André Rieu

André Rieu, born on October 1, 1949 in Maastricht, the Netherlands, is a Dutch violinist and conductor who is world-renowned for popularizing classical music through spectacular concerts accessible to all. Born into a family of musicians, he took up the violin at an early age and studied at the Conservatoire de Liège, before founding the Johann Strauss Orchestra with his brother in 1987. Over the decades, André Rieu has firmly established himself in the recording and concert industry, becoming famous for his interpretations of waltzes, marches and popular airs, combining tradition with theatrical staging, costumes and grandiose settings. He has recorded numerous successful albums, including Viva la Vida (1995), Strauss & Co (1996), André Rieu: The 100 Most Beautiful Melodies (2000), André Rieu in Concert (2003), Romantic Moments (2007) and Douce France (2010), devoted to the French chanson repertoire. In the years that followed, the maestro multiplied original and compilation releases at a frenetic pace of three or four albums a year, before scaling back his output. Thus followed Forever Vienna (2011), Happy Days (2014), Magic of the Violin (2015), Viva Olympia and Falling in Love (2016), Parlez-Moi d'Amour (2017) and Romantic Moments II (2018), more than twenty years after the first volume. Between world tours featuring live recordings, he regularly returns to the studio with his orchestra to expand his repertoire with the albums L'Hiver en Fête (2020), Happy Together (2021), Silver Bells (2022), Voilà (2023), Love Is All Around and The Sound of Heaven (2024), followed by Power of Love and Thank You, Johann Strauss (2025).