.

.

.

.

.

And Then There Was The "Delicious" Food in Maastricht!!!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

There's one little, but MAJOR memory that I didn't include in my main report, too emotional. But at the last concert, before Lullaby, I had my hands on Sue's shoulders, trying hard not to feel too sad about the whole ending, when she reached up and suqeezed my fingers, and we stood that way the rest of the song. That special touch was the exact feeling what Maastricht was all about, fans and friends meeting in André's hometown, to be proud of what the RIEU family has accomplished all these years. From a few members in the Salon Orchestra performing at the Vrijthof, without chairs, to 5 sold-out concerts with fans from all over the world coming together to listen to the man with the violin ... Alice

All Photos on This Page Are The Copyright Property of

©Alice Leung and Simon Lee

You’ll Never Walk Alone ~ Songs of Hope and Inspiration

1. Oh What a Beautiful Morning

3:29 : Comp.:R. Rodgers : arr. A. Rieu J. Douglas L. Morrish Lyrics: O. Hammerstein J. Douglas L. Morrish Publ.: Chrysalis Music LtdInagem Songs Limited Williamson-Music Inc.

2. Annie’s Song

3:28 : Comp.: J. Denver : arr. A. RieuLyrics: J. Denver Publ.: Cherry Lane Music Publishing Co Inc.Guitar: Carla Maffioletti

3. Elisabeth Serenade

3:09 : Comp.: R. Binge : arr. A. Rieu Lyrics C. Hassall Publ.: Marlowlynn Ltd

4. On The Street Where You Live

3:05 : Comp.: F. Loewe : arr. A. Rieu Lyrics: A. LernerPubl.: Chappell-Co Inc.

5. Con te Partirò

4:17 : Comp.: F. Sartori : arr. A. Rieu (Time to say goodbye) Lyrics: L.Quarantotto Publ.: Double Marpot di Malavasi MauroInsieme Edizioni Musicali S R LMirusia Louwerse

6. Mondscheinsonate

5:29 : Comp.: L. van Beethoven : arr. A. Rieu Publ.: André Rieu Publishing BVPiano: Stéphanie Detry

7. Get Me To The Church on Time

2:09 : Comp.: F. Loewe : arr. A. Rieu Lyrics: A. Lerner Publ.: Chappell-Co Inc

8. All I Ask of You

4:31 Comp.: A. L. Webber : arr. A. Rieu Lyrics: Ch. Hart / R. Stilgoe Publ.: The Really Useful Group Ltd. Cello: Tanja Derwahl

9. La Danza

3:01 : Comp.:G. Rossini : arr. A. RieuPubl.: André Rieu Publishing BVThe Platin Tenors: Gary Bennett, Béla Mavrák, Thomas Greuel

10. The Exodus Song

3:27 : Comp.: E. Gold : arr. A. Rieu Lyrics: Ch. Boone Publ.: Chappell –Co Inc

11. Pomp and Circumstance

5:28 : Comp.:E. Elgar : arr. A. RieuLyrics:
A.C. Benson Publ.: André Rieu Publishing BV

12. E lucevan le Stelle

4:14 : Comp.: G. Puccini : arr. A. Rieu Publ.: André Rieu Publishing BV The Platin Tenors: Gary Bennett, Béla Mavrák, Thomas Greuel

13. Nearer My God To Thee

3:26 : Comp.: L. Mason : arr. A. Rieu (from The Titanic) Lyrics: S.F. Adams Publ.: André Rieu Publishing BV

14. Ebben? ... Ne andrò lontana -

4:29 : Comp.: A. Catalani : arr. A. Rieu Lyrics: L. IllicaPubl.: André Rieu Publishing BV Carmen Monarcha

15. Yours forever

2:33 - Comp.: A. Rieu / F. Steijns Lyrics: M. RieuPubl.: André Rieu Publishing BV

16. You’ll Never Walk Alone

5:05 : Comp.: R. Rodgers : arr. A. Rieu Lyrics O. Hammerstein Publ.: Williamson-Music Inc. Mirusia Louwerse, Carmen Monarcha, Carla Maffioletti, The Platin Tenors: Gary Bennett, Béla Mavrák, Thomas Greuel

Information on The Fan Dinner From Ineke

At the moment I have around 90 persons on my fan dinner list. The ship can host more guests, so don't hesitate to invite your fan friends. As soon as we have received your payment, we will definitely place you on the fan dinner list.

