Andre Rieu Soap Part 1
On the road to New York (January 5, 2007, Dutch TV TROS)
translated by Ineke Cornelissen/Sonja.
http://www.sterren.nl/index.php?id=1789
Here you can watch several videos with Andre, this is the translation of "Andre Rieu, op weg naar New York"- Aflevering 1
Andre speaks German to the tenors, English to the Gospel Choir, Dutch to the reporter and Limburg dialect to his
crew. The Limburg dialect is different enough that many Dutch do not understand it, and the TV station added
Dutch subtitles when Andre speaks his dialect.
We see pictures of the Andre Rieu Studio (which is situated outside Maastricht, in an industrial area).
They are rehearsing with the three tenors. Andre says: "Measure seventy nine, but stops the singing and says: “we
try to play “pianissimo”, can you sing a little softer”? The tenors sing again, Andre says: “still more gently, please.
Yes, you can hold on as long as you want…”. Third time it is okay. Andre stops the orchestra by yelling 4 x “thank
you”. He turns to the tenors, saying: “That was very beautiful”!
Andre: “We are one big family. Everybody feels proud to belong to the group”.
(Carla Maffioletti is singing).
Andre: “I have no replacements, for nobody. I have a sick leave of nearly 0,0 %. I am very proud of that”.
Andre to the reporter: “For a long time I dreamt about traveling the world with my own orchestra. In the beginning I did
not realize it would take on these proportions. I live in a dream world. And I realize my dream has come true. But… I
had to make many choices to get there. I worked for the Limburg Symphony Orchestra (Andre’s father was the
conductor of this orchestra), that was my first job. I had two young children and I had bought a house, you know what
that is like. Looking back I could have left that job much earlier. I missed what I do on stage now. I missed the
contact with the audience. I was always looking at the pretty girls in the audience, while I played the violin, at least
that way I had some contact.
Andre walks from the studio, where the orchestra members are leaving, saying: “Hoi”, and “see you” to several
persons.
He enters the workshop.” Hi Annie, Hoi John, everything OK? Here we are again. Did this machine broke down?”
John: “Yes, we are repairing it”.
Andre: “Can you join me for a moment?” They walk towards the warehouse where the stage material is stored. Andre:
“How long will it take to build it?” John: “It is not too bad it will not take that long. It is just the alignment of the wheels,
so everything runs smoothly”.
Andre: “Will you notify me when it is ready, so I can have a final look?”
John: “Yes, we’ll be here next week again”.
Andre: “OK, then I’ll have a look. Bye, see you next week”.
Andre jokingly to the reporter: “This is where I store all my “junk”. When you play violin, you have a warehouse full of
it”.
The Harlem Gospel Choir arrives at the studio. They are too late! (Andre hates that, we know!). He says: “the
rehearsal started at 9 o’clock!!” Later on:” It is OK I am just joking, I know it is rather early for singers”.
To the reporter: “We were preparing a special for New York and we were discussing “What will we do for, selecting
the program..”.
I think that it was one of my staff who said: have you ever thought of the Harlem Gospel Choir? I thought I knew them,
because some years ago we performed with the Harlem Gospel Singers at the Carreras Gala in Germany. But it
turned out to be a different group, a competing group, traveling through Europe during Christmas season. The people
you see here are the REAL Harlem Gospel Choir. They sing the mass every Sunday in their church in Harlem and
make the audience crazy in their own way. When they arrived at the studio for the first time, everybody was excited
and stressed because we did not know what would happen. Would we understand each other? But all went perfect, it
was thrilling for both sides. Later on I heard that for them it too was quite an experience to work with a classical
orchestra as well. I think only one of them has a minor musical background, the others come straight from the street.
That is quite nice to feel that primitive sensation straight out of Africa, which those people have much more than “we
whites”. An sensation which cannot be put into words.
Walking on into the shed: “What do we see here? Unbelievable! A few years ago we ordered way too many
programs. They now also have water damage, so who wants one?? It is difficult to predict how many programs you
need for a tour. We have learned that about 10% of the tickets sold will buy programs, at least with me…. In the past
we thought 80% would buy a program, and the leftovers are still here!”
