Let's Discover Schwung and Chianti Wine

Hello friends.
I think that I'm back now. I'm going to write to each of you personally over the next few days. I've missed you all.

Schwung? So what's this schwung? Well, it's really very simple. Imagine a large hall, a huge square in a city or an open space in the grounds of a palace, filled with rows and rows of seats. Imagine too, how, completely transported to another world by the music, the 30 000 or 50 000 people sway from side to side in time to melodies that are ageless, filled with memories and yearning but, at the same time, call on everyone to dance and dance.
Sadly, there's usually not enough room for everyone to dance but the happy to and fro swaying in resonance, with friends and strangers alike, is an experience never to be forgotten. If you then look around and see the coloured balloons drifting upwards above you, see people, on balconies blowing soap bubbles into the breeze and old timers and youngsters  dancing in any open spaces that they can find, then there you have it...the world of schwung.
And who, today, is the Master of Schwung?  Let me tell you about a remarkable man from Maastricht , Holland. He's about 55 years old and embodies all the magic of a Pied Piper or a Gypsy violinist.
I have five of his DVD's and when people come over and I play them, an aura of total inner joy comes over them and sometimes they shed tear or two of joy.

It's not only the music. It's the irrepressible sense of fun that creeps in here and there. I mean, where else would you see a blacksmith's anvil brought onto the stage to be used as a musical instrument? But it gets worse. An artisan comes on stage and files a little bit of the anvil away so that when it's struck, it gives a note of perfect pitch.
Where will you find four members of the classical wind instrument section walk to the front of the stage and begin to sing old time popular songs in close harmony.
Where will you see the orchestra leader, play a fiddle while doing Irish step dancing.

Some of the most professional classical musicians from all over the world back up this leader, the wonderful Andre Rieux. Behind him is the famous Johan Strauss Symphony Orchestra and his resident singers include two stunning Brazilian sopranos with exquisite voices. The third soprano is from his home town, Maastricht. His three tenors are known as the Platin Tenors and they come from Hungary, Germany and Australia.
Andre Rieux and his group have appeared before packed audiences in the Royal Albert Hall, at the Schonbrun Castle in Vienna and at large venues throughout Europe, in Asia and in New York.
One of my DVD's is about his concert in Maastricht, Holland and it shows how the main square was built up for the show. Seating for 40 000 people had to be provided, 8000 special light fittings installed and a huge stage built.

The square was an inspired choice because all around it are sidewalk cafes. Once the concert had begun and the gaiety had spread far and wide, couples could be seen dancing on the balconies and thousands of diners holding up their glasses and singing impromptu choruses.

As far as I'm concerned, the farther East the music comes from and so I particularly loved these pieces often played.

Heia in The Mountain
The Girls from Chantant
The Gypsy Princess
Die Julika aus Budapest

However one piece lingers on in my memory. I find myself running the melody through my mind and sometimes even singing phrases from it. It's called "Chianti Wine" and I regard it as a celebration of life, Italian style.
Here are some evergreen favourites that the audiences seem to enjoy whether they were eighteen or eighty.

The Carmen Overture
The Vilja Song
Concerto de Aranjuez
With a Little Bit of Luck
Hava Nagala
Funiculi Funicula
Salome's Sabredance
Zorba's Dance
The Third Man
Roses from the South
My Heart will go on
Comrades, this is the Life for Me
And many many more.

So let me ask you this. Do you want to change your life? At least your mood? Want your spirits to soar to high heaven? Want to shed a tear of pure happiness?
Yes? Then go and put on an Andre Rieux DVD and pour yourself a glass of Chianti.
Then sit back.
You will soon find yourself magically transported to the Land of Schwung.