FAN DINNER (BUFFET) on a party ship on the river Maas (Meuse),
Maaspromenade 58, Maastricht, the Netherlands (close to the ancient Servaas Bridge). You'll recognize the ship with the André decorations!

FRIDAY JULY 10th, from 5 PM. Buffet is open from 6 PM to 8.30 PM.

PRICE: € 38 per person, including three drinks (coffee, tea, soda, beer, wine) and including PayPal fee.

(People from Holland or Europe who can do a bank transfer, can pay € 35, but people from America and Australia have to pay an extra € 3 per person, due to PayPal transaction fee). For the drinks we'll give you three vouchers, when you enter the ship.

The concert starts at 9.30 PM and the walking distance from the ship to the Vrijthof Square is 10 minutes.

Because we outgrew our former facility of 64 fans (from 8 nationalities) in 2008, we needed to find another suitable facility. We booked a party ship with the shipping company Stiphout, for our 2009 fan dinner. The ship will not be sailing, it is a floating restaurant on the river Maas (Meuse). The ship has two floors and an open air deck, so room enough! (see pictures). The ship is accessible for wheelchairs. We'll decorate the ship in André style. I'll introduce the nationalities. Please wear name tags, badges or signs of your country, so you can easily be recognized by your country fans. Dinner will be BUFFET style with open seating.

The shipping company asks for payment in advance, so depending on your place of residence, please select one of the following options for payment:
People living (or having a bank account) in Holland:Please transfer € 35 per person to giro account 3112811 t.n.v. R. Elshout, Den Haag.

People living in Europe: Please transfer € 35 per person to Ruud's bank account, using the following details: Name of account: R. ElshoutCity: Den Haag, Nederland.IBAN: NL02INGB0003112811BIC: INGBNL2APlease verify with your bank how to handle the banking fees (SHA -shared- or OUR)(In the Netherlands I have to select SHA, so no fees will be charged).

For those who can not or do not wish to use the above method: you can also pay by PayPal, see below.

Outside of Europe: Please use PayPal to transfer money. PayPal is the money transfer system of eBay. It is a safe and inexpensive means of transferring money.If you already have a PayPal account, please transfer € 38 per person to my PayPal account: ruude@planet.nl will include the PayPal fees.

If you have not used PayPal before, please follow the steps below to setup a PayPal account:- Go to http://www.paypal.xx/ (xx is the abbreviation of your country. If not sure, use .com) At the top or bottom of the screen select the sign-up option, then Personal and Get Started. Fill-in all the details and Continue. You will need to provide a credit card or bank account number. When finished, PayPal will deduct a very small amount from the credit card or bank account to verify it's validity.This may take a few days. Once the account is created, transfer € 38 per person to account ruude@planet.nl (be sure to select Euro's).

As soon as we have received your payment, we'll confirm by mail and we will add you to our fan dinner participants list. The latest date we can receive your payment is April 30th 2009. May 1st is the date the shipping company needs to know the number of participants, in order to provide a suitable ship.
If we have not received your payment by April 30th 2009, we will assume that you do not wish to participate.

Looking forward to see you all in Maastricht,

Ruud and Ineke

Entrepreneurs With Guts!
André Rieu and 11 Other Limburg Stars

"I do not want to live in Strauss’ time, I want my I-Phone"

André Rieu of André Rieu Productions

Here are some excerpts from the interview with André. Maastricht citizen André Rieu is world famous from Appingendam to Adelaide. He draws full halls and stadiums around the world. With a large orchestra, beautiful costumes and an occasional wink, Rieu re-introduced classical music to the millions. Rieu gives his public a warm feeling, a hint of romance and makes it laugh. In the year 2008, he sold 27 million CD’s and DVD’s. Rieu’s organization from Maastricht to New York, entails 150 employees. André Rieu productions, is a mini multinational organization. And all the reigns come together at the violinist-conductor-entrepreneur.

Are you an entrepreneur or a musician?
Of course a musician. The entrepreneurial side comes naturally. But together they go along real well. My great example is Johann Strauss. He was a very gifted and brilliant musician, composer and the first pop-star in the world. And also a very cleaver businessman. He was rich, owned five orchestras, and I only have one. I can not see why the two can not go together. And why it has to be one or the other.

