Andre Rieu at Schönbrunn, Vienna [DVD]

Nothing

I love andre rieu

For those who believe that classical music should be watched in silence with polite applause at the end of a piece, this is definitely not for you. Andre Rieu is undoubtably one of the great showmen of classical music and he gets his orchestra to play in such a way that the masses love the music. This video has everything in it. Beautiful costumes, great music, dancing ( not to the standard of the Royal Ballet, but thoroughly enjoyable all the same ) and an orchestra which really looks as if it was enjoying the occasion as much as the members of the audience. Andre breaks up the whole show admirably by including light hearted pieces in between the more serious renditions. Examples of this come by way of a comedy virtuoso performance on the zither by Frederic Jenniges, which was sandwiched between the more serious pieces by Kalman and Lehar. This is one of the things I like about Andre Rieu's presentations. He introduces other composers, apart from the Strauss family, which gives his audiences a taste of other composer's work, thereby expanding their knowledge of classical music in general. This can only be a good thing for classical music as people begin to appreciate a wide variety of music available, which, in the main, seems to have been the preserve of those who believe in what I said in my opening comment. When the stuffed shirts realise that the likes of Andre Rieu are helping to promote classical music rather than degenerating it, then classical music could move on to become more of an in thing than the current abysmal rap music etc. This video goes a long way to achieving that. It is one I would thoroughly recommend to everyone to watch, it is entertainment at its best.

I heard Andre Rieu for the first time while watching the Arts Channel on Television. I was hooked right away, and just had to try to buy as many of his DVD's and CD's as possible.What makes him different from other Orchestras you may ask?Well, its many things, but I will try to classify them this way; He always sets the scene by playing in fantastic locations, even taking copies of Schonbrunn with him, so when playing Waltzes for example, the beautiful scenery enhances the music [if that was possible], and even when he is not able to take his castle copies due to the venue being to small, he still sets up a dramatic backdrop. He uses colour, with his artistic stage sets, and his fantastic orchestra are not only first class musicians, but dressed in beautiful costumes, giving the audience a riot of colour. He has removed the stiff upper lip style from classical music, and encourages the audience to be a part of the music, by dancing and singing in the aisles. He uses humour in his music, and always somehow does the unexpected, by bringing drama to his shows. He manages to play at least one, or two items of music that fit into whatever Country he is playing in. In short, he always makes you feel that you are having a party, even if you are at home watching on your TV. Every DVD, or CD has his magic in it, and I have never enjoyed any music as much as I enjoy his shows. I cannot get too much of Andre Rieu, and his fantastic Orchestra.

Set in the beautiful grounds of the Schonbrunn in 2006, this is both an aural and visual treat lasting 150 minutes. It features Andre's excellent singers, Carmen Monarcha, Carla Maffioletti, Suzan Erens and the Platin Tenors plus guest appearances from Karl Moik, DJ Otzi, the zither player Frederic Jenniges and the then German (now World) ice-skating champions Aljona Savetschenko and Robin Szolkowy, plus professional dancers. After quite a conventional start ( with too many cut-away videos for my taste), it really gets going for me with Carla, the only soprano I know who can hold a note of G6 smiling. She and all the other main singers deliver stunning performances. There are some beautiful sequences such as the skaters performing to "My Heart Will Go On"(here a video WAS necessary), Carmen's aria, and the ensemble singing from the Gypsy Princess, but also great moments and scenes of musical comedy; notably with Frederic Jenniges and also the "Feast of Fire". All this is going on with the JSO playing to their normal very high standard. The last 20 minutes, which partly features the brass section playing on their own and DJ Otzi, is pure joy. Some potential buyers may think it will be too similar to the later concerts such as Melbourne where he had the Schonbrunn "reconstructed". There are some repetitions like Suzan's superb "I Belong to Me" but many, many differences. The audience is a bit reserved at first but seem to warm to the performances until, at the end, they are standing and applauding everything. In my opinion, of the many I have seen, this is one of Andre Rieu's two best DVDs along with Maastricht 3.