“Emotions are the key. Everybody is welcome to my concerts. We open our hearts for the audience and the audience opens their hearts for us. Every night my orchestra and I see people dancing and singing in the aisles, enthusiastic and carefree. Together we spend evenings that we do not forget. When people write to tell me that they need two weeks to come down after my concerts, it makes me the happiest man in the world!”
The complete annual summer concert of the greatest festival orchestra in the world, The Johann Strauss Orchestra, led by Andre Rieu, in the town square Vrijthof in their home town of Maastricht, The Netherlands, 7 July 2018. Above Maestro Rieu: An audio recording of the entire JSO in Maastricht 2018 concert.
From their rousing entrance to the tune of “76 Trombones” by Meredith Willson (that’s two l’s, thank you) to their invariable sign-off pieces: the Maastricht city anthem; Strauss Sr’s “Radetsky March”; “An der schönen blauen Donau” (of course); (no Shostakovich’s Jazz Waltz No 2 this year, though—here’s the 2010 performance on YT); “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (from “Plaisir d’amour” by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, 1784); Austrian composer Robert Stoltz’s “Adieu, mein kleiner gardeoffizier”; and the Rocco Granata standard “Marina” (played every year at the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy, NYC), there’s two hours here of sheer delight, not to mention drinking and dancing. It’s always a special afternoon when I get to play the entire Maastricht concerts for me and Mister Grumble, I open a bottle and dance around the room and he grins and drinks. Just like in our old commune back in San Francisco in the 70s.
The program (with comments, if any, as they come to me):
- 0:02 : 01. “76 Trombones” / Meredith Willson
- 5:38 : 02. “Old Comrades” (Alte Kameraden) / Carl Teike
- 10:25 : 03. “Granada” / Ernesto Lecuona
- 15:47 : 04. “Tiritomba” / Guglielmo Cottrau
- 20:20 : 05. “Nessun Dorma” / Giacomo Puccini
- 27:07 : 06. “Snow Waltz” (Schneewalzer) / Thomas Koschat
- 34:39 : 07. “Pie Jesu” / Andrew Lloyd Webber
- 41:18 : 08. “Olé Guapa” / A Malando
- 47:40 : 09. “You’ll Never Walk Alone” / Rodgers & Hammerstein
- 53:45 : 10. “Clog Dance” / Traditional
- 56:21 : 11. “Trompeten Echo” / Slavko & Vilko Avsenik
- 57:41 : 12. “Anton aus Tirol” / Vili Petrič
- 1:00:33 : 13. “You Raise Me Up” / Josh Groban
- 1:08:05 : 14. “Lara’s Theme” / Maurice Jarre
- 1:12:27 : 15. “Meadowlands” (Poliushko Polie) / Lev Knipper, Viktor Gusev
- 1:16:24 : 16. “Kalinka” / Ivan Larionov
- 1:20:12 : 17. “Caro Nome” / Giuseppe Verdi
- 1:29:05 : 18. “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” (An der schönen, blauen Donau) / Johann Strauss Jr
- 1:36:21 : 19. “Amigos Para Siempre” / Andrew Lloyd Webber
- 1:41:44 : 20. “Radetzky March” / Johann Strauss Jr
- 1:44:26 : 21. Strauss & Co. (medley) / Strauss Jr, Franz Lehar, etc
- 1:47:54 : 22. “Libiamo” / Giuseppe Verdi
- 1:52:28 : 23. “Zorba’s Dance” (Sirtaki) / Mikis Theodorakis
- 1:56:04 : 24. “Macarena” / Los del Río
- 2:00:18 : 25. “La Bamba” / Ritchie Valens
- 2:02:32 : 26. “Can’t Help Falling In Love” / Peretti-Creatore-Weiss (from “Plaisir d’amour” by Martini)
- 2:05:39 : 27. “Het Wilhelmus” anthem of Maastricht / Adrianus Valerius
- 2:07:40 : 28. “Maastricht, City Of Jolly Singers” / Armand Preud’homme
- 2:10:28 : 29. “Adieu, Little Captain Of My Heart” (Adieu, Mein Kleine Gardeoffizier) / Robert Stoltz, Ralph Benatzky)
- 2:14:11 : 30. “Marina” / Rocco Granata
As for their North American tour, it’s selling out fast, but here’s the itinerary: The US routing begins 12 Sep at Chicago’s Credit Union 1 Arena at UIC. Stops include Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena, Elmont NY UBS Arena, and Boston’s TD Garden. The Canadian dates start 21 Sep in Quebec in Centre Vidéotron, followed by gigs in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. More info at https://www.andrerieu.com/en/am2023.
Bradley Creswick at the upstairs hall at 
"I'll Be Dead Before You Break My Heart" 