Before The Concert

I am the luckiest guy in the world
when it comes to meeting JSO members.

1330 Friday….I’ve parked my car & am walking toward the concert hall with a plastic shopping bag containing a letter to Agnes, Nadia & Arthur. Also included are 3 brightly colored pair of walking shorts & their names in bright contrasting colors across the backside:

• Pink for Agnes

• Yellow for Nadia

• MULTI-fluorescent colors for Arthur

& as I’m passing a hotel I impulsively go in & ask if I can leave some stuff for Agnes Walter, with André & the JSO. I’m told they’re not staying here, but to try next door.

So I go the hotel next door & ask if I can leave some stuff for Agnes. Of course you can, would you like to call up to her room & talk to her or leave a voice mail.

Please connect me, I reply as I go around a corner to use a house phone. I’m only able to leave a voice mail since she & Nadia are out.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to give my stuff to them directly because the stage entrance is 2 stories underground inside a garage, a place where no visitors have access.

I’m feeling considerable glee & a true sense of accomplishment in knowing I’ve overcome almost insurmountable obstacles at being able to deliver the goodies to my 3 favorite JSO members, as I leave the hotel, Just a stroke of pure good luck!. This is a good omen for things to come

1915 Friday The closer I get to the concert hall the faster my pace, & I feel a quickened heart beat as I near the entrance. The concert is scheduled to begin at 2000.

I’m 15’ from the main entrance, I have my ticket in hand, I’m looking around to see if I recognize anyone…..bingo! It’s Franco Vulcano (double bass) & someone else. I stop dead in my tracks, Franco & I change smiles as I ask, Franco? He looks at the photo on my T-shirt, looks at me again & to my surprise remembers we spoke to each other at the end of last years concert. We exchange a few more pleasantries as I’m removing my backpack & asking if I can take a photo of him. I look at the other young, good looking man & confess I don’t recognize him. He identifies himself as Luca, the 1 new male violinist. I’m ecstatic at so quickly been able to place a face with 1 new name. I ask him if he can help me put a face with the names of the 2 new choir members. He does. All this time I’ve been removing my backpack & getting my camera. I ask Franco & Luca if I can take their photo & they readily agree, but there isn’t enough light so we head for the entrance where there much more light. They walk right past the security but I am stopped, asked for my ticket & asked if I would please remove the professional lens to my camera & just use the smaller lens; of course, I readily agree. Once inside I change lenses & take a couple of photos of Luca & Franco with that very familiar smile of his. The combination of my outfit & photo taking has drawn other people who also recognize Franco, so it becomes a frenzy of me to, as others also want to take photos. There is much laughter.

I turn around, look up & who do you think is approaching? Béla! He looks a little surprised because he has been walking around & no one has said anything to him. He sees the photo on my T-shirt, smiles as big as you can image, picks up the pace, extends his hand, & laughingly exclaims, "Suzan, that’s my partner". Clearly, as far as Béla is concerned anyone with a photo of Suzan is a friend of his. We warmly shake hands, laughing & looking each other right in the eye. We both express our thoughts of how much we miss Suzan. I ask him if I could have someone take a photo of the two of us together & he readily agrees. In my excitement, I can’t remember whether it was Luca or Franco that took the 2 photos of Béla & me. Béla keeps looking back & forth at the photo of Suzan, Agnes, Nadia, & my eyes, laughing all the time. I thanked him & he thanked me. As I departed Béla was surrounded by others also wanting to have themselves photographed with him; clearly he was enjoying himself. Lady luck was sure looking out for me tonight & the concert hadn’t even begun.

Incidentally, I gave Luca, Franco & Béla a little slip of paper with Sally’s website & asked them to take a peek from to time, to see what we are saying about them.

Each readily accepted the slip of paper & assured me they would, indeed, ‘peek’ in from time to time.

Once I found my seat I struck up conversations with those around me & of course gave each a little slip of paper with Sally’s website

I removed my backpack & circulated around, wanting others to see the www.andrerieufans.com on the back of my T-Shirt. Carrying my camera I headed for the stage, making mental notes of where I wanted to position myself to take photos during the concert. font>

I spot Pierre, approach him as he is looking with complete surprise at the photo of Suzan, on my T-Shirt. I thank him for all his hard work & express how much I miss Suzan……"so do I", Pierre replies in a very heartfelt way.