When, for the first time did that come together, musician and entrepreneur?
"Gee, when did that start? You learn it little by little, I think. I started small. With a Salon Orchestra with five people. I was also a member of the Limburg Symphony Orchestra (LSO). That was in the year '80. At that time there was also a credit crisis, and rents were increasing. We might have had to leave our home. But the Salon Orchestra saved me from that then. Because of it, we could continue to live there. I brought home about 800 guilders. Hooray, that was quite smart for a violinist.

You could have gone in a different direction though. You could have become a conductor, violinist or soccer coach for instance.
It is within my character that I like to lead and also play at the same time. Especially the latter. My father was a conductor and I looked at the soloists. All of them lonely people in a sense, who had learned a few concerts verbatim. Not that I do not agree with that. I have an enormous respect for them, but do not want to lead such a lifestyle. I knew that than. I also knew that when I was a small boy, and I would marry a woman who wanted to work with me. We do all of this together. My wife Marjorie is the daughter of a Jewish hat merchant who fled Berlin and married a Maastricht girl there. Every one says," Your wife conducts all the business, but that is not true. She most definitely also has a musical mind. It is nice that she can use her business instinct with that".

You have consciously not entered in your father’s footsteps and become a director of a regional orchestra such as the LSO.
That would be horrible! Than you are stuck with unions and the like. Seems to me like a disaster. All those people becoming ill. That is very bad. Not only in Maastricht, but with all the symphony orchestras. All so prim and proper.

Too easy going?
No, not at all easy. According to me it is a horrible, rising dead end road in which classical music has let itself be pushed into a corner, because it is something special. It was not like that at all during the times Mozart, Hayden or Verdi. Then, music was for everyone. And now? Just go to a concert building, and those who purchased a season pass, are the ones who have to show off their new dress. Like: I am also a partner with PwC, so I have to show that I too enjoy culture (laughs). Something like that.

Did you grow gradually?
Of course. And I had to learn everything. We lived in Belfort (a district in Maastricht), in an apartment. I had pasted twelve letter size pieces of paper against the wall. Those were the months. So I annotated all my performances on those. But at a certain moment that became too much. It was the same time that Marjorie left her position at the school because she did not want to teach any longer and went into translating. That is when I told her: "I will help you". And ever since then we do everything together. All the way from the beginning with the Salon Orchestra. One day, someone from Friesland (one of the most Northern provinces in the Netherlands) called me, "Can I come and perform there?" "Yes." But Marjorie said "everything in Friesland is so expensive, because it is so far away". That performance of course did not take place, but we learned from it.

Did you run into any walls?
"No"

Any regrets on certain decisions?
No, not at all. It is so nice that I was able to build this all by myself together with Marjorie. I do not have a manager, never had one. I do not have an agent any more. We had one, but we threw him overboard. We wanted to be free, we ourselves wanted to determine what we wanted. I have also given myself the time to become famous. Silly word actually, "famous", really what is it to be famous? Now a days, a lot of groups are formed by managers, and they create an idol like situation. They soar to the top, sell millions of CD’s and a year later they have vanished from the surface of the earth and have nothing to show for it. I have done it all by myself.

Isn’t it a difficult profession, entertainment and musician?
Not at all. All along I have done what I have wanted to. Of course a lot happens. Than there once was an agent from America who said, "I will have to tell you what you have to do. You have to put on a glitter jacket, play this and that music, and blah blah blah. Right away I told him, "Thank you and so long". No one tells me what I have to and not have to play, and I am successful. I know for sure that if an agent came by here, he’d try to sweep the floor with me. That is what agents are supposed to do, to become influential. That’s how it goes. And what do think about all those lawyers? They chop you to pieces. And they tell you, "You need me, because I can make you famous, just give me 20% of your earnings". That’s the way the lawyers do it, and that is not how it should be.

Do you ever present your plans to a professional advisor?
I have my intuitions and Marjorie. She is my sounding board. And there are my sons also. We listen to one another, that is very important with all those money hungry wolves around. Naturally I have a good team around me. Above all, we are expanding. You have to experience it. I think that an entrepreneurial venture in large part is experience and intuition, and loving your people. All entrepreneurs are involved with people, otherwise you are not an entrepreneur. You should not be a boss if you can not get along with people. That is really important.

