Eindhovens dagblad, 11 February 2025 by Arjen Vos, photo WvH by Kees Martens Translation by Ineke, edited by John. Helmond’s General Practicioner Wim van Herpen (72) on an adventure with waltz king André Rieu: “Sending everyone home happy is a gift” HELMOND - He considers it a special dessert after a long career as a GP in Helmond: Wim van Herpen is going on a trip as a doctor with André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra. "If someone is sick, I have to be there, but not interfere with other things." The 72-year-old doctor knows his place, just like everyone in the company. Because make no mistake: that company consists of as many as 120 people. "The musicians are of course the most important, but there are also chefs, light and sound people, set builders, bus drivers and a personal trainer. “It's a company, a well-oiled machine," says Van Herpen, who will travel to Bahrain next week. Here is the thing. Peter de Beer from Maastricht, a former study buddy of Van Herpen, also from Maastricht, was also Rieu's touring doctor. But De Beer fell ill and was looking for a replacement. Van Herpen was the only one from his study group from the late 1970s who was still active as a doctor, even after he ended his practice in 2016. So, De Beer asked his Helmond buddy to fill in. Van Herpen: "Well, I thought that would be fun... I didn't have full working weeks anymore anyway." Currently they travel with two doctors at the same time. Is that really necessary? Yes, Rieu thinks. Van Herpen: “He now is also 75 and his musicians are of course getting older too. At one point someone from the group had a heart attack in Greece. As a result, Peter was in the hospital with that person for a day and a half.” “André thinks it is wise that another doctor can stay with the company. Hospitalization abroad has already been necessary a few times. After all, it is a large group that frequently stays abroad.” Everyone has a fixed place on the bus. For Van Herpen this will be his tenth trip. Thanks to Rieu's waltzes he has already been to many nice cities, from Oslo to Prague, from Zurich to Budapest and from Belfast to Lisbon. The trips follow a fixed pattern. The group usually leaves on Wednesday mornings by charter plane from the airport near Maastricht and performs for four evenings. On Sunday the group returns home. Van Herpen: “Three buses are ready on site. Everyone has a fixed place in them. It is really all perfectly arranged." The first day is the soundcheck at three o'clock in the afternoon, where Rieu himself sits down in the hall and listen. Afterwards, there will be dinner. Four chefs prepare the meal. Van Herpen: "André then rests between five and seven o'clock, the concert starts at half past seven. In between there is a twenty-minute intermission and at about a quarter past ten it is over. Then a drink afterwards and with the buses to the hotel." Every now and then, Van Herpen picks up a snippet of a concert. "But usually we stay backstage in our doctor's room. Then I read a book. As doctors, we are important when someone becomes ill and otherwise not at all. I am also not supposed to interfere in other matters. You have a certain role and that is it. The atmosphere is fine, but you have to know what you can and cannot do." Van Herpen has a lot of respect for Rieu. "He is really the boss and sees everything. Even a stain on someone's clothing. He is friendly, but keeps a professional distance. He is good to his people, but also demands one hundred percent commitment and enormous discipline. No one is ever late." Incredible entertainer “Whether Rieu is in a good mood or having a bad day, the moment he steps on stage, the switch is flipped. Then he wins everyone over. He is an incredible entertainer." It is nice to experience all this, and that more or less by chance. At home, Van Herpen is not quick to put on a record of waltzes by Strauss. "But I do think it's beautiful. The best thing is that everyone goes home happy. That's really a gift of Rieu, especially in a time when being happy is not self-evident." During the day, so before the three-hour sound check, Van Herpen regularly has time to go and see a city. "One of us stays behind with the orchestra. The other can then go out. For example, that’s how I was in Leipzig, a beautiful city, of which I had no idea about. Bahrain, I wouldn't go there myself, but it's very nice to look around. It's nice to experience all this, and more or less by chance. Because if I hadn't known Peter from my student days and hadn't continued working after my retirement, it would never have come my way." To read an article about GP Peter de Beer, from the Limburger July 2024, click HERE.

Peter de Beer

Wim van Herpen