“Come, follow me with the camera, I will guide you. Here you can see a chandelier. This is a nice story! About 10
years ago we were in Vienna and I wanted to record a special in the HOFBURG (the winter palace where Sisi lived).
But the people there were so difficult, very expensive and bad tempered! So we walked out and said: Let’s create our
own Vienna! We ended up in EMDEN in northern Germany, in a hall made out of corrugated iron plates. We installed
the chandeliers, covered the walls with red draperies and paintings and covered the floor with linoleum. Moment, it
should be here somewhere…..there! Afterwards everybody asked us: in which palace did you record that romantic
special? So this is the way we fool the audience and we need all this “junk” for that purpose”.
“Here we enter our workshops. Maybe it is nice to meet Inessa, come and follow me. Ah ah, here you can see the
linoleum we used in the hall in Emden. On the camera it looked like a real nice wooden floor, everybody liked it! I’ll
show you one of the small suitcases. Everybody in the orchestra has their own makeup-case, with mirror, lights and
make up. The men as well. So they can look nice at stage. They all do their own make up, they even cut each others
hair. When somebody says “He, your hair looks nice today”, you’ll get the answer “yes, that’s done by so-and-so….”
Isn’t that great?”
The gospel choir is singing. (screaming)
Andre to a crew member in his workshop: “What are you making over here? Crew member: A new transport case for
the harp. Andre: Well, I have just purchased a new harp, which will arrive in May. A Horngacher, that is one of the
finest harps available, the same as Theresa (Andre's sister?) used to have”.
The man asks: “Does that harp have the same dimensions as this one?”
Andre: “no, slightly bigger, so you will have to make a new case again”. (laughing).
(Halleluja)
Loading the containers.
Two bugles. The bugles are placed in a separate suitcase.
Next: 2 suitcases with 3 trumpets.
And 1 suitcase with 2 trumpets.
Back to the office (in the castle) and Frans Neus (project manager USA tour) is in the picture.
Frans: “Let’s check if all visa’s are OK”. Frans to a girl at the office: “About the America Tour: Has everyone seen you
about their visa?” Girl: “Yes, everybody who will go, has been here”.
Andre:” I created an “America-team” to organize this tour. We do this completely on our own, without Americans. And
since we do it ourselves, everything runs smoothly. Americans have the tendency to pick up the phone and say “yes
darling, yes sweetie, sure we’ll do….” And when they hang up they continue with their lives and forget about us. So I
decided to do everything ourselves. That is my secret which I will not disclose”.
Meeting about the tour schedule, sitting in a room (in the castle) where the paintings of Andre and Marjorie hang on
the wall. There is a big map of the USA on which the cities are marked: Detroit is our first concert, next Cleveland,
Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, New York.
Andre: “The traveling around is like being on vacation for me”. Everyone always is surprised: 2 weeks touring USA,
you must be exhausted! They are surprised that I return fully relaxed.
But everything has been organized. The planning starts about 2 years before the actual tour. Last week, when I
returned home we had a meeting for the tour for next year. The ticket sale has started and the marketing machine
started to roll. Once we are on tour, I just have to jump on stage and play….. I study in my hotel room and take a rest.
It is fantastic!”
The buses are about to leave. Andre tells everybody to take a fleece jacket.
Andre: the jackets are in the hall, those fleece versions, everybody has to take their own and stuff it in your suitcase.
Rene Henket says: I like going on tour. It is busy and a lot of travel, but it is looking forward to it.
Andre: Agnes, do you take your jacket as well? When we arrive there it will be very cold! Els do you have your jacket?
Ladies and gentlemen, first call: 10 minutes to go, 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes….
Manoe Konings: This is the checklist. I have to take care everybody is accounted for. So we don’t forget someone. If
we miss one, we have a problem. I have got only two at this moment, I’ll mark them of when they are in the bus. Not
when they are over there.
Manoe: I have been with the orchestra for 17 years. Almost from the start. I only missed one tour. My role: I play
clarinet and I do the checklist, so I will not forget anyone, you as well!. When I started also did office work. In the past
Nicole and I were the whole office. Nicole was secretary and I was the music department. There were no buses, no
catering, no money. We brought our own sandwiches and traveled with our own cars to the concerts. I kept track of
who traveled with who in the car. We would get coffee and soda that’s all that we could afford back then.