How did you handle that throughout the years with people who do not click, do you go your separate ways?
They leave very quickly. If for instance, I hire a musician and in five minutes say, "Join us on tour", we’ll notice it real soon. Earlier I did it differently; I spoke with them a lot longer. Would it go alright? There is a three year rule, and if a musician has been with someone for three years, you offer him a permanent position. And in three years I can tell whether someone clicks or not. Most of the time that happens a lot sooner. And at the office it is the same way.
Rieu shows his smart-phone. "See. I receive all my mails here. Right now for instance I am very well known in Australia. That is in a different time zone. Let’s see if we are still number one (checks his mail) NUMBER ONE AGAIN!!! YEAH!! (Gets up from the table, looks at his musicians who after the concert are having a snack and something to drink) Ladies and Gentlemen, we are again number in Australia. (Fist in the air, applause and cheering from his people, and Rieu laughs) He sits down and yells, "Yahoo!!!!"

"Congratulations"

"That is not bad. See that just came in, I can respond too. I have the ability that no matter where I am, I can work or sleep whenever I so desire.

Is that because you determined where to draw the line and that everything is maintained in your head?
Yes, my staff experiences that too (points to the mails on his smart phone)
You are in the middle.
"I am in the middle. You do not need to do much in order to be there. If you are at an extreme end, you need long cables, but in the middle you only need to direct. More than half the orchestra members have been with me for more than fifteen years. I am extremely proud of that. And at the office, I think it is the same. They like it. Just this year alone, six babies have been born to my orchestra members. That is quite something.

With fast growing organizations, things can go wrong.
"Yes, but you have to watch out for those things. For a long time now I have been performing 120 concerts per year. Than you run into something, which you think is just routine, but it is not. But I keep thinking, "Something is going to happen". I called Marjorie and told her, "I want to do fewer performances. But we still have to feed all our people, so we have to do things on a larger scale".
Rieu starts to talk about something else. He teases the author of this book a little, who lives less than a kilometer from Rieu in Maastricht. Instead of crossing the Maas, the author flew across an ocean in order to speak with his neighbor. Place of the meeting: Atlantic City towards the end of May after one of his concerts.

Neighbor from the other side of town.
"Nice that you came here. Because you have said, "I go all over" and than later you said, "Could this have taken place in Maastricht?" (Laughs) I am really busy. During our tour here in America, I am completely motivated to do this with you. And it gives you more time too. Otherwise if I had been in Maastricht, I would be sitting next to Marjorie. That’s why I think it is so nice to do this interview here. He than picks up where he left off. About less but larger performances.

This will really be something.
We then copied the Viennese castle "Schönbrunn". Now who would copy Schönbrunn? But than of course in true scale of one-on-one. I played there the summer two years ago (2006). We taped the performance there for the German Television. I thought that evening was so nice. Here comes the intuition of the entrepreneur again. From ZDF (German TV station) I always received an amount to do a special. Do not really call it an amount, but I have to produce a special for it. This special costs me more than I received, but I did not think about the money then. I thought Hey, wait a minute you guys. I felt it, This has to be beautiful. This will be something. And it turned out just like that too, and also in the responses of the audience. ZDF told me, "You will have to do this every summer". I told Pierre (his son) after I had talked with Marjorie That I wanted things bigger, but less performances. And with the success in Australia, it all plays a roll. Than you are no longer an entrepreneur, you gamble. This was an extreme gamble. Just ask the Rabobank (Laughs). They helped me.

The bank did not want to finance you directly. Was that difficult?
It was quite difficult. The bank at first made me out to be a fool. I do not only have blue eyes, but I also have a track record. The financial proposition went to Utrecht (headquarters of the bank) and they said, "We’ll do it". When Rieu wants something, he latches on. He misses that determination by others more and more. Perseverance is a trade you need to have as an entrepreneur. And you have to maintain tight reigns. That is very important as an entrepreneur.

Did you expect that enormous success in Australia?
Maybe it sounds a little dumb, but I did expect it. I had anticipated it. I know that. The same as to what happened here tonight. I know I can do it. I know we can do it.

Do you base that prediction on market research?
No, I know what I can do. It is in my genes. I know I can play a hall my way just like Toon Hermans (Dutch comedian) did in the past. He did not do market research either. But that was Toon Hermans and he knew it. As soon as he appeared on stage the audience would start to laugh. They laughed so hard, they wet their pants even before he had said anything at all. Toon Hermans did not have managers either who told him: "You have to do things this way".

