Luckily, those days are gone now, and after twenty years, Berlin is still booming. You can still see building cranes everywhere! Inside the O2 World, we had a wonderful concert for more than 7.000 people. After the show, André was presented the Gold Bear Award of the O2 World. And we met our friends of the Berlin Comedian Harmonists, that attended the concert! 

Before our departure, André was making some phonecalls outside our hotel. Do you think he got inspired -somehow- for new orchestra dresses? Who knows :)

Yesterday, finally the Capricorn party took place. It is nice to celebrate your birthday twice a year! But then again, we celebrate our 25th anniversary each night on stage too!!

After all the birthday parties, we had a 25th anniversary party again on stage in Erfurt. This morning, the whole orchestra took walk into the city. It is such a beautiful weather! At home in Holland it is pouring rain and hail…

On now to Leipzig, the city of Johann Sebastian Bach!

 

And, we have an even more special Mother's Day in the orchestra! In two days two babies were born :) Tonight, the baby of our violinist Cord and singer Judith was born: a beautiful daughter!! Congratulations!! 

We a have all been living up to the moment, but today in Linz it turned out to be a true Happy Birth-day!! Today the son of our orchestra couple René and Virgenie is born! Congratulations!!

We had a special birthday party on stage, as you can imagine.. and made a toast (or two) to our new little baby friend! Oh he's so cute!

 

You all know the song 'Vienna, city of our dreams'. And it is! 

André walked to St. Michael Square, near our hotel, where we made that beautiful special 'Live in Vienna' at the Hofburg. Yesterday we played at the somehow less romantic Stadthalle, but the Viennese atmosphere was there! 

And this morning, André bought himself a new, typical Austrian, jacket! 

Today we played in Salzburg, the city of Mozart! The Salzach river, the snowy Alp mountains in the sun, so beautiful! Backstage, André got a big basket with typical Austrian delicacies from our friends of the Lechner family, who made the instruments that our brass players played during the concert. 

This morning we left Budapest early, and our busses drove through the beautiful sunny landscapes of Hungary to Austria. 

Tonight we played in Graz. Did you know that our double bass players Jean and Franco also play the electric bass guitars. Don't they both look like real rockers?

 

In the evening, we had guests from the Brasilian television! And, like yesterday, there were many people from Romania in the audience that traveled more than 800 kilometers to attend our concert here in Budapest. Next time you don't have to travel that far: André really thinks of coming to Boekarest to give a concert there! Keep following the website for news about this!

Our first concert ever in Budapest! And all the while, we have been playing so much beautiful Hungarian music the past 25 years: csardas music and operettas by Léhar and Kálman. The warmth and temperament of this music you can sense everywhere when you walk through this marvelous city!! 

 

And when we entered the SAP Arena together and saw the huge crowd cheering every evening, this atmosphere only got better. Is there a more fitting piece to start this 25 years Anniversary concert than the cheerful march 'Alte Kameraden'? 

From the Olympia hill, near the venue in Munich where we played tonight, you can see the majestic Bavarian Alps at the horizon. The Olympic Hall resembles these mountains, its construction was revolutionary at the time it was built in 1972. 

Inside we had lot of fun on stage, it's so nice to be back on tour again together!! Every concert really feels like a party for our 25th Orchestra Anniversary!

 

And, well, there was beer too... after all, this is Munich, the heart of Bavaria!

You can't miss the Stadthalle in Bremen when you exit the central station: it's huge!! We had a concert there yesterday evening, and now we have a morning off. Actually, we have a whole day off between our concert in Bremen and München.

In a few hours we will fly to Munich airport where our main activity will be: having dinner with the whole orchestra in a typical Bavarian restaurant. We will keep you informed! :)

 

Copenhagen is a city with such a beautiful atmosphere! After the concert, we had the Sunday off here on tour, so we had some time to visit the city. Of course we had to say hello to the little mermaid, out of Hans Christian Andersens famous fairy tale!

Now we are leaving by bus for Bremen.

In Odense, the famous fairy tale writer Hans Christian Anderson was born. When you walk through the city, you can imagine where he got his inspiration from: beautiful parks, and lots of medieval houses. 

And yesterday also our fairy tale continued: André felt great, we had a marvelous time on stage and the Danish fans showed André their enthusiasm with warm applause and lots of flowers. We are looking forward to our next concerts, now we are departing for another beautiful Danish city: Copenhagen!

 

Today André and the Orchestra started rehearsing again! After a period of rest the orchestra all gathered in the studio and found a new, re-energized André. And, as you can see, he's again full of humor. He made everybody laugh with his jokes all morning.

In the past weeks, André has been doing special exercises, lost a stone and told us he is looking forward again to giving beautiful concerts! And….. so are we!!

Dear all,

I want to thank you for your love and support. I'm overwhelmed by all the sweet get well messages, cards and gifts. Although the best remedy for now is taking a lot of rest and doing special exercises, your support really means a lot to me and does me well!

Music is my life, so I hope I will be able to perform for you all soon again. My next concert will be on the 20th of April in Denmark, I hope to see you there or at one of the following concerts later this year!

Yours, André



  

Don't miss this unforgettable Evening at The O2 with André Rieu & The Johann Strauss Orchestra!

Ticket sale starts Saturday March 24th at 9am.

Due to overwhelming demand, we proudly announce new concert dates in São Paulo: July 3th, 4th and 5th 2012!

Wednesday February 1st, the official ticket sales will start of these concerts in 2012. Goldmember pre-sale is on Tuesday, January 31st.

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Devido ao grande sucesso, nós orgulhosamente anunciamos shows extras de André Rieu em São Paulo dias: 3, 4 e 5 de Julho de 2012.

A venda oficial de ingressos para os concertos em São Paulo de 2012 começa na quarta-feira, 1 de fevereiro! Inícia a pré-venda membro de ouro: 31 de Janeiro de 2012.

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Tour dates André Rieu in São Paulo:
May 29 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 21:00
May 30 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 21:00
May 31 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo - 21:00
June 01 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo - 21:00
June 02 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo - 21:00
June 03 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 19:00
June 05 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 21:00
June 06 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 21:00
June 07 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 21:00
June 08 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 21:00
June 09 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 21:00
June 10 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 19:00
July 03 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 21.00
July 04 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 21.00
July 05 - Ginásio do Ibirapuera - São Paulo – 21.00

The wonderful Christmas special with the Nagasaki Children's Choir and the 'Roman' special with the Johann Strauss Orchestra dressed like Roman emperors, drinking, singing and having fun. When you see the concert it seems that, apart from the costumes, little seems to have changed in the past few years! 

Today we traveled by bus from Hamburg to Oberhausen and learned all about the German phenomenon "Autobahn-Baustelle" on the way :)

The König Pilsener Arena is one of the biggest and most modern venues in Nordrhein Westfalen. It looks impressive both from the outside and inside. We had great fun playing here, now let's hope there is no 'Baustelle' on the way home!