Album: Andre Rieu, And the Waltz Goes On (Decca)

The music of crossover classical kitschmeister Andre Rieu, stalwart of the charts this past year and more, is almost perfectly summed up here in the track "Lovely Vienna by Night": the very title exudes the glutinous, touristic approach that somehow fills stadia around the world.

Here, and in tracks such as his "Grande Valse Viennoise", Rieu's exaggerated, dipping rhythms roll along with almost cartoon exuberance; but at least the music matches the form: when he applies the same style to MOR material like "Singing in the Rain", "We'll Meet Again" and especially "If You Knew Susie", the results have the same tacky overkill that once characterised The Black and White Minstrel Show.

DOWNLOAD THIS And the Waltz Goes On; Grande Valse Viennoise