Award-winning and globe-trotting French pianist Richard Clayderman is returning to Taiwan where he will kick off a three-day tour of the island tonight at the Chihshan Hall (至善廳) in Kaohsiung. His repertoire will include music from blockbuster movies such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Harry Potter. And no Clayderman program would be complete without the song that started his solo career, Ballade pour Adeline.
Dubbed “the prince of romance” by Nancy Regan, Clayderman was born Philippe Pages in Paris in 1953. The son of a music teacher, it is said that by the age of six the young Pages could read music better than he could his school textbooks.
Clayderman, who arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, began his music career at age 12, when he was accepted into the prestigious Conservatoire of Music in Paris. When at 16 he took the school's prestigious first prize it became apparent that he was destined to become a brilliant pianist.
But to the surprise of his teachers, he cast aside classical music in favor of pursuing a career in rock music. However, contemporary music proved a difficult nut for the young musician to crack.
With a sick father and a rock career going nowhere, Clayderman decided to find work as an accompanist, where his talents landed him work with well-known French rock acts such as Michel Sardou and Johnny Halliday.
His star continued to rise when in 1976 a famous French music producer signed him on as a pianist to record a gentle piano ballad for his daughter called Ballade pour Adeline.
Still deep in the days of disco, his producers told him they'd be satisfied if they sold 10,000 copies. To everyone's surprise, the single sold a phenomenal 22 million copies in 38 countries, catapulting Clayderman to international fame.
The Guinness Book of World Records hails him as “the most successful pianist in the world,” having sold over 70 million records. He has recorded over 1,000 tunes and performed over 1,200 concerts worldwide. He also has a staggering 267 Gold and 70 Platinum discs to his credit.
Clayderman attributes his incredible success to the “New Romantic” style that he is credited with creating.
“The new romantic style gets its inspiration from classical music,” says Clayderman, “and then I add my own elements to it.”
Clayderman's sold out concert last year is what has brought him back. “I love Taiwan. I love performing for people who have such a deep response to my music,” he said.
Clayderman's grueling performance and recording schedule — he's been know to perform 200 concerts a year — would leave most other musicians breathless, but the youthful-looking pianist attributes his rigorous schedule to his love of music.
When asked why Clayderman is so popular in Taiwan, a young promoter named Cathy Shi said, “people in Taiwan don't have a long tradition of listening to [Western] classical music. Most of us prefer to listen to easy-listening or love songs, which is why Richard is so popular here.”
Popular indeed. The concerts in Kaohsiung and Taipei are almost sold out and there is only a hand full of tickets left for the Taichung performance. And with a charming and relaxed stage persona combined with his natural good looks, there is sure to be a few concertgoers swooning at his feet.
Performance Notes:
Who: Richard Clayderman
Where: At Chihshan Hall, Kaohsiung (高雄至善廳) tonight; tomorrow at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei (台北國父紀念館); Sunday at Huisun Auditorium of the National Chung Hsing University (台中中興大學惠蓀堂)
When: Tonight at 8pm, tomorrow at 2:30pm and 7:30pm, and Sunday at 7:30pm
Tickets: NT$800 to NT$2,400 for Kaohsuing; NT$800 to NT$2,500 for Taipei; NT$700 to NT$2,500 for Taichung
I have to say I am more excited than usual at the outset of this trip. The journey starts by taking the train from Kaohsiung to Taitung County’s Guanshan Township (關山) on the Puyuma express. This much-improved service only takes a little over two hours, cut down from more than three hours in the past. The plan is to replicate a bike ride I did in 2008 from Taitung to Kaohsiung on the Southern Cross-Island Highway. Traveling with a touring bike and self-supported, I have everything I need to survive for the three days: camping gear, food, warm clothes and
Depending on who you talk to, beach cleanups are valuable opportunities to build environmental awareness, or well-intentioned yet Sisyphean attempts to reduce ocean pollution. There are also cynics who dismiss such events as nothing better than backdrops against which virtue-signaling millennials can take selfies. Ryan Hevern is in no doubt where he stands. “We can’t clean it all up, and there’ll be trash there again tomorrow. We know that, we aren’t naive. But if we can help people become more mindful, so they make minor adjustments to their everyday routine, we’ll have a more positive impact on the planet,” he says.
A weekend getaway where you can escape the summer heat, commune with nature among trees that sprouted before the time of Christ or enjoy landscaped gardens and comfortable accommodations is within easy reach of northern Taiwan. Experience a traditional garden with Chinese and Japanese influences, birdwatching, ecological tours of old-growth cypress forest and one of Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) namesake villas set among orchards with a beautiful view of the Lanyang River (蘭陽溪) valley, all in the Makauy Ecological Park (馬告生態園區). The Northern Cross-Island Highway connects Taoyuan and Yilan counties, passing through misty conifer forests as it climbs over the Snow Mountain
In the world of Chinese-speaking media, “Sydney Daddy” is an Australian YouTube phenomenon: a kind of Alan Jones for Mandarin-speakers, who has found unexpected success, not just in Australia but throughout the diaspora. From his home in Sydney, Edgar Lu, 41, does a talk-back style program two or three times a week, interviewing politicians and local community figures or ranting on issues he cares about. “I think by Australian standards, I’m center-right,” he says. He says he’s not “anti-CCP [Chinese Communist Party], but at the same time, I don’t particularly care what they think.” YouTube offers a platform that is free from the censorship