2023-09-22 02:25:00
He is said to be the king of the waltz, but, in front of more than 11,000 people gathered at the Videotron Center on Thursday evening, Dutch conductor/violinist André Rieu recalled that he was also a master in the art of entertaining a crowd.
To achieve this, he has three trump cards up his sleeve: his extensive rereadings of great classical, gospel, opera and pop melodies, from Ravel and Verdi to Elvis Presley and Little Richard, his charismatic personality and his sense of humor.
We have an eloquent demonstration of this just a few minutes following the start of the concert.
His Johann Strauss Orchestra had just made a triumphant entry to the sound of the military march Entrance of the gladiatorscrossing the entire floor of the Videotron Center to get to the stage, when André Rieu noticed two spectators hastily going to their seats.
“You’re too late,” he told them, deadpan. We are from Holland and we are on time. »
Dynamic gospel choir
The tone was set. The humor of the 73-year-old artist, who learned with such amusement how to say the expression goosebumps in French, which he used for the rest of the evening, was the common thread of this large-scale concert which brought together, in total, almost a hundred artists on a semicircular stage.
André Rieu and his orchestra in action, Thursday, at the Videotron Center. Photo Agence QMI, Pascal Huot
Although the musicians were numerous and in perfect mastery, it was the voices that made the difference. In this regard, we must welcome the integration of a gospel choir. In a segment composed of I Will Follow You, Amen et Oh Happy Dayits singers amazed with their agile and powerful vocal cords as well as their contagious dynamism.
Mention also to the theatrical sopranos Anna Majchrzak and Micaëla Oeste, assigned respectively to the interpretation of I Belong To Me and of Dear Name, by Verdi. Amazing, they also stirred the public.
Liveliness and melancholy
Photo Agence QMI, Pascal Huot
As we cannot imagine a Metallica concert without Master of PuppetsAndré Rieu’s performances come with their share of classic repertoire classics.
Placed at the start of the route, Fly et Funiculi Funicula brought liveliness to the recital, while the moving The Rose et Highland Cathedralthe latter rocked by a corps of bagpipes, played the melancholy card wonderfully.
Obviously, a detour to Strauss, Rieu’s idol, was on the agenda and while the master of ceremonies took out his famous Stradivarius, several couples on the floor were able to dance the waltz to The Blue Danube before an impeccable, and grandiose, Boleroby Ravel.
André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra, Thursday, in Quebec. Photo Agence QMI, Pascal Huot
As a reminder, André Rieu successfully used the same stratagem of varying moods. So, following a Let’s free delivered a glass in hand in a festive formula, a majestic Can’t Help Falling In Love borrowed from the King and Amazing Grace brought everyone back to the path of raw emotions.
After Quebec, André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra will stop at the Bell Center in Montreal on Friday evening.
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