Andre Rieu: Maastricht’s King of the Waltz now King of the UK Box Office

Dutch violinist, conductor and composer Andre Rieu poses for a photograph in Sydney, Australia, 09 October 2013 (Getty)

He is known as the “King of the Waltz”, playing to packed stadiums around the world. Now Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu can claim to reign over the UK box office too, after breaking a cinema record.

Every summer, the 65-year-old showman, who has performed on Strictly, gives a concert in his hometown of Maastricht in front of thousands of fans and broadcasts it to cinemas around the world.

On 18 July, 90,000 classical music enthusiasts in Britain and Ireland flocked to their local multiplexes to see Rieu’s concert on the big screen. It grossed £1.1m at the box office, the most ever for a music concert broadcast into UK and Irish cinemas on a single night.

Janelle Mason, co-director and executive producer of CinemaLive, which broadcast the event, said: “We’ve been working with André Rieu for six years and each one has got bigger. André has an enormous fan base and we find if they come to the screenings once, they come back again and often bring a friend.”

CinemaLive used 29 cameras to film the show including ones mounted on drones that flew above the open air venue. “It makes it very epic and cinematic,” Ms Mason said.

Rieu is the highest-charting classical artist this century, with fans loving his waltz albums mixed with popular hits such as Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”.