What does that enormous success mean? And how as a company do you continue?
That success in Australia is one of the reasons I got the bank to assist me with the millions it cost to copy the Schönbrunn Castle twice. Since the distances in Australia are so enormous, it could not have been done any other way. When we did the first Schönbrunn Castle show in Toronto, the entire crew cried. Where else can you experience something like that, yes, where else can you experience that? I will just mention the Limburg Salon Orchestra, but I think you can mention every symphony orchestra, and with them it is just a boring event. And I think the same is true in a lot of organizations. If I were to be prime minister, I would ensure that every one would again find pleasure in their work.

How do you do that?
How do I do that? Funny question. Two years ago there were some enormous soccer riots in Rotterdam. Newspapers were filled with them. At the same time there were Senate debates on television. And then there was Balkenende (Dutch prime minister) and I had no idea what he was speaking about. It was horrible as to what was going on over there. They destroyed the inner city. If I were the prime minister I would have said, "In a small way I am the father of this country, so ladies and gentlemen close your note books, and let’s talk about those riots from last night." Barend and Van Dorp (ministers) said that evening, "Wow, all those soccer riots, there is nothing we can do". But than I think, "Can’t do anything about them!! What do mean?" Am I right or not? You are not talking about the demography or whatever, you are discussing the reactions needed as to what is transpiring. He is totally in his right. He is the prime minister. He can say, "Let’s not discuss the educational system, traffic back-ups or whatever", he can say: "Just stop it". Did you hear this? I heard it from Marjorie. A mayor in a small village said this and it touched me, "All traffic lights and all traffic signs need to be elimintated, and every one needs to learn again to be responsible for themselves. I am in total agreement with him. It is really bad. And the funny thing is that every one thinks so too. They are making a Madurodam (miniature village in The Hague) out of the Netherlands. And you know how many millions that will cost? Stop all that and those with their very liberal education.

I spoke with a couple of Americans on their way to a concert and they said, "André Rieu brings back the past.
That is really crazy. I was just thinking the same thing this evening. I saw all those happy people there, I saw them all waltz and dance. They often ask me if I would like to live in Strauss’ time. No, never, ever. I need my I-phone. But I think those were better times, with shorter reigns. Now-a-days there are so many without interest. No one really cares any more. It is unfortunate. A small example. My orchestra members would crawl on stage, even if they were ill.

Who are your examples?
Hermans, Joop van den Ende (an enthusiastic man) and Herman Krebbers as a violinist.

Do you have any professional sparring partners?
No, I do it alone with my family.

Aren’t you two too much on top of another?
Marjorie and I? Don’t make me laugh. It is really true, we do not even have to speak, but we typically think the same things. Of course you can say, "How boring". But than on the other hand you can also say, "What a blessing". And it is the same with our boys too.

How will all this continue? In an interview you said you will live to be 120.
That is correct.

Any plans of going public with your company?
Oh no. I am totally against going public. Than you’ll have some young pipsqueak all dressed up, an analyst of sort, and he will tell you what to do. (Laughs)

But you are very business like. Is that because of your success, or is it because of the money?
At a certain instant I went to see Heemskerk (CEO of the Rabobank). At that time he was still with Van Lanschot. I said, "I need money to invest. Loan me a few million and I’ll repay you right after the tour is finished. He said: "You are a funny one. You think just like the people of the VOC (Old Dutch Indies Company) in earlier times. Back then it was like this, "Give me some money so I can build a ship and go get pepper, and I’ll repay you plus 10%. We have not done it that way for a long time. But because of the VOC mentality, the Netherlands grew. They took risks. Maybe the Rabobank does not like to hear this, but what they did is a bit in the same sense as the VOC. Heemskerk is now a director with the bank. (Laughs)

Did you have to worry about it?
No, I made it a reality. I worked very hard for that. Next year is already booked full. The Schönbrunn Castle has yet to begin. I’ll travel the world over with her for the next ten years.

Thank You to Ruud and Ineke for finding this and John for Translating it!!

Return To

♦The Harmony Parlor With André Rieu

REFLECTIONS OF A CONCERT GOER

By Steve Russ

Well ... André has passed through Sydney like a musical meteor, and like all meteors his passing was far too quick. I was lucky enough to go to all three concerts and would like to share some of my memories and impressions. If my personal recollections, reminiscences and ramblings don't interest you, I suggest you read the rest of this with your eyes shut.