Now it has turned into a multi million dollar company, with 120 full-time employees and a fleet of trucks, buses, and
other vehicles.
The orchestra members arrive and greet each other. (Teun Ramaekers greets Roland Lafosse in French). Teun to
the reporter: the people you see here really like it, and so do I. I love to go on tour, to see it all, do the concerts, see
the different audiences. The programs are basically the same, but Andre updates it a little for each country. To see
the different reactions in Japan, Germany or USA, that’s nice to see.
Andre yells: Ladies and gentlemen, get in the bus now please.
Please ask to who suitcase 43 belongs.
Linda, are you deaf?? O yes, you’re alt (she plays alt violin, but in Limburg dialect alt means “old” and old associates
to deaf…). Later on Andre is laughing about his own joke about the “alt”. Nobody else is laughing, so Andre says: It is
still early…..
Saying goodbye is difficult ( Nadejda Diakoff and her boyfriend saying goodbye)
Rene Henket runs out of the bus, Andre says: O boy, have you forgotten something??
In the bus Kalki Schrijvers and Linda Custers sit next to each other. Linda: the atmosphere is always so good. In 2
weeks when we come back the atmosphere is still the same. Once we were on tour for 4 weeks and at the end it was
still fun in the dressing rooms. No friction. But once in a while you will miss home. Then we need a little bit more
privacy. There is so much more to it, it is not just sitting on the stage together: We share everything. We make music
together, we eat together, drink in the bar, we even sleep together, because on tour we are room mates. And we
have a lot of fun together. (We can see Andre in the bus, lying straight, with a Sudoku puzzle book).
Andre: I drag them around the world. It was my dream, my idea to do this. If people choose to share their lives with me
and want to go for it completely, I feel I have to care for them. In Japan there are no unions. Just a code of honor. The
employer takes care of the employee until death. I think that is a better way than all that debating and negotiating. I
think I could not make music at night, after a hefty meeting in the afternoon. So it is my way to do it the other way
around. I take care for my staff as good as I can This leads to a different, more pleasant co-operation.
Pictures of the Royal Park Hotel, in Detroit USA.
Pierre and Suzan are arriving. Andre kisses Suzan and hugs Pierre. We see the rehearsal in the Mellon Arena in
Pittsburgh. Carla is practicing her voice. She has to do that daily to check how the voice is doing. Luca (?) is studying
violin in the men’s restroom. Andre is practicing. We can hear and see the trumpet players practicing in the arena.
Andre: It is a very nice group. Everybody has a different character but they harmonize. On stage we make music like
one family. That is so important in a group! When I look back at the Limburg Symphony Orchestra, where everyone
thinks I am the best and I will be first, which of course makes things go totally wrong… You must WANT to play
together, that is important. Playing together we assume can be done, but WANTING to play together is what is
important in this group. That’s why they say that famous orchestra’s as the Wiener Philharmonic, the Berliner or the
Concertgebouw Orchestra are closed communities, really cliques. Difficult to penetrate. That is good!! That’s why
they play so well. An orchestra must feel like a tight group. They must think: we are the best, we belong together, we
play well. It has to be like that. That is the way it is with us: we are there for each other, everybody helps each other.
We see Kalki Schrijvers and Linda Custers cross the street on their way to a shopping mall.
Kerstin Cornelis: not only the hotels are important for the atmosphere, it is the whole surroundings. Andre wants the
orchestra to feel good. I know most of the orchestra members like shopping. That is why I choose a hotel in the
neighborhood of a shopping mall. So I keep the orchestra content!
Rene Henket: It is 11.15 am now. We leave at 2.30 pm. So we have a few hours to spend the money!
Kerstin shows a GUESS-bag: 5 minutes in the shop, this is going wrong!
Kalki is trying on new clothes, we can see the price tags.
Teun Ramaekers and Jean Sassen are on their way to the shopping outlet, there are factory and wiskey stores
Andre in his hotel room is making phone calls, playing with the automatic fireplace. He is fascinated with it:” I did not
see that before, otherwise I would have been playing with it all night!! It is incredible!”
