We wonder: was the last concert in Italy the Cortona concert in 2002?? (DVD Romantic Paradise released in 2003??). We think so. But the Italian fans did not forget André Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra. The concert at Unipol Forum, the venue in Assago, a suburb of Milan, was sold out.... (12.000 people) The Italian audience was happy to have André Rieu and the orchestra back in Italy again and gave them a very warm welcome. How do they all know André, since he is not very often on TV in Italy… The answer is: via YouTube. We asked the same question in Bahrain to our neighbors in the audience who happened to come from Saudi Arabia and India. Yes, also from YouTube! So, the whole world knows André's music, but we noticed in Milan that they were not yet fully familiar with how a live concert goes. For example: after André had announced and played the last piece of the program (Hallelujah), I had to leave the hall for a toilet stop and saw a lot of people leaving. I said: "Please wait, it's not yet finished, he'll play encores for another 30 minutes". They were astonished, didn't know about encores. In the meantime, I walked back to my seat under the Radetzky March and there were already people in front of the stage. But I was stopped by an assistant. He had been sitting on a chair in the aisle the entire concert (I think to prevent over-enthusiastic fans from getting too close to the stage), but he didn't know that it was allowed during the encores. We just loved the concert and Emma’s contribution of Voila and Michael Jackson’s song “Heal the world” which was very emotional. Especially in these worrying times… The stadium spontaneously filled with lights from mobile phones up to the top of the stands. It was magical to see! The temperament of the people in the Mediterranean countries also strikes us: Spain, Italy, Portugal. Here in Milan the concert started with "Volare, Oh Oh", but before the tenors could join in, the audience had already continued singing for André. They knew the text by heart. The Italians are familiar with the famous singers and composers from their country. The names Nessun Dorma, Puccini, La Traviata, Libiamo, Verdi, caused a wave of recognition through the audience. The song about the Spanish bull (which seems to get bigger in every concert) also caused a lot of hilarity. There was someone in the audience with a Spanish flag who tried to provoke the bull, and the bull responded by lifting its leg and squirting some water. The latest model bull has some technical jokes! Although Dorona Alberti was present in the encores with two songs, an unknown lady in red, ran ahead of the bull. Sometime later the bull returned to the entrance of the hall with an enormous big red bra around its horns. Of course, beautifully captured on the big screens!!! There was a lady at the back of the hall who couldn't stop laughing anymore. She kept on laughing in big bursts. That infected the other people too! Even when the bull had already left, they kept laughing out loud and André had to wait a while to start the next piece. It was hilarious. That's how we think that every concert is always different, even if the same music is played. Every audience in every city is different.

Ruud and Ineke were there, together with some more fan-friends, like Adele & Maurice Geritzen and Francesca & Paolo Franzoni, who live in Italy. Anna & Joe Brincat from Malta brought their in-laws, Elke & Nino Freitag from Germany. That made a total of 12 and we enjoyed to see each other again, having booked the same Royal Garden Hotel, which was a 10-minute walk to the venue. Having dinner together and chatting in the bar, never a dull moment. We booked a few more days, to visit the monumental buildings in Milan, of course.

The venue in Assago, a suburb of Milan: Unipol FORUM.

Tracklist: Volare - Ob Blond ob Braun - Nessun Dorma - Sheherazade - Voila (Emma Kok) - Heal the world (Emma Kok) - Never on Sunday (Christina Petrou) - Ukrainian song Nitsch Jaka (Anna Reker) - Bull song - Operetta medley - Vilja song (Michaëla Oeste) - Blue Danube - Think of me (Anna Majchrzak) - Hallelujah. Encores: Radetzky March - Strauss Medley - Tutti Frutti - Zorba the Greek - I cannot help falling in love - I will survive and Life is life, by Dorona Alberti - Adieu - Marina.

Impression of the Milan concert, video by Pierre on Facebook.

Double bass player Camila Langue Cipoletta, (Italian/Argentinian nationality), translated André’s speeches to Italian.

We ordered a Milanese specialty: Cotoletta alla Milanese (veal), which looked like a Wiener Schnitzel. Guess what? In 1857 Field Marshal Radetzky (yes, the one of the March) brought the recipe from Italy to Austria. There it became a Wiener Schnitzel (pork).

