Patricia's Concert In Toulouse
by Patricia
The concert was beautiful and perfect, as always. Andre was very nice and spoke French fluently, conquering and enchanting the audience immediately with his smile, his charm and of course, his wonderful music. People really enjoyed each and every one of the pieces he and the JSO played. The concert began at 3 PM and finished at almost 6 PM. Andre gave us lots of encores! Suzan wasn't there, just Mirusia, Carmen and another singer -a new one, I think- who I never saw before, but she didn't sing alone, just with the others, like in the "Libiamo" from "La Traviata". A perfect Sunday afternoon with Andre and his people. Really fun and full of joy.
I'd like to say a few more things about the concert, to complete the review: Le Zenith was full of people of all ages. Most of them were obviously fans of Andre and bought CD's and DVD's that the Rieu staff were selling in the lobby. I heard people talking in Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, etc., so many countries around the world were represented there by their people.
The first part began with "76 Trombones" as usual. Then they played "Voices of Spring" by Strauss. And after that other pieces we all know, a beautiful tribute to Luciano Pavarotti offered by The Platin Tenors with "Nessun Dorma" followed by little parts of operettas with the Tenors, Carmen, Mirusia and the other new singer sang more waltzes, a Mozart Medley and Carmen Monarcha with "Oh mio bambino caro".
The second part began with "Granada" and among the many pieces they played, Mirusia sang as an angel "Concerto pour une voix" and "Wishing you were somehow here again" from "The Phantom of the Opera". Of course, it was time for "The Blue Danube" and a lot of couples went to dance where they found some free space, including the place in front of the stage. Then came the other classic of Andre, "The Radetzky March" with the colored balloons falling down from the ceiling. Of course, he tried to play that as the final piece, but people ask for more and more, so he gave almost half an hour of encores, with the "Libiamo" from "La Traviata" among others.
All the people, the members of the JSO and the rest of Andre´s staff were as smiling, glad, kind and perfect as they used to be. Andre was very nice, as I said before, spoke French very easily, made jokes and conquered the audiencie with his elegance, his style, his brilliant smile and his sense of humor.
It was really a wonderful afternoon.
*See more photos on Featured Fans: Patricia
Thank you so much Patricia, for sharing your experience with us.I've never seen a picture of Andre holding his violin with just his chin. I will look at all your pictures when I get a bit more time,just want to be sure to thank you now.
That picture where Andre is holding his violin only with his chin was taken at the end of the concert.
The audience didn't let him go, as usually happens, and he pretended to fall asleep to show he was really tired ... Then he played a lullaby and all the lights were turning off slowly until all the place was in complete darkness.
After the lullaby he really said "Adieu" and "Au Revoir" and never appeared again on stage ... but previously we had almost 30 minutes of encores! Nobody could complain about that!
The concert, Andre, his JSO and all the members of his staff were wonderful!
Well, I'm back from a weekend away from home, and I checked to see what was happening. I'm so happy to read about a concert, seems like it has been a while!
Thank you Patricia for sharing your concert experience with us! I enjoyed so much reading about it.
There is nothing like an André Rieu concert. The excitement, the music and fun is fantastic.
Thank you Patricia and Jeanine Ann for this article.
You made me feel like I was there. Perfect ending to the otherwise dreary day.
Many hugs
Jolanta
Thank you all for your nice comments.
I wanted to share this new experience with you. I can't complain, this was my third concert this year: the first one was last February, in Frankfurt, the very first time I saw Andre LIVE! ... I never thought that this could happen one day and happened!. Then I saw his wonderful "A romantic night in Vienna" in Paris, on August. And now, this last concert in Toulouse. I took my mother who became more fan of Andre than me! (and that's a lot to say!).
I'd like to say an special and big big THANK YOU to our dear Jeanine Ann, the person who made possible this contribution and worked during the week end to put all on line for your pleasure and mine.
Love and hugs and again, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, dear Jeanine Ann.
As I read the story and looked at the photographs, I can feel as if I am there with Patricia!
I laughed when I saw André pretending to be asleep. The Venue is pretty. What an interesting building. And the colors of the concert came out fabulous in Patricia's photographs!
All GREAT ! Thank you for the story Patricia & Jeanine Ann.
Thank you, Sally.
I tried to explain everything doing my best because, you know, English is not my native language. But if you say that you read my story and felt as if you were there with me, I'm very glad.
And it's a real pity, as I told Jeanine Ann, but I tried to tape the last minutes of the concert and my camera failed. Well, there's no need to say how angry I was when I noticed later that nothing was filmed ...
"Next time", is the phrase I told myself to comfort me ... I don't know where or when, as the title of that old and lovely song ... I´m dreaming of going to Maastricht next summer but the best tickets are already sold ...
We'll see.
Love, hugs and thanks again!
Dear Patricia,
Thank you for taking the time & trouble to share your moving & emotional experience of attending André's concert. We can never get enough photos & yours are as good a some & better than most.
What kind of camera did you use to take the photos? If you go to Maastricht, be ready with a spare battery so you won't run out of electricty if you take a lot more photos.
Here is a hint....position yourself near the stage just before the intermission. Then you will be able to take some close up photos of the JSO members when they leave & when they return to the stage.