Part 2 to follow
On the road to New York (January 5, 2007, Dutch TV TROS)
translated by Ineke Cornelissen/Sonja.
http://www.sterren.nl/index.php?id=1789
Here you can watch several videos with Andre, this is the translation of "Andre Rieu, op weg naar New York"- Aflevering 1
Andre speaks German to the tenors, English to the Gospel Choir, Dutch to the reporter and Limburg dialect to his
crew. The Limburg dialect is different enough that many Dutch do not understand it, and the TV station added
Dutch subtitles when Andre speaks his dialect.
We see pictures of the Andre Rieu Studio (which is situated outside Maastricht, in an industrial area).
They are rehearsing with the three tenors. Andre says: "Measure seventy nine, but stops the singing and says: “we
try to play “pianissimo”, can you sing a little softer”? The tenors sing again, Andre says: “still more gently, please.
Yes, you can hold on as long as you want…”. Third time it is okay. Andre stops the orchestra by yelling 4 x “thank
you”. He turns to the tenors, saying: “That was very beautiful”!
Andre: “We are one big family. Everybody feels proud to belong to the group”.
(Carla Maffioletti is singing).
Andre: “I have no replacements, for nobody. I have a sick leave of nearly 0,0 %. I am very proud of that”.
Andre to the reporter: “For a long time I dreamt about traveling the world with my own orchestra. In the beginning I did
not realize it would take on these proportions. I live in a dream world. And I realize my dream has come true. But… I
had to make many choices to get there. I worked for the Limburg Symphony Orchestra (Andre’s father was the
conductor of this orchestra), that was my first job. I had two young children and I had bought a house, you know what
that is like. Looking back I could have left that job much earlier. I missed what I do on stage now. I missed the
contact with the audience. I was always looking at the pretty girls in the audience, while I played the violin, at least
that way I had some contact.
Andre walks from the studio, where the orchestra members are leaving, saying: “Hoi”, and “see you” to several
persons.
He enters the workshop.” Hi Annie, Hoi John, everything OK? Here we are again. Did this machine broke down?”
John: “Yes, we are repairing it”.
Andre: “Can you join me for a moment?” They walk towards the warehouse where the stage material is stored. Andre:
“How long will it take to build it?” John: “It is not too bad it will not take that long. It is just the alignment of the wheels,
so everything runs smoothly”.
Andre: “Will you notify me when it is ready, so I can have a final look?”
John: “Yes, we’ll be here next week again”.
Andre: “OK, then I’ll have a look. Bye, see you next week”.
Andre jokingly to the reporter: “This is where I store all my “junk”. When you play violin, you have a warehouse full of
it”.
The Harlem Gospel Choir arrives at the studio. They are too late! (Andre hates that, we know!). He says: “the
rehearsal started at 9 o’clock!!” Later on:” It is OK I am just joking, I know it is rather early for singers”.
To the reporter: “We were preparing a special for New York and we were discussing “What will we do for, selecting
the program..”.
I think that it was one of my staff who said: have you ever thought of the Harlem Gospel Choir? I thought I knew them,
because some years ago we performed with the Harlem Gospel Singers at the Carreras Gala in Germany. But it
turned out to be a different group, a competing group, traveling through Europe during Christmas season. The people
you see here are the REAL Harlem Gospel Choir. They sing the mass every Sunday in their church in Harlem and
make the audience crazy in their own way. When they arrived at the studio for the first time, everybody was excited
and stressed because we did not know what would happen. Would we understand each other? But all went perfect, it
was thrilling for both sides. Later on I heard that for them it too was quite an experience to work with a classical
orchestra as well. I think only one of them has a minor musical background, the others come straight from the street.
That is quite nice to feel that primitive sensation straight out of Africa, which those people have much more than “we
whites”. An sensation which cannot be put into words.
Walking on into the shed: “What do we see here? Unbelievable! A few years ago we ordered way too many
programs. They now also have water damage, so who wants one?? It is difficult to predict how many programs you
need for a tour. We have learned that about 10% of the tickets sold will buy programs, at least with me…. In the past
we thought 80% would buy a program, and the leftovers are still here!”