After the concert we had a few prosecco drinks in the hallway next to the bar (which was full) and chatted about the concert. We love meeting friends as much as André’s uplifting music. The caring barman offered Francesca hotel slippers, since she jumped too much during the encores on high heels and had sore feet. When the bar closed he said goodnight and let us finish the drinks. How lovely.

The Duomo / Cathedral of Milan.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele 2, luxurous shopping center built in 1867. There is a (simpler) copy of it in our hometown The Hague, named “The Passage”.

As we (Ruud and Ineke) usually do, we added 2 private vacation weeks to visiting a concert abroad and this year we not only met good friends in northern Italy, but we also found a trail of music and composers. Below a few highlights.

Cremona, the town of violin making families, also called luthiers, since they started with lutes in the 16th century. Famous names like Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati, among others. The Violin Museum shows an impressive collection. Click HERE for more info about Stradivari.

Pavarotti’s house in Modena is a Museum now.

Guiseppe Verdi was born in Le Roncole-Parma and died in Milan. Parma honors him with a very big monument; a street lit with text lines from “Va Pensiero” (Opera Nabucco, chorus of the slaves); a restaurant named “Il Trovatore” (Opera) had coffee cups with a sentence from the aria “Stride la Vampa” (The Fire Roars). We had never heard of this opera and aria. But, we are always curious! So, we googled again. OMG what a horrible story! Lots of drama in operas!!!! As far as we understand, the sentence means: “the mad woman ran into the fire“ (about witch-burnings…)

The skyline of Milan, witth modern architecture, seen from the roof of the Duomo.

Adele Geritzen on Facebook: Nov.23, 2024. About Milano One big surprise for me was that Andre did not speak Italian, because I anticipated that he would, as he does speak Italian, and pretty well. (We have heard it in the Cortona/Tuscany DVD). But, that was 21 years ago, when he was 54. plus the fact that that his text was sometimes slightly complicated & not much time for rehearsal due to their very busy schedule, so it was easier for him to get a translator. He chose Camila, who is a Cellist. Perhaps for that reason 3 of the cellos were seated at front of stage (normally they would be at the back). Anyhow, she did a good job, But, there was often a bit of a problem i.e. around 25/30 % of the audience understood what he was saying in English, and would start clapping, meanwhile the 70/75% were trying to listen to Camila’s translation but could not hear it very clearly ; therefore some of Andre’s ‘one liner jokes’ were lost. Never mind, next time the audience will have learnt English, Or Andre will study his Italian a bit more ! nobody really cared anyway. It was all a huge success and I am delighted that I was able to go there.

The Scala Theater was covered in scaffolding but the Leonardo da Vinci Museum was open.

Entering our hotel in Parma, Verdi was there!

Meeting the Franzoni family in Parma.

Photo on the left: This is the “Passage”, in The Hague, NL, built in 1885 as a (simpler) copy of the Milanese Gallery Vittorio Emanuele 2. Photo on the right: View from the window of the Leonardo da Vinci Museum on the Gallery Vittorio Emanuelle 2. in Milan, built in 1867.

On Nov. 23, we returned our rental car, at Linate Airport Milan, without a scratch or dent, which can be considered as a miracle in the Italian traffic. Ruud is a very good driver, and we had a great navigation system. He had prepared well for this journey; the distances, the travel times, the winding mountain roads, hotelbookings and concert tickets. Bravo Ruud! We had driven 1500 kilometers through northern Italy from Marco Polo airport in Venice to Linate airport in Milan. Flight to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport: 1,5 hour. In the afternoon we arrived back home, safe and sound.

And what do you think of the real Italian drinks, like Vermouth, Martini, Campari?

Campari was invented by Davide Campari in 1915. We found a Camparino bar in the Gallery in Milan. Vermouth, Martini. In Turin we found an ancient Vermouth factory (founded in 1786). The entrance looked like a palace.

Photo on the left: Private property. No access. Was this the entrance of the ancient Vermuth factory??

Michael Jackson’s song “Heal the World”.