The weather on Thursday looked threatening and I think there were a lot of people wishing they had brought sausages with them. The girls in the souvenir stand near where I was waiting to go in were touting the ponchos more than the programmes, but adding that they hoped we would not need them. Jolly decent of them, I thought, especially considering that the ponchos were a quarter of the price of the programmes. As it turned out, we had absolutely no rain that night (and everyone bought a programme). The Thursday concert was the "quietest" of the three, but that was to be expected on a working day. The audience reaction was still very good however. But then, what else could it be?

Everyone (especially me) loved the goulash sketch with Bela, and at the end when André told Bela that the people of Sydney loved goulash (and then frantically encouraged us to agree) I was ready to climb up onto the stage with a spoon. But then what did we get the next day? The goulash sketch. And what did we get on Saturday? The goulash sketch! What will Brisbane get ...?

An interesting aspect of the goulash sketch is that André used it to let us all know roughly how many of us there were. For those of you who have not seen, or will not see the concert, André convinces Bela that the audience will eat his goulash; whereupon Bela says he will add an extra large paprika. André tells him he had better add 20,000 paprikas; then tells him to go away with his goulash.

It was a bit of a worry at first, when he played The Blue Danube, in spite of his build-up that men go crazy and grab a woman and start dancing ... ANY woman. For a while I could see only one couple dancing. Just one. Then as the music went on, more couples got up, but nothing like the numbers we are used to seeing in some of his overseas concerts. Therefore, I was pleasantly surpised when Mirusia sang Boatany Bay; quite a few people around me joined in the chorus. It turned out that we had quite a few enthusiastic whistlers too.

Needless to say, the audience participation in Mirusia's "Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie! Oi! Oi! Oi!" was terrific. That was obviously something they could really relate to, and take part in - and they didn't have to stick their fingers in their mouths.The Mosh Pit was relatively subdued, compared to the horror stories I'd heard about Melbourne; in fact, I felt rather silly wearing the helmet. Thank God I left the flak jacket under my seat! Being there in the Mosh Pit though, with all the activity, energy and enthusiasm was a fantastic feeling, especially for those of us probably nearly all of us - experiencing it for the first time.

The weather for Friday's concert looked just as threatening as for Thursday's. But ... the sausages worked again and Clara kept the rain away. I can't work out why André didn't use the sausages-for-Clara story. It was an ideal opportunity given the overcast conditions. Before the concert I was able to meet up with Margaret, Ineke and Ruud, and some of the other fans at the fountain. The Princess arrived later with her brother, and wow was she dressed to the nines! Maybe even to the tens! Next to her I looked like a no-a-COUNT bum. But I'm used to that. We arranged to dance to the The Blue Danube, which I think was pretty brave of her, considering our wildly disparate dress. There were quite a few people dancing around us (obviously they had not heard of, or acCOUNTED for, my eccentric dancing style), and as I mentioned in the GB I kept bumping into people... and myself. However, I managed not to trip over, or step on, the Princess.

As already reported, André paused whenever a plane went over - once on Thursday and three times on Friday. When it first happened Friday, he pointed his bow upwards and made a sound as if he were shooting it down. I would love to know if he did anything like that at any of the other concerts. Maybe he arranged the flyovers...? During the goulash sketch André told Bela to get 30,000 extra paprikas for the audience. A healthy improvement on Thursday night, but still a long way to go. Will the supply of paprikas hold out? After the concert finished the late leavers were given a special extra treat. André, the whole JSO and EVERYBODY came back out on stage to do a photo shoot. OK... OK... I admit that the coach and horses were NOT on the stage itself; they were in front of it. Some people are so picky! Anyway, André invited anyone who wanted to to stay and watch, and take photos, as long as they sat down or kept back from the stage. Needless to say, a LOT of people wanted to... and did. Eat your hearts out all of you who raced out early to get to your cars!

