundings. Like other crossover acts — the Three Tenors come to mind — he has his critics in the classical music crowd.

A Facebook group called “I want to punch Andre Rieu in the face” has more than 9,000 members. One who hit “like” is conductor William Eddins, who is from Buffalo and is music director of the Edmonton Orchestra.

“I have a real love/hate relationship with Mr. Rieu,” admits the conductor on the phone, when he stops laughing. “He’s got some things right. He engages the audience. Everyone on stage smiles.

“But there should be a warning: Those of you who have diabetes should stay the hell away. I can’t take the sheer saturated overdose. I can’t do it. I can’t stand it. It makes me want to crawl.”

The Facebook page also draws comments from Rieu’s friends.

“He organized an amazing group of pro musicians around him that tour the world. Have you ever seen the faces of the thousands of people that enjoy their concerts?” argues a countryman of Rieu from the Netherlands.

“Punch your own face, since you seem to have a problem with your closest relatives and friends that have chosen Andre’s music.”

Rieu makes it clear he needs no champions.

“LET THE CRITICS COME TO THE CONCERT AND THEY WILL SEE FOR THEMSELVES THAT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ARE HAVING A WONDERFUL NIGHT,” he writes. “I DON’T EXPECT EVERYBODY TO LOVE MY MUSIC BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN PEOPLE SHOULD CRITICISE RIGHT AWAY.”

Surely Johann Strauss Jr., the “Waltz King,” is enjoying the controversy from beyond the grave. Rieu and his 60-piece Johann Strauss Orchestra might play other things — “O Fortuna” from “Carmina Burana,” for instance, or “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

But they always come back to the waltz.

It could be the swirling “Ten Minutes Ago,” from “Cinderella,” complete with vocalists — and Rieu, at the end, waltzing with a schoolgirl. You might even hear a waltz by Sir Anthony Hopkins, the actor. Rieu landed in the headlines recently when he arranged Hopkins’ waltz and began playing it.

“A WALTZ IS A MIRROR OF LIFE,” Rieu muses. “IT IS FULL OF JOY BUT ALSO FULL OF MELANCHOLY. THE ART IS TO PLAY IT THE RIGHT WAY.

“MY FATHER WAS A CONDUCTOR AND AS A LITTLE BOY, I USED TO SIT IN THE AUDIENCE AND WATCH HIS CONCERTS. DURING THE ENCORES, IT ALWAYS SURPRISED ME, THAT AS SOON AS THE ORCHESTRA STARTED PLAYING WALTZES, EVERYBODY STARTED SWAYING. FROM THEN ON, I KNEW, I WANTED TO CREATE MY OWN ORCHESTRA AND PLAY A LOT OF WALTZES, BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT SEEMED TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY. … MY FAVORITE WALTZ IS THE BLUE DANUBE!”

‘Music has no race’  Mention of the “Blue Danube” hints at what could be the biggest secret of Rieu’s success. That particular Strauss waltz was admired by such musical heavies as Johannes Brahms. Even Rieu’s critics can’t deny it: The music Rieu plays might be old, but it’s good.

Violinist Michael Ludwig, the BPO’s concertmaster, can see why crowds flock to hear Strauss’ music.

“It’s beautiful, very stylistic and very elegant,” Ludwig says.

“There’s something celebratory about the music. People associate it with New Year’s and the holidays. And it’s very festive, joyful music. Maybe that’s a real appeal for people, given the times that we’re living in, that are very troubling. It’s an opportunity to sit back and maybe be immersed in a different period of time — a different moment that kind of carries with it a kind of festive, elegant, joyful atmosphere.”

Ludwig, who has a promising solo career under way, takes a practical view of Rieu’s popularity.

“I think his appeal for people is a great thing,” he says. “It’s a wonderful vehicle for broadening the audience base for classical music.”

Rieu is good at bridging the centuries.

“I WOULD LOVE TO MEET JOHANN STRAUSS OR WOLFGANG MOZART. THEY WERE GENIUSES OF THEIR TIME,” he reflects. “HOWEVER, I WOULD NOT WANT TO LIVE IN THEIR TIME. I AM TOO KEEN ON TECHNOLOGY AND WOULD BE LOST WITHOUT MY IPOD AND IPAD.”

(So much for the idea that he hit the ‘caps lock’ by mistake.)

Mixing show tunes and classical hits, this modern-day Waltz King designs his concerts to appeal to a wide crowd. Those he remembers most fondly are the concerts that conquered boundaries. One “emotional welcome” he recalls was in South Africa.

“THIS COUNTRY HAS A VERY PROFOUND HISTORY WITH A LOT OF PROBLEMS BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE,” he notes. “IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL TO SEE HOW, THROUGH A CONCERT, THROUGH MUSIC, YOU CAN CREATE UNITY. OUR SOUTH AFRICAN SOPRANO KIMMY SKOTA, SANG A COUPLE OF BEAUTIFUL SOUTH AFRICAN SONGS AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY PEOPLE CRY IN THE AUDIENCE, INCLUDING MYSELF.

Rieu writes that he loves the enthusiasm he encounters.

“MUSIC HAS NO RACE, NO COLOUR,” he declares. “MUSIC BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER!”

http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/gusto/music/concert-previews/article638720.ece