“Come, follow me with the camera, I will guide you. Here you can see a chandelier. This is a nice story! About 10
years ago we were in Vienna and I wanted to record a special in the HOFBURG (the winter palace where Sisi lived).
But the people there were so difficult, very expensive and bad tempered! So we walked out and said: Let’s create our
own Vienna! We ended up in EMDEN in northern Germany, in a hall made out of corrugated iron plates. We installed
the chandeliers, covered the walls with red draperies and paintings and covered the floor with linoleum. Moment, it
should be here somewhere…..there! Afterwards everybody asked us: in which palace did you record that romantic
special? So this is the way we fool the audience and we need all this “junk” for that purpose”.
“Here we enter our workshops. Maybe it is nice to meet Inessa, come and follow me. Ah ah, here you can see the
linoleum we used in the hall in Emden. On the camera it looked like a real nice wooden floor, everybody liked it! I’ll
show you one of the small suitcases. Everybody in the orchestra has their own makeup-case, with mirror, lights and
make up. The men as well. So they can look nice at stage. They all do their own make up, they even cut each others
hair. When somebody says “He, your hair looks nice today”, you’ll get the answer “yes, that’s done by so-and-so….”
Isn’t that great?”
The gospel choir is singing. (screaming)
Andre to a crew member in his workshop: “What are you making over here? Crew member: A new transport case for
the harp. Andre: Well, I have just purchased a new harp, which will arrive in May. A Horngacher, that is one of the
finest harps available, the same as Theresa (Andre's sister?) used to have”.
The man asks: “Does that harp have the same dimensions as this one?”
Andre: “no, slightly bigger, so you will have to make a new case again”. (laughing).
(Halleluja)
Loading the containers.
Two bugles. The bugles are placed in a separate suitcase.
Next: 2 suitcases with 3 trumpets.
And 1 suitcase with 2 trumpets.
Back to the office (in the castle) and Frans Neus (project manager USA tour) is in the picture.
Frans: “Let’s check if all visa’s are OK”. Frans to a girl at the office: “About the America Tour: Has everyone seen you
about their visa?” Girl: “Yes, everybody who will go, has been here”.
Andre:” I created an “America-team” to organize this tour. We do this completely on our own, without Americans. And
since we do it ourselves, everything runs smoothly. Americans have the tendency to pick up the phone and say “yes
darling, yes sweetie, sure we’ll do….” And when they hang up they continue with their lives and forget about us. So I
decided to do everything ourselves. That is my secret which I will not disclose”.
Meeting about the tour schedule, sitting in a room (in the castle) where the paintings of Andre and Marjorie hang on
the wall. There is a big map of the USA on which the cities are marked: Detroit is our first concert, next Cleveland,
Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, New York.
Andre: “The traveling around is like being on vacation for me”. Everyone always is surprised: 2 weeks touring USA,
you must be exhausted! They are surprised that I return fully relaxed.
But everything has been organized. The planning starts about 2 years before the actual tour. Last week, when I
returned home we had a meeting for the tour for next year. The ticket sale has started and the marketing machine
started to roll. Once we are on tour, I just have to jump on stage and play….. I study in my hotel room and take a rest.
It is fantastic!”
The buses are about to leave. Andre tells everybody to take a fleece jacket.
Andre: the jackets are in the hall, those fleece versions, everybody has to take their own and stuff it in your suitcase.
Rene Henket says: I like going on tour. It is busy and a lot of travel, but it is looking forward to it.
Andre: Agnes, do you take your jacket as well? When we arrive there it will be very cold! Els do you have your jacket?
Ladies and gentlemen, first call: 10 minutes to go, 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes….
Manoe Konings: This is the checklist. I have to take care everybody is accounted for. So we don’t forget someone. If
we miss one, we have a problem. I have got only two at this moment, I’ll mark them of when they are in the bus. Not
when they are over there.
Manoe: I have been with the orchestra for 17 years. Almost from the start. I only missed one tour. My role: I play
clarinet and I do the checklist, so I will not forget anyone, you as well!. When I started also did office work. In the past
Nicole and I were the whole office. Nicole was secretary and I was the music department. There were no buses, no
catering, no money. We brought our own sandwiches and traveled with our own cars to the concerts. I kept track of
who traveled with who in the car. We would get coffee and soda that’s all that we could afford back then.