Saturday's concert, of course, was the big one. It was the big one for me in more ways than one. Well before the concert, I met up with Ineke and Ruud again, and through them I met Franco the bass player, and then Bela Mavrak. What's more they were both generous enough to let me have my photo taken with them!! Now THAT is what I call a concert highlight! Two, in fact. Now, if you just paused and asked yourself, "Who's Bela Mavrak?" get off this website right now, before I turn the bats loose on you! Just after that, the rain started. Needless to say, I hardly noticed. Before the rains came they had made announcements, and put the message up on the screens, that in the event of rain the people could take shelter in the passageways. It was really not much more than heavy drizzle at first, but then it hailed for about ten minutes, although it was so light that many of the people under cover did not realise it had hailed. However it was enough for me to get wet. Many people did seek shelter in the passageways, but quite a few put on their ponchos and stayed in their seats in the arena. Brave souls! I think by this time a lot of people were considering going back to their deli's to try to get refunds on their sausages. André started late, obviously waiting for the rain to ease somewhat before making their entrance; and also to give people in the passageways time to get back to their seats. When they made their entrance it was still drizzling slightly, but they came out through the crowd doing their usual parade, although André did run up the last few steps to the stage. I wonder if he would have carried his priceless Strad through the rain? I doubt it somehow. Can anyone provide enlightenment, edification or elucidation on that? After they finished "76 Trombones", André stood there and made a few jokes about the rain, saying that it had not rained in Sydney in eight years, and now... He also said that in every other city in Australia, Melbourne, Brisbane... blue skies.

Apart from getting some good laughs with his "monologue" he was also giving those people who had taken shelter time to get back to their seats, gently encouraging them along. Then he treated us to an unexpected "bonus" - a lively performance of "Singin' in the Rain". Needless to say that got a big laugh and some appreciative applause. After that, someone threw him a white stuffed animal (what the heck was it, a koala?) and when he held it up to his ear, his mike picked up "Silent Night"; so he turned around and conducted the JSO through a full performance of "Silent Night". Quite a few people around me (including moi) were singing along. TWO bonus performances just for having to put up with a little drizzle. Eat your hearts out Melbourne et al. Later on he made another joke about the rain, commenting that the people up in the stands were dry. Then he made a sweeping gesture to the arena in front of him, saying, "They wanted to sit there..." I think that got a better laugh from the arena than the stands. And so it should have. Who cares about trivial things like rain when you are in the presence of greatness?! Tonight's paprika count for the goulash was 35,000.

But I know now why Sydney could not top Melbourne's record attendance: with Melbourne's 38,605. They did not leave Sydney enough paprikas.

As already reported by Angela Q, when he did his usual "get-up-and-dance" introduction to The Blue Danube, he said at the end of it, "Take your ponchos off... but keep everything else on." Tonight there were LOTS of people dancing, all over the place. In fact, I have to say there were COUNT-less people dancing, for two reasons: first, I didn't count them; and second, I couldn't find the Princess to dance with so I had to be content with taking photos. This time, in anticipation of dancing with the Princess again, I was actually formal. I buttoned my shirt. Unfortunately, because of the rain earlier she hadn't seen how elegant I looked tonight. No matter... there's always next year. The point is that the conditions did not stop the audience from getting up and having a great time - did not even slow them down in fact. Well done, crowd! Just before the intermission should have happened, André announced that at that point there would normally be an intermission, but he had heard that rain was coming and would like to continue playing. Was that OK with everyone? If anyone tried to say "No" they were drowned out (sorry about that) by the thousands who said "Yaaayy!!" or words to that effect.

Then, as I reported in the GB, he tempted fate once too often in his introduction to Ravel's Bolero, where he says at the end, describing the finale, "As if the sky was opened!" whereupon he pauses, then looks up and says, "Not yet." That always got a good laugh, but unfortunately this time it also got rain. A couple of minutes after the Bolero started so did the rain. It was still nothing like a monsoon, or downpour, but a steady, heavy drizzle. We optimists who had taken our ponchos off now had to put them back on again. I think I can safely say there were no deserters. The rain then continued like that right through to the end of the concert. However it certainly did not stop the mad rush to the Mosh Pit. Tonight it was jampacked, A little rain wasn't going to stop anyone here! It is a cliche in situations like this to say that the atmosphere was electric; but if it had been tonight, we would have all been fried to a frazzle. But wild...? Energetic...? Excited...? Delirious with enthusiasm...? YOU BETCHA!!! All that, in spades, but still without any aggressive pushing and shoving - at least not around where I was. Again, the multitudes did not allow the constant rain to spoil their fun.
No way!!

I did notice an interesting phenomenon tonight, as with the other two nights - very few people know the lyrics to the second and third verses of "Waltzing Matilda". Having been warned in advance I took the trouble to learn them; but I was drowned out by everone around me singing the wrong lyrics - and not even the SAME wrong lyrics. But who cares about trivialities like that? The important thing is that people were singing.

So there it is: for all of us, the memories of a lifetime.

Play on, André!