CD REVIEW
ANDRÉ
RIEU
AND
HIS JOHANN STRAUSS ORCHESTRA
Happy Days
Decca CD 5487980
(67') + DVD (58')
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As sure as day
follows night, here is the
charismatic Dutchman's annual
album selection of our kind of
music to brighten the dark days
of December and beyond. Needless
to say, it immediately shot to
the top of the Classic FM
best-seller chart. This one is a
bit special as it celebrates
André's 70th birthday. The
accompanying DVD, shot in
André's "spiritual
home" of Vienna, has the
present-day King of the Waltz
himself explaining the background
to his choices for this release.
Among the 20
tracks are Shostakovich's Second
Waltz (60 million clicks on
André's YouTube channel), Andrew
Lloyd Webber's Amigos Para
Siempre (The official anthem
of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics),
Johann Strauss II's Chit-Chat
Polka, Leroy Anderson's Bugler's
Holiday, Those Were the
Days, I Could Have Danced All
Night and With a Little
Bit of Luck (from 'My
Fair Lady'), Love
Unspoken and Can-Can
(from 'The Merry Widow'),
Viva España, Paloma Blanca,
Happy Days are Here Again, Come
Share the Wine, and Robert
Stoltz's Adieu, Little
Captain of My Heart.
Dubbed the
'maestro of the masses' by the
New York Times, André says that
"with this record (sic) I
hope to pass on my joy of life
that I feel daily to everybody in
the whole world. I heartily
invite you to celebrate love and
life with me." Our pleasure,
Im sure!
© Peter
Burt 2019
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