Chichester's Charlotte Hawkins is André Rieu’s host as his music screens in cinemas across the country
André Rieu’s 2024 Maastricht Concert: Power Of Love will go out across the UK on the big screen in more than 500 cinemas from August 31.
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00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Art Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Really lovely
00:06to have my annual chat with Charlotte Hawkins, who is, again, as usual, the host of Andre
00:12Rieu's fantastic Maastricht concerts, which are in cinemas from August 31st. Now you talk
00:19about his charisma and his performance with such passion. You are, yourself, a big fan,
00:25aren't you, clearly?
00:26I am, absolutely. You know, it's my 13th year working with Andre, and I just feel so
00:31lucky to be able to go there every year to see his hometown concert. It takes place in
00:36this beautiful square in the middle of Maastricht. Hundreds of thousands of people come from
00:41all over the world to see his concerts. So to be there, seeing it live, is amazing. And
00:48I'm lucky enough that I get to interview him as well, as soon as he steps off stage, to
00:52talk about what's gone on. And that's exclusively for cinema audiences as well. And I think
00:57for those people who can't have that live music experience, who can't go over to Maastricht
01:01to see this for themselves, this is the very next best thing. Because you can just pop
01:05along to your local cinema, you can see it, best seat in the house, that surround sound
01:11experience that you get, popcorn in hand. And I just think it's an amazing thing to
01:18be able to see a concert, and actually just go down the road in a cinema and do it. And
01:23there's not many sort of events where you can go to the cinema and people are that engaged
01:27with it, that they will be clapping, singing, laughing, even getting up and dancing to the
01:34music.
01:35You as the host are so beautifully positioned to see the adulation that he inspires. But
01:40you can also see what it is that he's got. So what do you think it is that makes him
01:45just so special that he does inspire this level of fandom, doesn't he?
01:51He does. He absolutely does. I mean, you know, he's a phenomenal musician, but he's also
01:55a brilliant showman at the same time. And the key thing for him is wanting to do things
02:00differently. He's so passionate about injecting just something different into every concert,
02:07giving it that energy. And he always wanted to make classical music more accessible for
02:12the widest amount of people to have that connection. And he does that so brilliantly
02:17because he's always got different pieces of music in there. And it's not just the sort
02:23of traditional pieces of classical music. But actually, you know, this time, he's got
02:27a brass band of over 400 people. He's got a 16 year old singing sensation, Emma from
02:32the Dutch version of The Voice Kids. She is amazing. Even Sweet Caroline as well. There's
02:38a rendition of that in there, which that one definitely gets the audience singing along
02:43Yeah, you just never know what you're going to get with it.
02:47You're saying one consistent characteristic of him is that he really cares, doesn't he?
02:52Yes, he does. He's so passionate about the music, making it accessible, making sure that
03:00people who are there have the best concert experience that they ever would do. And that's
03:06right from the start. He wanted to do something different with classical music. You know,
03:09he looked at the concerts where the orchestras were there in dark clothing. It was all very
03:13traditional. You played certain pieces of music and that was it. He wanted to change
03:18it. He wanted to just inject that new life into it. And you look at his orchestra now,
03:23the Johann Strauss Orchestra, he's been with them for over 30 years. And they're all wearing
03:27amazing, colourful outfits. It just leaps into life the way that they do it.
03:32So it's a real sense of occasion. Now adding to the sense of occasion for us in Chichester,
03:37of course, is your Chichester connection. You are Chichester born, aren't you?
03:41I am, yes.
03:42Chichester educated as well?
03:44I was born in Chichester. I went to school in Chichester.
03:48Bishop, was it?
03:50Yes, I did. And I did quite a lot of drama there, quite a lot of music, actually. So,
03:55you know, that was kind of where my love of, I guess, performance and also being involved
04:00with music as well came from. So my mum's in Chichester, so I go back there a lot.
04:06And it's just really lovely. You know, it'll always have a special place for me because I
04:11think it's one of those places that's just so lovely. And it's always nice going back and
04:16visiting.
04:16You whisper in Andre's ear, what about a Chichester concert one day?
04:19I know, I should tell him, shouldn't I? Come back and do a special concert.
04:23Yeah, work on it.
04:25Well, in the meantime, of course, you can go to the cinema in Chichester.
04:28So people have got that to look forward to.
04:31Fantastic. We're really lovely to speak to you again. Until next year,
04:35thanks for your time and looking forward to the concert. Thank you.
04:38My absolute pleasure. Thanks very much, Phil. Great to talk to you.