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It was by chance that Phillipe Pages, disillusioned rock musician, became Richard Clayderman, "variety concert pianist". Ballade pour Adeline, written for the daughter of his producer, turned him into an international star. For twenty years, Richard Clayderman, or the "Prince of Romance" as Nancy Reagan baptised him, has played the role of romantic French musician the world over.
Philppe Pages, alias Richard Clayderman, was born in Paris on December 28th 1953. He grew up in a Parisian apartment with his parents and sister. His father was a piano teacher and Philippe acquired the basics of music very young by listening to his father giving lessons.
At six, he was given an old piano by his grandfather. Already gifted, he read music better than he did his school exercise books. He learnt quickly and won several local competitions. When he was eleven, he entered the Paris Conservatoire. At sixteen he won the First Piano Prize and as a result, seemed destined for a classical pianist's career.
However, the young man not yet known as Richard Clayderman decided otherwise, and started a rock band with some friends. Success didn't come but financial problems did, the little money the band earned being invested in equipment. His father became ill and was no longer able to help his son financially. So Philppe went to work in a bank by day and at night accompanied established French artists like Johnny Hallyday and Michel Sardou.
He was not especially attracted by a solo career, but things took a different turn when two producers, looking for a musician, auditioned him in 1978. Olivier Toussaint and Paul de Senneville, directors of the production company, Delphine, were looking for someone to perform a romantic ballad written by the latter for his daughter, a pianist.
Ballade pour adeline
"Ballade pour Adeline" was a huge hit, first in Europe and then worldwide. He now called himself Richard Clayderman (after his great grandmother) his producers finding the pseudonym more internationally romantic. Since 1977, nearly 22 million copies of the song have been sold.
Over the years, Richard Clayderman has become the globe trotting musician par excellence, constantly giving concerts the world over. In 79, he gave his first Austrian concert, in Vienna. In less than a year and a half he had become popular as far afield as South East Asia, by performing in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and Taiwan. His highly romantic music, his perfect piano technique and his well-behaved young man image rapidly made him a big star. In 1983, he even performed in Peking, China, in front of 22.000 people. In 84, he played at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NewYork, a concert attended by Nancy Reagan, who nicknamed him "The Prince of Romance".
800 millions viewers watched his tv concert in Shanghai.
In 85, he recorded "The Classic Touch" in Britain with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 87, he performed for the second time in China, in Shanghai, in a concert broadcast on national television and throughout South East Asia. An estimated 800 million viewers watched the concert, which coincided with the Chinese release of his third album, "China's Favourite Pianist".
The following year, he followed this up with a tour of Thailand, Singapore and Japan before going to Australia for a series of twelve concerts with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. In September, it was the turn of Budapest in Hungary to welcome the famous pianist. He played there to a packed houses of 10.000 fans. A month later he flew to Turkey to play at the Aspendos Festival.
Tour followed tour. The beginning of 1989 was marked by a series of 18 concert dates in Germany, as well as Television appearances in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan and France. In April, he celebrated his ten year career as a concert pianist in Vienna, where it had begun. Summer was spent recording a new album of popular Japanese tunes for the Japanese market, and also albums for the British and French markets.
The many successful concerts he has given thoughout the world, have not made him forget Christine, his wife, and his two children, Maud and Peter.
In 92, he returned to China to give a series of concerts, including one in Peking in front of more than 20.000 people. Frontiers were no longer an obstacle: the same year he did a promotional concert for his Hispanic fans at Bally's Hotel in Las Vegas in the United States.
He continued touring in Asia and even recorded the tune "Prince of the Rising Sun" in honour of the Crown prince of Japan. He also gave two memorable concerts in the Kremlin in Moscow.
In 1997, having given more than 1200 concerts all over the planet, Richard Clayderman has received an estimated 61 platinum discs and 251 golden discs.
In 2000 Clayderman added another album to his prodigious discography with the release of the CD "101 solistes tziganes" (101 Gypsy Soloists). The following year, as the pianist's sales reached record levels (75 million albums worldwide!), Clayderman's record company announced that Clayderman would be recording an album with a traditional Chinese orchestra. This album is destined for exclusive release in China, a country Clayderman has already conquered several times over, performing there no less than seven times since 1984 and attracting capacity audiences of up to 20,000.
Meanwhile, the celebrity pianist kept up his hectic touring schedule, performing in India in September 2000 and completing an extensive Korean tour later that year. In 2001 Clayderman pursued his musical wanderlust, performing a series of concerts in Taiwan in July.
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