Chapeau Magazine, December 12, 2024, by Jo Cortenraedt Translated by Ineke, edited by John Exclusive interview with Marjorie Rieu, the woman behind a world star On Friday, André Rieu's Christmas concerts will start again in the MECC in Maastricht. In the meantime, they have also become a tradition, just like the Vrijthof concerts in the summer. Somewhere on the side, outside the view of the television cameras, his biggest fan, his wife marjorie, will follow the performance with bated breath again. She is the one who is largely responsible for the mega success of this world star. Always in the background, but now, as an exception, an interview. We are sitting in the salon of their castle "De Torentjes" on the Maas in Maastricht. The decor is a mix of Austrian, Bavarian and Venetian atmospheres, including an oval, ornate table with a tablecloth with musical instruments depicted. With ornaments on the walls and with baroque furniture. No designer was involved, most of it was conceived by André himself. On one of the walls are paintings depicting the couple in their younger years. Marjorie no longer allows herself to be photographed or painted. "André has become a kind of public property because of his success, that is inevitable. But I want to be able to go out anonymously as much as possible, I like that very much. I travel under my maiden name." That is why no more photos of her have appeared for many years, publications such as the renewed biography which was released this month, only contain photos of her from the early years of the marriage. She wrote her husband's biography herself, as well as the first version in 1996. "I know him best and I love to write." Teacher Marjorie and André have been together for over fifty years and all this time she has thought along with him. Even when she was still a teacher at the Jeanne d’Arc College in Maastricht. “I studied German at the University of Nijmegen and also obtained my doctorate there. Actually I didn’t want to be in front of the class, but I did it anyway for about seven years. When I was just in high school myself, I joined André’s sister’s class. And so, I was once at a Sinterklaas party at their house. That’s where I met André for the first time, but we were still too young for a relationship. It wasn’t until years later, when I was already living in Nijmegen, that I ran into him again at a concert of his sister. We fell in love quickly and fiercely. Only, his parents didn’t think I was very suitable. At that time, I was such a flower-power girl in a floral dress. Haha. They thought that was strange. But we persevered. I can still remember that André was so disciplined. He arose early to study music. We were both raised quite strictly at home. In retrospect, too strict. But that discipline was good in itself, otherwise we would never have come this far. My father, who had fled Berlin, before the rise of Nazism, had the principle of "to be the best or not to be." That in itself is good, but we also suffered somewhat from that. In any case, there was no loafing, not even at André’s home.” When André was able to start as a violinist with the Limburg Symphony Orchestra after his studies and a subsequent break, he joined Gemma Serpenti’s salon orchestra at the same time. “That was in 1978. I became pregnant at that time. So there was plenty going on in our youthful lives. And both André and I came from a family where music of various styles was strongly present. We had a lot of 78 rpm records at home. We wanted to use a number of pieces of music for the salon orchestra, but they were hardly to be found on paper. Only after a notice in the newspaper did we receive a lot of sheet music and we used some of it as repertoire. I couldn't read music as well as André, but we still thought it was important to figure out the pieces together." Retirement homes and fairs Before they knew it, they were actually playing entrepreneurs. "The salon orchestra was allowed to perform in nursing- and retirement homes, but that yielded little. Yet André laid the foundation for his approach there. He started telling short stories in between the music, to keep the attention of the elderly. We wrote those texts together. At first he was a bit shy, but over time, it got better. We wanted to move forward and also play in theaters and concert halls. There was no interest there in the beginning. We went to cultural fairs, including the Deutsch-Niederländische Kulturbörze in Germany and also the Spektakel fair in Breda. There we had a space, which Gemma and I manned. We also had a real brochure. In this way we tried to get theater directors and event organizers interested. In the afternoon André came with the other musicians to play a few songs at such a fair. Then at times, we could sell a concert.” But it was difficult, radio and TV-stations in the Netherlands and Belgium were not interested. The public was just not interested in those "old-fashioned waltzes," was the message. “However, we gradually gained a foothold in the Limburg theatres with, among other things, the New Year’s concerts and the speculaas (spiced cookies) concerts. The directors saw these more as pleasant events. At one point we were even allowed to organise a tour of just about all the Limburg theatres. The orchestra grew from five to twelve musicians and continued under the name of the " Johann Strauss Orchestra." And lo and behold, in 1994 there was finally a record company which dared to record a CD under the title "Strauss & Co." It included the song "The Second Waltz" by Shostakovich. Our son Marc had come up with the slogan "no house, but Strauss." The song immediately went into the top 10 and shortly after that our first concert was broadcast on television, which resulted in great ratings. Then a huge burden fell off our shoulders. For years our music was considered "old-fashioned" and now it turned out to be a hit after all. Unbelievable that our dream had still come true.” Sleepless nights From that moment on, André Rieu has become a phenomenon but also an odd duck in the world of classical music. Marjorie can sometimes get worked up about it. “André has openend up avenues for classical music, by playing it in a lighter way and thereby making it accessible to a wider audience. But that is by no means appreciated by everyone from that angle. Sometimes André finds that criticism annoying and unjustified. When you see how many people he moves and makes happy with his music, that is fantastic!” Although the music of André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra conquered the world at a rapid pace, there were still certain periods in which it was again a struggle to survive. Yes, of course, that investment in the decor of Schloss Schönbrunn, did give me sleepless nights. Even though a lot of money came in, a lot more went out. Much earlier it was also sometimes exciting. Then he bought a way too expensive sound system. André is more into investing than following the budget. But fortunately we now have more control over it, and our son Pierre also keeps a close eye on everything. André is still full of dynamism but has now become a bit more pragmatic. The decoration of the MECC for the Christmas concerts was also a heavy expense, but that is slowly starting to pay for itself and it has also become really beautiful. And it is nice that it is nearby. When he is not on tour, he always cooks for me these days and with great pleasure and then also of course organic, what more could you want?”