News has emerged that Andre Rieus’s latest concert, which takes place on 20th July, will be broadcast via satellite to cinemas in 27 separate countries including the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Rieu will be playing the Live in Maastricht concert alongside his famous Johann Strauss Orchestra. Boasting a selection of crowd-pleasing music and elaborate sets, the news that the show will be broadcast around the world is sure to please his large international following.
Andre Rieu has been credited as the man who brought classical music to the modern masses after his recent album, Forever Vienna, managed to secure a place in history as the first by a classical instrumentalist to break into the pop album charts and hit the dizzy heights of number two.
Sales of the Dutchman’s collection of Viennese dance music soared ahead of a number of established musicians and just three weeks after its release the album was certified Gold.
It represented the first time that a CD featuring 19th-century music has made it into the pop charts. Rieu’s album success could be put down to the recent popularisation of waltz music in the UK by prime-time television shows.
Commenting on the forthcoming performance, Rieu said: “These are not just any concerts… this really means a lot for me emotionally… Maastricht is where I live: this is my city. And when you find yourself playing to your own public, well, it really has an effect.”
Rieu set up the Johann Strauss Orchestra in 1977 and it currently has up to 50 different players.