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A Maestro for the Masses (Andre Rieu)
Wall Street Journal ^ | June 4, 2010 | John Jurgensen

Posted on 06/04/2010 5:18:37 AM PDT by C19fan

A conga line formed at a classical music concert last Saturday. In a sold-out Vienna arena that will host Lady Gaga later this year, audience members danced in the aisles, waved flags from around the world, and pressed against the stage with flowers and wine—all for the Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu, who held sway with a wagging violin bow and permanent smile for more than two hours, through seven encores and a deluge of balloons.

Wearing a dark blue tuxedo and gold watch chain, his hair swept back to his shoulders, the 60-year-old grandfather/sex symbol led his 55-piece orchestra through a program of dizzying variation. Between songs, he did comedy bits. "My orchestra is never sick," he announced, as a clarinetist sneezed loudly and a screen showed a brass player pretending to vomit into a tuba.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: classical; rieu; strauss

1 posted on 06/04/2010 5:18:37 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: C19fan

A person usually feels a whole lot better after watching Mr. Rieu and his orchestra on PBS. The staging and the music are lovely.


2 posted on 06/04/2010 5:25:22 AM PDT by chickadee
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To: chickadee

I have to go to one of his Christmas concerts before one of us dies.


3 posted on 06/04/2010 6:21:48 AM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: C19fan

Mrs. JimRed and I attended his show in AC a couple of years ago. Outstanding and enjoyable.

But why did the article have to mention Lady GaGa in the first line? To show that the venue is “tolerant”?


4 posted on 06/04/2010 6:39:56 AM PDT by JimRed (To water the Tree of Liberty is to excise a cancer before it kills us. TERM LIMITS, NOW AND FOREVER!)
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