You won't see an Andre Rieu video on Channel V, you'll never hear him on any Austereo, ARN or DMG station, you won't see the daily newspapers write about him, but Andre Rieu is the biggest music star to grace the Australian charts in 2007.
This week on the Australian DVD chart, he has 5 titles in the Top 10 at positions 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.Outside the Top 10, he appears at numbers 11, 13, 19 and 28.
The Australian fans are buying anything that bears his name. The number 19 title is a Christmas release.
Rieu who? Andre Rieu is known as The King of Waltz in Europe. The classical trained musician performs like a rock star and attracts a young audience of late teens and young adults.
His audience gets into the performance like they are at a rock show. They stand up, dance, applaud and scream to the music of the Rieu orchestra.
Rieu is a great example of someone who is breathing life into a battered music industry. The youth targeted, pop orientated disposable philosophies of some of the majors has sent their strategies into a brick wall. Rieu proves people will still buy great music if they know it's out there.
