At 75 years old, André Rieu not only stands out for his musical prowess, but also for his impressive fortune. Owner of hundreds of properties in Maastricht, he has built a veritable real estate empire. Between his castle, his lucrative investments and his rare violins, the musician has built a veritable empire.
André Rieu: A castle, hundreds of properties… At 75 years old, the violinist has a very vast heritage!
The rest after the ad
If the waltzes he performs make bodies and hearts turn, the numbers he generates are enough to make your head spin. This October 1st, André Rieu celebrates his 75th birthday. He’s been playing the violin for seventy years and he doesn’t seem ready to stop. His tour, which will pass through Lisbon at the end of October, will then tour the main European cities. And the calendar is already planned until November 2025! Some years he did up to 100 datesfilling entire stadiums sometimes several evenings in a row.
As for his record sales, even if we are far from Thriller by Jackson who breaks all records with 60 million copies sold for this album alone, André Rieu can however boast to be the classical musician who has sold the most records in the worldwho has won over 40 million buyers between his records and DVDs, collecting 500 platinum records and 270 gold records in the process!
The key to its success, despite a huge financial setback a few years ago? His music, of course. It is certainly shunned by classical specialists. In January 2016, in Feet in the Flatat the microphone of Cyril Hanouna, Renaud Capuçon during an interview, had scratched him by evoking his “not very high level” on the violin. But that doesn’t matter. His spectators adore him, who launch themselves into wild dances to the sound of his arranged versions of Shostakovich or Strauss.
His success is also due to his grandiose shows, for which he needs more than 100 people, hired full time, including 60 musicians. Finally, the folklore that surrounds his shows serves as a sounding board. When he performs in Maastricht, his hometown, as he does every year, she wears the colors of André Rieu. Restaurants make special menus in his namethe stalls of the stalls are overflowing with products bearing his image such as traditional mugs, t-shirts, scarves, but also, more comically, life-size cardboard statueswho represent him.
André Rieu sells a very special ticket for 859 euros
Maastricht is also the city where he has, since his acquisition in 1994, a 15th century castle. A childhood dream, which he had nourished since the discovery of the Château de Moulinsart in Tintin. This immense building with 27 rooms, he offers his fans the opportunity to visit it! This is how when he performs in his city, as reported by our colleagues from Parisian in 2019, André Rieu is selling a package including a concert ticket, a night in a 5-star hotel, and a visit to his castle! When its tickets generally sell for between 60 and 140 euros, this special offer cost 859 euros that year.
At this price, visitors are even welcomed to the property by André’s direct descendant, This is Pierre, his son. ” Every yearI myself take care of the visits to my father’s mansion, explained the latter to Parisian. I think it’s important for people to be welcomed by a Rieu, they really have the impression of entering into our privacy.” In this case, our colleagues explain, only the ground floor, decorated in particular with works by Marc, the artist’s other sonis accessible, during this brief tour of the owner…
A hundred violins and a fortune estimated at 25 million euros
The fact remains that these performances taken together, these accumulated successes, despite a resounding scandal involving minors, have allowed the violinist to be a little more than a lord in his kingdom. He would notably be at the head of a gigantic real estate empire, as explained by the daily La Libre Belgique at the start of the year. He would notably possess “hundreds of properties” in Maastricht, allowing him to earn comfortable rents. Another method to grow his assets: buy goods, renovate them and realize enormous capital gains, like this house, acquired for 195,000 euros, which he would have managed to resell for a million euros, as claimed La Libre Belgiquewho today estimates his fortune at 25 million euros.
A fortune including some anecdotes, told by our colleagues from Releasewho met the artist a few years ago, allow us to give the measure or rather the excess. André Rieu, able to go and perform at the North Pole for a colossal sum, notably employs a man to pass him a pen and photos when he signs autographs on tour; his private orchestra, the largest in the worldtravels in its own planes; five buses and eight semi-trailers follow him on his tours; he has his own sewing workshop to make his musicians’ costumes; Finally, a man gets paid to watch his violina Stradivarius dating from 1732 whose price is estimated between 2 and 3 million euros. He owns around a hundred violins and takes the most precious ones with him every evening to sleep not far from them. A new way, undoubtedly, of making chamber music.
