Andre Rieu at 70: “I’ll still be jumping about on stage when I’m 120!”

On October 1, Andre Rieu will be 70, but don’t mention retirement to him. He is not at all interested. In fact, he is having the time of his life.

“I don’t understand the word ‘retirement’,” says the violinist. “How can you retire from music?”

Described as the King of the Waltz (although the man himself points to Johann Strauss as the real king), Andre has been close to bankruptcy and come through health scares, but continues to conquer the world with the greatest gift he can offer.

“Music is inside you and it will never leave you, no matter how old you are,” he insists. “I could never stop playing music and if I am able to play, then I am able to give the gift of music to people of all kinds, from all places.

“There is nothing like music, and I could never just put down my violin and say: ‘That’s it, I am going to just play golf and read the newspapers from now on.’ That’s impossible.

“Making music is the only thing I can do, so it is my ambition to go on and on,” he continues. “Yes, I am going to be 70, but that means nothing except that I have been around longer than some people and not as long as others!

“I want to carry on forever and do not be surprised if I am still with my orchestra, playing and jumping about on the stage when I am 120!”

Today, Andre might own a castle in his home city of Maastricht, but he had much more humble beginnings and his journey has had plenty of ups and downs.

“It is true that I am probably the luckiest person on the planet – I get to play with a fantastic family of musicians every night and we play for thousands of people who are happy because they love the music,” he says.

“I never dreamed my life would become so good.

“My childhood was very simple. I was introduced to music at a very early age as I was growing up in Maastricht because my father was a conductor with the local symphony orchestra.

“There were six of us children so, although my father had a great job and earned good money, we were never rich.

“That didn’t matter to us at all. We were a happy family. My grandmother lived with us too and she was wonderful. We all lived in a little house and we played together and laughed together and enjoyed being part of our family.

“I followed in my father’s footsteps to became a music student – so I didn’t have any money either!

“I remember I wanted a microscope but there was no way I could afford one. Then a man in a local antique shop asked me if I could tune an antique organ for him. I really didn’t know how but I said I’d try, and after a while I was able to.

“He was delighted – and then I was delighted because he paid me and I was able to get my microscope.”

Although his concerts sell out everywhere and his albums and DVDs sell in their millions, Andre has never really been interested in making money.

“Of course, you have to have money to survive, and when you find that you have enough money, it is a nice feeling,” he explains. “But my wife, Marjie, and I have always said that we don’t do this for the money. We do it because we love music. We love to share it and put on something that will always be a great memory for those who see or hear us.

“I remember in our early days, someone wrote a review of our concert and they said that the ladies in the audience looked like nuns because they were all dressed in black.

“That was not nice to read but I learned from that and realised that to really celebrate music you have to put on a performance, not just play one piece of music after another.

“There are purists who think we are too extravagant with our performances, but it works for us.

“We have always ploughed our money back into our performances and that is why we almost went bankrupt.

“That was a tough time. We didn’t know if our bubble was going to pop and it would be the end of us.

“We once played in Vienna at the amazing Schönbrunn Palace,” Andre explains. “It was such a fantastic evening, with dancers and many other people, and I was in love with the whole feel of it.

“I thought it’d be a good idea to recreate that evening – including the actual palace – on a world tour so we spent a lot of money investing in such a great setting.

“We did it too. We had the big palace and dancers and ice skaters and fountains and horses and carriage… It was wonderful. But by the time we had finished, we were millions in debt and the bank looked set to close us down.

“It was such a difficult time, and for a whole week, we didn’t know what was going to happen. Then the bank manager called us in and told us that the only way they were going to get their money back would be for us to carry on and earn it.

“The stress made me ill for a while and I had to take some time out. My family looked after me.

“We – well, I – learned a great deal from that and we have never looked back.”

Andre Rieu is a household name all over the world but what has been the real secret of his success?

“We take music to the people and rejoice in it,” he says simply. “Every night, we have a party and celebrate all kinds of music.

“Of course, the Johann Strauss Orchestra loves to play the waltzes but our family of musicians can play anything, so we provide a big selection of favourites, from the classics, to movie music, to pop and rock ’n’ roll. You name it.

“We like to have fun, which is why you will sometimes see snow falling in our concerts, or our pianist will suddenly start to tap dance on top of the piano! Anything can happen. But always to celebrate the music, never to take away from it.

“We, on the platform, are a family.

“Music is an international language. It bonds people like nothing else.”

When the music stops, Andre carefully packs his Stradivarius and when the tour ends for a while, he goes home to his castle.

“I loved this castle ever since I was a little boy!’ he says. “It was magical and I always wanted to own it.

“It is very old – 15th Century – and we have spent a lot of money on giving it love and renovating it. I love to be there, surrounded by my wife, my children and our grandchildren.

“At the same time we are always busy arranging the next tour and the recordings and the rehearsals.

“It never stops, just as music never stops, and even though I am nearly 70, I will never stop!”