Now it has turned into a multi million dollar company, with 120 full-time employees and a fleet of trucks, buses, and
other vehicles.
The orchestra members arrive and greet each other. (Teun Ramaekers greets Roland Lafosse in French). Teun to
the reporter: the people you see here really like it, and so do I. I love to go on tour, to see it all, do the concerts, see
the different audiences. The programs are basically the same, but Andre updates it a little for each country. To see
the different reactions in Japan, Germany or USA, that’s nice to see.
Andre yells: Ladies and gentlemen, get in the bus now please.
Please ask to who suitcase 43 belongs.
Linda, are you deaf?? O yes, you’re alt (she plays alt violin, but in Limburg dialect alt means “old” and old associates
to deaf…). Later on Andre is laughing about his own joke about the “alt”. Nobody else is laughing, so Andre says: It is
still early…..
Saying goodbye is difficult ( Nadejda Diakoff and her boyfriend saying goodbye)
Rene Henket runs out of the bus, Andre says: O boy, have you forgotten something??
In the bus Kalki Schrijvers and Linda Custers sit next to each other. Linda: the atmosphere is always so good. In 2
weeks when we come back the atmosphere is still the same. Once we were on tour for 4 weeks and at the end it was
still fun in the dressing rooms. No friction. But once in a while you will miss home. Then we need a little bit more
privacy. There is so much more to it, it is not just sitting on the stage together: We share everything. We make music
together, we eat together, drink in the bar, we even sleep together, because on tour we are room mates. And we
have a lot of fun together. (We can see Andre in the bus, lying straight, with a Sudoku puzzle book).
Andre: I drag them around the world. It was my dream, my idea to do this. If people choose to share their lives with me
and want to go for it completely, I feel I have to care for them. In Japan there are no unions. Just a code of honor. The
employer takes care of the employee until death. I think that is a better way than all that debating and negotiating. I
think I could not make music at night, after a hefty meeting in the afternoon. So it is my way to do it the other way
around. I take care for my staff as good as I can This leads to a different, more pleasant co-operation.
Pictures of the Royal Park Hotel, in Detroit USA.
Pierre and Suzan are arriving. Andre kisses Suzan and hugs Pierre. We see the rehearsal in the Mellon Arena in
Pittsburgh. Carla is practicing her voice. She has to do that daily to check how the voice is doing. Luca (?) is studying
violin in the men’s restroom. Andre is practicing. We can hear and see the trumpet players practicing in the arena.
Andre: It is a very nice group. Everybody has a different character but they harmonize. On stage we make music like
one family. That is so important in a group! When I look back at the Limburg Symphony Orchestra, where everyone
thinks I am the best and I will be first, which of course makes things go totally wrong… You must WANT to play
together, that is important. Playing together we assume can be done, but WANTING to play together is what is
important in this group. That’s why they say that famous orchestra’s as the Wiener Philharmonic, the Berliner or the
Concertgebouw Orchestra are closed communities, really cliques. Difficult to penetrate. That is good!! That’s why
they play so well. An orchestra must feel like a tight group. They must think: we are the best, we belong together, we
play well. It has to be like that. That is the way it is with us: we are there for each other, everybody helps each other.
We see Kalki Schrijvers and Linda Custers cross the street on their way to a shopping mall.
Kerstin Cornelis: not only the hotels are important for the atmosphere, it is the whole surroundings. Andre wants the
orchestra to feel good. I know most of the orchestra members like shopping. That is why I choose a hotel in the
neighborhood of a shopping mall. So I keep the orchestra content!
Rene Henket: It is 11.15 am now. We leave at 2.30 pm. So we have a few hours to spend the money!
Kerstin shows a GUESS-bag: 5 minutes in the shop, this is going wrong!
Kalki is trying on new clothes, we can see the price tags.
Teun Ramaekers and Jean Sassen are on their way to the shopping outlet, there are factory and wiskey stores
Andre in his hotel room is making phone calls, playing with the automatic fireplace. He is fascinated with it:” I did not
see that before, otherwise I would have been playing with it all night!! It is incredible!”
Part 2 to follow
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |