Rieu entertains

ANDRE RIEU, USANA Amphitheatre, June 25

At 8 p.m., world-renowned Dutch violinist Andre Rieu took the USANA Amphitheatre stage.

After rousing applause, Rieu announced the show would be delayed because of the weather, which was preventing the lighting and speaker rigs to be set in place.

"So we will wait," said the Dutch musician with a grin. "It will take three hours."

After a small pause, he said, "It will be about 20 minutes."

At 8:30 p.m., Rieu stood center stage as the members of his Johann Strauss Orchestra marched through the aisles to the beat of "76 Trombones."

That was the beginning of a family-friendly, classical pops concert that the audience will undoubtedly talk about for years to come.

Rieu and his orchestra entertained the audience and made classical music fun for everyone.

There was the technically challenging works such as Puccini's "E Lecevan Le Stelle," from "Tosca," sung by two of his three Platinum Tenors.

There was the more sweeping popular works such as the instrumental version of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," from the film "Titanic."

And there were some fun and games like the comedic shenanigans during "March of the Toreadors," where a two men in a bull costume strutted down the aisles and chased a woman in red.

A rousing version of the "Theme from 'Exodus' " and Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" were other vocal highlights.

Of course Rieu and his orchestra needed to pay tribute to mentor Johann Strauss. "Silver and Gold" and the famous "Blue Danube" were the waltzes that were played.

During "Blue Danube," couples emerged from the audience two-by-two to waltz to the flowing melody.

Soprano Carla Maffioletti did her wind-up doll routine to Offenbach's "Doll Aria."

And Australian soprano Mirusia Louwerse sang a moving rendition of "Time to Say Goodbye."

"Song of the Volga" and "I Could Have Danced All Night," the latter from "My Fair Lady," received standing ovations from the audience who braved the wind and sporadic raindrops.

Obviously proud of his heritage, Rieu set aside some time for the ladies of the orchestra to literally kick things off in the second half with a traditional Dutch clog dance.

While the performances may be considered a bit trite, irreverent and even cheesy in some classical-music circles, the fact that the Maastricht-born Rieu and his orchestra like to have fun is the charm of the performance.

He mugs for the cameras, as do all of his orchestra members, but he endears himself to the audience not only through his video-screen shots, but also his narrative descriptions, his limber violin playing and his emotional conducting.

E-mail: scott@desnews.com