Andre Rieu Draws Record-Breaking Crowds

NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Denon Records) - In the first week of his Australian Tour, chart-topping violinist Andre Rieu broke classical concert records when he packed Melbourne's Telstra Dome with 89,000 of his fans. At the last of his three Melbourne concerts, on November 15th, Rieu sold out the Dome and played for an unprecedented 38,605 classical concertgoers.

Violinst/conductor Rieu was touched by what he experienced: "We've played all over the world, from New York to Seoul and from Tokyo to Paris, but this was different. To be thousands of miles from home and to get such an enormous welcome -from 38,000 people- really made me speechless."

Dancing with the Stars
Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra also appeared on television while in Melbourne, performing on the season finale of the Australian Dancing with the Stars and live on The Today Show. The popularity of Rieu in Australia keeps growing. Rieu currently has 15 albums listed in the music DVD top 40. Except for No 6 (Pink) and No 7 (AC/DC) Rieu holds all of the top 10 positions.

Record-breaking ticket sales and stage
Rieu's Australian Tour is showing early signs of record-breaking ticket sales. Vendors have already sold almost 250,000 tickets for the tour's eleven concerts. The Australian Tour is the final leg of the 2008 World Stadium Tour in which Rieu transported a full-size replica of Vienna's Schonbrunn Palace around the world. 375 feet wide and 100 feet high, Rieu's portable castle easily exceeds the size of the largest Rolling Stones' stage.

Top 15 touring act Worldwide
Pollstar's Q3 report ranks Rieu as the 34th best-selling touring act, placing him between Coldplay and Van Halen. After completing his Australian tour and European Christmas concerts, Rieu will have performed for 700,000 fans. With high concert attendence like this, Rieu is well on his way to securing a position among the world's top fifteen touring acts of 2008.