Technically he is talented but just decided to go down the populistic route and made a nice bit of money doing it.

I'm a piano player and a singer, not a violin player but my professional violin playing friends have in the past told me that Rieu is a perfectly competent player, not a virtuoso. They described his playing as showy and overdone, but that's what his audiences want and he knows how to give his audiences exactly what they want.

Apparently he had a quite severe musical upbringing (his father was a conductor) and rebelled against his parents, who wanted him to follow a very traditional classical music career. He's done well. Not my cup of tea at all but I can see why he is successful.

Well with a gross income of $40+ million annually he must be doing something right. He also plays a Strad from 1732.

Well with a gross income of $40+ million annually he must be doing something right.

How much does Donald Trump make, and what does he do right?

Sorry, but I have always had an aversion to the "X many people can't be wrong" style of argument/advertising.

zulumoose wrote:

Well with a gross income of $40+ million annually he must be doing something right.

How much does Donald Trump make, and what does he do right?

Sorry, but I have always had an aversion to the "X many people can't be wrong" style of argument/advertising.

Comparing apples and oranges again? Politics and entertainment. One person who readily declares his income to one who keeps it secret? Audiences for entertainers have always been a way of judging success.

Trump didn't make his money from politics, but that's beside the point.

The amount of money you make does not in any way justify what you are doing as right, unless the only criteria by which you are judging something as right is financial.

Since Rieu is not primarily a financier, it is not a great way to judge the "rightness" of what he is doing.

I'm not trying to start an argument here, I just can't see that sort of reasoning without commenting.

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

You'll rieu the day...

Mike_L wrote:

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

You'll rieu the day...

Well it could easily backfire if it turns out Animavore is expected to go with him.

One of many kinds of entertainment venues I would pay the ticket price to get OUT of.

Mike_L wrote:

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

You'll rieu the day...

He could string his dad along before he bows to his wishes.

zulumoose wrote:Trump didn't make his money from politics, but that's beside the point.

The amount of money you make does not in any way justify what you are doing as right, unless the only criteria by which you are judging something as right is financial.

Since Rieu is not primarily a financier, it is not a great way to judge the "rightness" of what he is doing.

I'm not trying to start an argument here, I just can't see that sort of reasoning without commenting.

You are still comparing apples and oranges.

Rieu is a straight forward entertainer. 45 is a corrupt politician and businessman.

Blackadder wrote:

Mike_L wrote:

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

You'll rieu the day...

He could string his dad along before he bows to his wishes.

That might end in violins.

Mike_L wrote:

Blackadder wrote:

Mike_L wrote:

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

You'll rieu the day...

He could string his dad along before he bows to his wishes.

That might end in violins.

Fiddling with emotions is not advisable, that tends to rosinate badly.

He'll have to walk a fine line and straddle various options.

... or get all crochety and fail to stave off the blues.

Mike_L wrote:

Blackadder wrote:

Mike_L wrote:

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

You'll rieu the day...

He could string his dad along before he bows to his wishes.

That might end in violins.

Fret not.

Animavore wrote:

Mike_L wrote:

Blackadder wrote:

Mike_L wrote:
You'll rieu the day...

He could string his dad along before he bows to his wishes.

That might end in violins.

Fret not.

The puns are getting more breve. And sharp.

It's getting to be quite ode-ious.

He might not be a gifted musician (just a good one), but boy is he a good entertainer. And a twat. But mainly a good entertainer and show man who's to classical music what the national geographic channel is to science. A cross between the cirque du soleil and the New Year's concert of the the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra.

I'm surprised he doesn't work trapeze artists into his performances.

Give him time... it's got to be on his list of gimmicks somewhere.

My mum, a real classical aficionado, loves him to bits. I took her to his "live in cinemas" Christmas concert last year, even though he's really not my cup of tea. It was exactly as you'd expect. For mum, I think the appeal is that she's a bit of a sucker for sentimentality, and Rieu does sentimentality in spades. She like that he's unapologetic at effectively saying: this music is both beautiful and fun. It's the thought that counts, I guess, because if I wanted classical music that was beautiful, fun, or both, he's not where I'd go, but each to their own - he seems to connect well with the music-as-parlour-entertainment aesthetic of times gone by, and I'm not really going to begrudge those of previous generations the enjoyment of things that were fashionable in their own formative years.