I return to my aisle seat, the lights get dim for a couple of minutes.

THE CONCERT

With my camera ready & knowing the JSO would be walking right past me, I stood & turned to the back waiting in eager anticipation. Bingo! Lady luck was still looking after me because André was heading straight for me, leading other JSO members behind. I took a photo of him as the others followed behind. André saw the chartreuse color of my sleeve 20’ away & as he drew nearer saw, probably for the very first time, a photo of his orchestra members on a T-Shirt; his eyes were locked on me from 20’ away & he even turned around briefly after he past, clearly grinning & giggling at what he saw.

I’m watching the JSO members go by, each looking over at the chartreuse color & the photo, each acknowledging me in some small way.

There she is, it’s Agnes Walter! She’s seen the chartreuse color, now she sees a photo of herself, looks up at me with instantaneous recognition. She looks me in the eye & every fiber of her being is saying "yes, I remember", even though no words are spoken; she looks at me at me, giving me that world class smile of hers until she passes by. I am a happy camper & the evening is still so young. Throughout the concert, Agnes repeatedly made it quite clear to me she noticed me every time I went to the stage to take a photo or 2, she all but hollered out my name. <big grin>

The concert began at 2000 sharp, the Christmas backdrop was beautiful & the music incomparable.

Several regular JSO members were missing; Linda Custers (viola), Karin Hinze (cello), Mireille Brepols (Percussion), Heidi Klinkers (choir)…just wanted each of you to know you were conspicuous by your absence…I missed you!

Dan, the Banner man, was also missing. I hope to meet you someday.

Throughout this concert I particularly enjoyed how everyone in the orchestra & choir had the camera focused on them, each had a little something extra to give.

During The Blue Danube, the 2 jumbo monitors displayed blue water, in the center each JSO members face was faded into the center of the water & then faded out.

There were fewer Christmas songs this year which means more of André’s regular music was played, much to my delight.

Nadia was the one that flirted with the blacksmith, the one he picked up & carried onto the stage before André broke it up during the Feuerfest polka with Roland & Noël. I love that tune, it’s catchy.

I’m here to tell you Frank Steijns is becoming more & more ebullient & outgoing onstage. He played to the audience & when onstage with Andre during the competition between the "Bellfast" & the xylophone, he had the audience in the palm of his hand.

I've been told Frank is one of several people that actively work on & contribute to André’s website.

I’m not going into the details of each & every number other than to echo Sally’s comments, that each smile, each note, every number enthralled everyone in the audience & the concert was over far too quickly. Time really does fly by when you’re having a good time.

Now I’m going to share a secret with you…<Bill leans over & whispers into your ear> If you go up to the stage during the intermission, wait till the orchestra members begin to file back in, you’ll have about 5 minutes where you can speak directly with orchestra members, ask them to pose for photos & say something before the 2^nd half of the concert begins.> <shhhhh>

I was up by the stage when the intermission ended, waiting patiently for Nadia, when she returned I called out to her by name, she looked over at me <15 seconds go by as she is processing me & the photo information & translating what she sees into her own language>….Bingo….her face light up, she laughs, points to me, looks me right in the eye & says she remembers, pokes Sanne in the ribs telling her to look at my T-Shirt…..they’re both laughing…..& realizing this is the first time they’ve seen JSO members imprinted on the front of a T-Shirt. I take their photo & they both know next year they may appear on a T-Shirt, who knows? <giggle>

It was during this brief moment I got some photos of Margriete (cello) who was sitting behind Nadia. I especially wanted to take her photo because she has been with André since the beginning 27 years ago, because she is a photographer, & because I think she is a very attractive lady! Hopefully, at some point in time I’ll be lucky enough to talk with her.

René (Trumpet) ...after the concert I thanked him for his superb rendition of Musik Musik on the Schönbrunn DVD. He is a very soft speaking person.

Lawrence summed up in one sentence the concert going experience when he said "it’s the sum of the parts" that make André’s concerts so enjoyable, so memorable.