The cinema special is a wonderful reminder of how it all was and how it will soon be again. We want to celebrate our impending return to live performances with this selection of my personal favourite moments from all over the world, which I chose together with my wife, Marjorie. So, you can look forward to performances from Sydney to Mexico City, Bucharest to New York – film music, operatic arias and waltzes, which will hopefully bring some magic into your lives again. He performs for a live audience of over half a million people each year and has recently begun bringing his spectacular shows to the big screen for even more to enjoy: his last cinema show, Happy Days Are Here Again, topped the Irish box office earlier this year. In 1978, I founded my first small ensemble the Maastricht Salon Orkest. But since I absolutely wanted to play the waltzes by Johann Strauss, my favourite composer, I needed to expand my orchestra and, in 1987, I founded the Johann Strauss Orchestra with 12 members. Now we are 60 musicians including the chorus, and I think it is the biggest private orchestra in the world. Our first performances were in small theatres, until our big breakthrough in 1994 when I performed at half-time during the Champions League match between Ajax Amsterdam and FC Bayern Munich. My concerts are about joy and love!“ says André Rieu. „We should make decisions in our lives with our hearts, not our heads. People often ask me ‘how do you choose your program?’ – the answer is: with my heart. I love Johann Strauss but I am also fascinated by Andrew Lloyd Webber or Bruce Springsteen. We should stop limiting ourselves with categories and boundaries – not just in terms of music but in our lives in general” – says André Rieu.

In addition, for 2024, we are delighted to offer a selection of UK breaks by air to Belfast and make-your-own-way to Leeds, London and Liverpool. They're the most humorous audience in the whole world, I've never met a people with such a wonderful sense of humour. I remember telling the tragic story of Madame Butterfly, who fell in love with an American sea captain and was very unhappy when he didn't show up any more. But the Irish audience couldn't stop laughing out loud about the story I told them, and at the end I had to laugh, too. They simply didn't believe me or my tragic storytelling.

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We're enjoying a dinner together, taking a nice stroll in a wintery Maastricht or watching a nice movie together, like Home Alone or Mary Poppins. When the boys were still toddlers, we used to watch the sketch Dinner for One, which Marc and Pierre imitated the day after – that was so cute and even more hilarious than the original one on TV. Why not combine the unique musical and theatrical extravaganza of an André Rieu concert with enthralling escorted tours to some of Europe’s greatest cities? Whether you'd like to see André Rieu live in Maastricht , or in Amsterdam, the elegant capital of his home country, the Netherlands. This is a musical and cultural experience you won't want to miss.

New Year's is always such a special time, looking forward to the future, coming together with friends and family and toasting the year ahead," enthuses Rieu of the new concert film.

For the first time, your youngest son Pierre will interview you as part of the cinema screening. Are you nervous about what he might ask you? In my concerts you will see people dance, sing, cry and laugh. Emotions are the key. If a song touches my heart, I know it will touch yours too. Some songs, which I think will move the cinema audiences to tears are The Rose from the beautiful Flower Island Mainau at Lake Constance, The Lonely Shepherd, recorded on the wonderful square in Bucharest, and Somewhere over the Rainbow from Maastricht. And everybody will laugh and dance along to Kalinka, Macarena performed by Los del Rio or Mambo No. 5 with Lou Bega. Such, such fun. On stage André’s incredible musical prowess, passion and charisma make for a magical spectacle. His romantic and fun concerts are the only ones where people regularly jump to their feet and dance in the aisles. It’s not uncommon to see devoted American fans laughing, weeping, clapping, dancing and embracing when they listen to the beautiful waltzes, film scores, spirituals, musicals, folk songs and marches and André’s precious Stradivarius violin from 1732; his concerts are a perfect mix of thrilling, romantic, festive and emotional melodies combined with surprises, balloons, beautiful soloists and of course André’s great sense of humor. It’s all about emotions! To celebrate his imminent return to cinemas in the New Year, we quizzed the Dutch star about all things festive. What can Irish audiences expect from your new cinema special, André Rieu: Together Again, which opens tomorrow?

One of the most successful violinists and conductors in music, Rieu has now been performing around the world with his Johann Strauss Orchestra for 35 years. While Maastricht is covered with snow, grandpa André is cooking for all of them: the rest enjoy each other's company. I vividly remember meeting John Sheahan from The Dubliners at a pub in Dublin and performing with him together. The next day I invited him on stage during my concert and the audience went wild. I've yet to visit some of Ireland's major attractions, as we usually travel directly to the venue, but I've said many times in interviews that the Irish audiences are the most fun to play for and meeting the people is the most important thing for me when I travel. Fans are invited to enjoy André Rieu in Dublin on the big screen for two days only on January 7 and 8: expect romantic melodies, popular classics, party tunes and, of course, the Dutch maestro's beloved waltzes.

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André Rieu, world-renowned Dutch violinist and conductor, is set to captivate audiences once again with a mesmerizing concert at 3Arena on Friday, 10 May 2024. There are a lot of songs that I love to perform, but my favourite is The Beautiful Blue Danube by Johann Strauss. For me, it is the perfect waltz. Simply beautiful. I play it in all my concerts and the audience jumps out of their seats and dances to it. I heard they also do it in the cinemas, which I think is wonderful.

Ha-ha, no – I've been interviewed by my son Pierre several times and of course he only asks me nice questions. He's very much involved in my company, as is my wife Marjorie. I think we're the biggest family business in classical music or maybe even the world of music. Prepare to take your seat in Amsterdam’s spectacular Ziggo Dome Arena, or join fellow fans for an exciting evening of music on Vrijthof Square in André's home town of Maastricht, and soak up the unforgettable concert atmosphere. To stay healthy, to discover new places for concerts and to make as many people as possible happy with the music my orchestra and I will play. Yes it will be. We are performing live in Dublin every year – next time in April 2023 – but this will be the first concert in cinemas worldwide.I'm very fond of Christmas; throughout the whole year I'm on the road with my 'Big Family' – all my orchestra members, who are very dear to me. Christmas is the time of the year everybody wants to spend with their own 'Small Family': in this particular case, it's my wife Marjorie, our sons Marc and Pierre with their wives and, last but not least, our five grandchildren. André Rieu is quite simply a musical phenomenon like no other, a true King of Romance, having sold a massive 40 million CDs and DVDs and notched 30 Nr. 1 chart positions worldwide. Along with his 60-piece Johann Strauss Orchestra (the largest private orchestra in the world), André has created a global revival in waltz music, staging spectacular extravaganzas which are second to none. Having received over 480 Platinum Awards, three Classical Brit Awards for “Album of the Year” and billions of Youtube views, André is one of the biggest solo male touring artists in the world. Each year his passionate live shows attract more than 600.000 fans and outsell mega artists such as Coldplay, AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen. My Johann Strauss Orchestra and I had our last concert in March 2020 in Tampa, Florida. Since then we have not been able to perform, which was truly heartbreaking for all of us. Fortunately, since May we are now able to rehearse and record new albums again in my studio in Maastricht. I cannot sit around doing nothing, so I spent a lot of time baking huge cakes for the whole street. I love to watch cooking videos on YouTube when I am on tour, and now I've discovered baking as well. Also, I started to learn Spanish with the comic books of Tintin, which I already enjoyed as a child and used to learn French. Now I hope to be able to moderate my concerts in South America at least in part in Spanish.