Getting a sit-down with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is no easy task. The busy diary of the German politician who leads the powerful EU executive is closely guarded.
In early October though, time was found for a meeting in her Brussels office with André Rieu, the famous Dutch violinist and conductor. The pair “clicked”, according to others in the room.
Rieu, known as the King of the Waltz, has had a hugely successful career touring Europe and beyond with his orchestra, playing up to 90 concerts a year and selling millions of CDs over several decades.
The get-together in Brussels between the musician and the politician was the result of a chance encounter earlier in the year. Von der Leyen was in the Dutch city of Maastricht in late April for a debate, the first big one of the campaign in the European elections.
Rieu, who was born in Maastricht, was in the crowd at the invitation of the governor of the Limburg region, Emile Roemer. Afterwards the musician asked whether it might be possible to meet von der Leyen, who at the time was seeking to secure a second term at the top of the commission.
The two had a brief chat before the commission president had to depart. In the short moment they had, Rieu raised the prospect of the EU providing significant funding to a tour he was planning.
Rieu followed up with von der Leyen on May 1st, in correspondence seen by The Irish Times. The well-known musician had an idea for a world tour that would be bigger than usual. Alongside the 120 or so people who make up his normal touring orchestra, he wanted to put together a male choir of 100 singers drawn from all the countries in Europe.
[ André Rieu lobbied Ursula von der Leyen for €15m to stage world tourOpens in new window ]
The tour would mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Johann Strauss, a famous Austrian composer. “You can perhaps imagine that there is a lack of funds for such a world tour. Unfortunately, the extra costs cannot be covered by ticket sales,” Rieu told von der Leyen. Rough estimates from the finance department of his production company indicated they would be €10 million-€15 million short.
“As I would very much like to organise this Johann Strauss World Tour with the European choir and thus promote the European idea, I am asking the EU for financial support. I would be very happy to come to you to explain my plan further,” Rieu wrote.
He said his orchestra consisted of 70 permanent musicians from 16 different EU countries, with a further 50 people employed by André Rieu Productions, which he runs with his wife. “Our company is independent, so we are not dependent on subsidies,” he said.
When artists were allowed to perform again after the coronavirus pandemic Rieu said he put on an open-air concert in Maastricht, which incorporated a “huge” male choir of 150 singers. Now he wanted to take a similar performance around the world, inviting singers from every European country to make up the choir. The letter was sent to von der Leyen via Jeroen Lenaers, a Dutch MEP from her centre right political grouping, the European People’s Party.
In a response on August 9th, an official from the commission directed Rieu towards Creative Europe, its funding programme set up to support the arts sector. The correspondence was released to The Irish Times by the commission, in response to an access to information request.
Several weeks later, von der Leyen hosted Rieu in her office on the 13th floor of the Berlaymont in Brussels, where he again raised the idea of the EU contributing funds to finance his tour. Rieu was joined by his son, Pierre Rieu, who works in the family production company, as well as Lenaers.
Minutes of the meeting state the group talked about the role of culture in Europe, with Rieu sharing his “thoughts about bringing together musicians from EU member states to form the largest European male choir”. In response, commission officials again pointed him to the Creative Europe funding scheme. A spokeswoman for the commission said they were not aware of any application for funding under the scheme from Rieu.
Pierre Rieu said his father and von der Leyen “clicked” during the meeting, which he said was probably a welcome change for her from the daily cut and thrust of politics.
The Rieu family since had second thoughts about seeking funding from the EU, due to concerns about possible backlash given his father was a “man with a lot of money”. The family ran a “healthy business”, selling more than 800,000 tickets this year across 90 concerts, he said.
The company had not taken “one euro” in public subsidies over several decades, so had decided not to start now, he said. “We’re still going to try to do the tour, we’re going to look for commercial sponsors,” he said.
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