Live In Australia (NTSC)

ANDRE Rieu came, saw and conquered the hearts of Melbourne He has made history. His concert at Melbourne's Telstra Dome on Saturday, 15 November, a record audience of 38,605, made it the biggest attendance of any Rieu show anywhere in the world. That it happened in Australia, the country that has so taken him to heart, pleases him endlessly. "It was an overwhelming experience. The warmth of the audience was overpowering." A giant, life-size reproduction of Vienna's cream and orange Schonbrunn Castle dominated the eastern end of the Dome. Giant candelabras flickered over the heads of Rieu and his Johann Strauss orchestra and chorus. André Rieu billed his show as "a romantic Viennese night" and it was all of this and more. Dancers twirled on two 600m ice rinks and from palace balconies and in a ballroom scene. Fountains cascaded and splashed around classical sculptures on either end of the huge stage.