André Rieu

When I mention that we work with the church in Maastricht, some people ask if we know André Rieu. We have had people visiting from Australia who have asked about him, people we meet in Germany, and a few of the people we see on our Home Assignment to the US have asked. Who is André Rieu? 

For anyone who enjoys walzes, Strauss music and an entertaining way of presenting music to a broad public, André Rieu is well-known. For more than 20 years he has, with a whole orchestra and set of classical singers, entertained the world and brought classical (sometimes) music to the masses. He sets up a stage based loosely on the palace at Schönbrun in Vienna, Austria and all of the musicians and singers (and dancers) wear period costumes while playing and performing. 

André Rieu is from Maastricht, which is of course why people wonder if we have met him. We do know that he brings his concert to Maastricht every summer. In that week downtown is pretty much shut off to anyone who does not have a ticket. This who have a ticket sit on the Grand Square while hundreds of others (every night) have tickets where they sit at the restaurants which flank the square. They watch the concert on large screens (ro small screens at the restaurants further away) while enjoying a meal and drink. 

Last night I was able for the first time to attend such a concert. I volunteer in the neighborhood and the city decided to treat some volunteers. I got lucky. So, together with three other volunteers from the organization I help, we first went for a meal at city hall where we were welcomed and then enjoyed the concert together. It was a time to connect with others, get a taste of some Maastricht culture (Rieu finishes the concert with songs in the Maastricht dialect that parts of the audience sing along) and enjoy a very international audience. 

There were people from Germany, France, Denmark, England, Wales and Scotland and all over the Netherlands and Belgium. I had never seen the market (in front of city hall) so full of touring buses. It took us a good 20 minutes to shuffle along back to our car (which was only parked 5 minutes away). You could hear almost every language along the way if you listened carefully. 

It was a long evening, but a good opportunity to get to know people while enjoying music. I would never have been able to go to such a thing (the tickets were 170 euro a piece), but was glad to be gifted such a chance. And it was good to be able to talk with colleagues about life, faith and what is important, as well as laugh and sing.