A tribute to my hometown.
Wherever we go on stage, I feel deeply gratified looking at the happy faces in our audience. That and playing with the Johann Strauss Orchestra is what I love most about performing concerts.
But there is one show I look forward to the whole year – and my orchestra feels the same way: the traditional summer night’s concert on the Vrijthof, the big square in my hometown Maastricht.
The atmosphere is breathtaking. With its medieval churches and historical buildings, and its many terraces, the Vrijthof is amongst the most beautiful and homely places I know.
From all over the world people come into the city of Maastricht to be part of this unforgettable show. And even when the show is long over the audience still stays on the square to talk, dance and sing the melodies we’ve just played. I love this city more than any other place in the world. And it has been a pleasure and honour to record some of the highlights and melodies that have made these Maastricht shows so special over the past decade. And at the end of the album you can hear me sing with all the power in my lungs: ‘I’m in love with Maastricht!’
