A google of a New Zealand reviewer seems to be less damning:

But what of the music? Having braved the brisk merchandising machine in the foyer and the initial shock of a set that would blow any professional orchestra's annual budget three times over, I settled in with an open, but very curious mind. I can't lie, this kind of thing is way too saccharin for my tastes – as a benchmark, my idea of purgatory is The Last Night of the Proms – but before the party faithful start arranging a lynch-mob baying for my blood, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, clapping and singing along with the rest of the capacity crowd.

Two things clinched it for me. The first is that the orchestra was magnificent and when they were called upon to really play, they showed they really could play, and all the singers were top-notch; for the rest, they all looked like they were having the best time ever on stage, the brass getting up to predictable hijinks and lots of swaying and laughing. The second was that Rieu has an engaging, self-deprecating humour that lets us in and doesn't make out that this is anything other than pure fun, revelling in an unabashed enjoyment of music.

My best friend bought tickets for him and his parents a couple of weeks ago in... Nuremberg, I think. His parents are big fans.
He hated the show, but was fascinated by how people behaved.That said, he's a psychologist by training. He's genuinely interested in people. He's weird that way.

It does not matter what you or anybody else thinks. It only matters what your dad thinks. And so if he likes him
enough to want to go and actually see him then you buy the tickets so he can do just this. Your critical opinion
is superfluous to requirement. Now we may think we have excellent taste but intellectual snobbery must never
be a justification for denying someone else their cultural pursuits. Everybody has the freedom to like whatever
they want without the self appointed culture police passing judgement on them. What a dull world it would be
if all our tastes were absolutely identical. Diversity is far much better. As it emphasises our individualism. This
is what we are. Not clones of each other. So buy the tickets for him then he can appreciate something he likes

mindhack wrote:I like Rieu, as a person and showman. He's foremost an entertainer,but he's also a nice person imo.

I think he's waay overhyped in the Netherlands.

FFS, surr, tuco, I'm buying my dad the fucking tickets.

Read it with humour, not a grumble.

My parents love this guy. I don't know much about him, but they have him on the telly a lot and I caught it once. Not my thing in the least, but it looks like he puts on a very good show. My mum loves the way he gets everyone to join in. I suppose that takes her back to East London music hall or some shit.

Thomas Eshuis wrote:

mindhack wrote:I like Rieu, as a person and showman. He's foremost an entertainer,but he's also a nice person imo.

I think he's waay overhyped in the Netherlands.

To put it mildly. I never watch him. He has been clever though. Found a niche and exploited it to the full.

Sounds like the sort of thing that would be in Rimmer's record collection.

My view of this is, if you're gonna go see André Rieu in concert, why not go out and murder a bunch of people? I don't see how you can be for one and not the other.

Animavore wrote:[snip]
Anyway while googling you come across this devastating critique -

Here’s the thing. Sky Arts Rieu has, for this writer, taken on the quality of a scab that needs to be repeatedly picked. The Rieu experience is so hypnotically grotesque that life without it seems pale and underpowered. André and I are trapped in a co-dependent abusive relationship.

I've heard the name, but I'm not familiar with his performances. A quick search on "teh YouTubez" came up with some performance in "Semperopenball". Well, after a brief intro and some gregariously-spoken German, I skipped forward several minutes to hear some of the performance and was met with what I can only describe as a grotesque display of ballgowns by (what I presume to be) the first violins section. Now, I don't know if Rieu has some aesthetic he's trying to achieve by way of costume choices and decoration, but, immediately, my eyes were offended.



Subsequently, I decided to do a search for "andre rieu orchestra". Well, let me tell you, this garishness in presentation appears to be somewhat consistent.



Truly horrific and an assault on the eyes.



ETA

For an utterly chaotic cacophony of clattering carnival music, there's this:
https://youtu.be/EZAO7cPFC14?t=47m49s

Fallible wrote:My parents love this guy. I don't know much about him, but they have him on the telly a lot and I caught it once. Not my thing in the least, but it looks like he puts on a very good show. My mum loves the way he gets everyone to join in. I suppose that takes her back to East London music hall or some shit.

I don't wish to come across as an elitist snob, but I can somewhat (begrudgingly) appreciate his ability to bring music to the masses. They seem to like bright costumes and overly-decorated concert halls. It's a good old-fashioned knees-up, but all classical and stuff. My god, I sound like such an elitist snob.

Nah, I think you're spot on there. It's like comic books designed to bring Shakespeare to little children.

LucidFlight wrote:

Fallible wrote:My parents love this guy. I don't know much about him, but they have him on the telly a lot and I caught it once. Not my thing in the least, but it looks like he puts on a very good show. My mum loves the way he gets everyone to join in. I suppose that takes her back to East London music hall or some shit.

I don't wish to come across as an elitist snob, but I can somewhat (begrudgingly) appreciate his ability to bring music to the masses. They seem to like bright costumes and overly-decorated concert halls. It's a good old-fashioned knees-up, but all classical and stuff. My god, I sound like such an elitist snob.

There is always a market for this sort of fantasy and he appeals internationally. To me it is in the worst taste possible but there you go. He is popular on the commercial television stations here along with all the reality crap produced by Endemol. If you wonder where Wilders gets the bulk of his voters well this is where they are.

Doesn't even write his own songs.

I heard he mimes.

It like something old people would like.

LucidFlight wrote:I heard he mimes.

He is a very talented fiddle player apparently. He hit the right chord (!). My wife has friends in Ireland who are mad about him and they are not spring chickens anymore.

It looks like he hired Donald Trump as his set designer.

Honestly I don't get the attraction at all. I have the same reaction as most people here seem to, it all just seems so false and contrived.

I would genuinely like to hear from violin and classical music buffs though, whether he really is a good player, or just a showman.

He reminds me of the Richard Clayderman / Liberace kind of phenomenon. While Liberace undoubtedly had enormous talent, his taste and presentation were garish and off-putting, wheras Richard Clayderman appealed visually to a very different audience yet admitted to having no special talent, he rated himself as "a barely competent session musician".

James Last is another example of the genre, if it can be called that, as someone else mentioned. Vanessa Mae perhaps?

You could call them popularizers of music that would otherwise be a little too classical for the tastes of their audience, their appeal is largely achieved through a combination of visual means, humour, and jazzing things up a bit. Music hall performers, would perhaps be a good name for them.

Their audience? I would say people who don't appreciate classical music but believe that they are classy enough that they probably should. The Dunning-Kruger music appreciation society, the sort of people who would spend more on a "classier" bottle of brandy and then mix it with Coke.

Oh well, taste is taste, if they really enjoy it fine, but I can't help feeling that a lot of them are fooling themselves.

I don't know, my dad is big on classical music. I grew up listening to all the old masters, plus copious amounts of proper opera. He spent a fucking fortune on classical vinyl. He wouldn't listen to anything other than proper classical music, and has a good understanding of what makes an excellent recording, so he wouldn't let anyone buy him music as a present in case they got the wrong recording with the wrong orchestra or conductor. And yet he likes Andre Rieu.