Award winning and record breaking pianist, Richard Clayderman will be treating local audiences to a feast of melodies this weekend, when he takes to the stage of the Taipei International Conference Center (
Clayderman, who arrived in Taiwan on Sunday fresh from the South East Asian leg of his current tour, has divided his time in Taipei this week by preparing for the upcoming concerts and meeting with fans. A huge draw whenever he plays in Taiwan, the self confessed "Kenny G of the piano" was mobbed by hoards of fans on Wednesday when he participated in an autograph signing session at a Taipei department store and his up-coming concerts look set to be sellout.
Once referred to as "the prince of romance" by Nancy Reagan and categorized as "the most successful pianist in the world" by Guinness World Records, Clayderman was born Philippe Pages in Paris in 1953. The son of a piano teacher, the young Pages could reportedly read music with more accuracy than he could his native French language by the time he was six years old.
PHOTO: AP
He began his full-time musical studies at the age of 12 after he was accepted into France's prestigious music school, the Conservatoire of Music. By the age of 16, he was already being tipped by his teachers to become a leading figure in the world of classical music. But Clayderman, or Pages as he was still known at the time, decided to turn his back on the classics and instead turned to contemporary music.
In the erly 1970s Clayderman changed his family name to that of his great grandmother's on the advice of his producers because, as Clayderman told the Taipei Times, "they didn't like it and felt it was to difficult to pronounce outside of France." Shortly thereafter he was enjoying moderate success as an opening act for popular French pop and rock musicians of the day such as Michel Sardou and Johnny Halliday.
An opening act he may have been, but it wasn't long before Clayderman had built up a sizable fan base of his own. His 1977 vinyl debut, Ballade Pour Adeline, sold a staggering 22 million copies in 38 countries. Success followed success and within a decade Clayderman had become a household name worldwide.
Since his first recording, the French pianist with the English-sounding name has gone on to release over 100 albums, make guest appearances on numerous others and performs between 150 to 200 concerts around the world in any given year.
Clayderman's concert and recording schedule would leave other musicians on the verge of a breakdown, but he has retained his youthful looks which have made women the world over swoon. According to Clayderman this is not due to diet and exercise, but simply because "music makes me feel so young."
The award-winning pianist attributes his superstar status to the distinctive piano style he dubs "New Romantic." A style created by the pianist almost three decades ago, Clayderman's approach combines standard piano melodies with both classical and pop variations and themes. And Clayderman believes that this unique format has been the key to his success.
"I set out to create not only a new style but also a new composition ... when I find a melody that interests me I interpret it from my heart," he said. "This enables me to give each tune a flavor of its own and ensure that each [tune] is unique and has never before been performed in this manner."
Along with his self created "New Romantic" style, Clayderman has sold in excess of 70 million albums worldwide and has clocked up an incredible 267 Gold and 70 Platinum records. Clayderman has done this, partly by releasing albums on which he has adapted his music to suit regional moods and musical tastes. He has also worked with many international musicians.
Some fine vinyl examples of Clayderman's musical adaptability include Seelenfeuer, on which he performed Teutonic pop/classical crossover with German diva Claudia Jung. On New Era (
Clayderman will be performing solo in Taipei this weekend at the International Conference Center, but his willingness to embrace a myriad of world music will still be evident as he will perform a potpourri of international tunes.
The playlist includes a selection of Clayderman favorites, plenty of romantic melodies, well known numbers from movies and Broadway shows, several of his more Asian-oriented numbers, including the hugely popular Lien Shanbo -- a modern musical take on the classical Chinese novel The Outlaws of the Marsh (
For your information
What: Richard Clayderman Live in Taipei
Where: Taipei International Conference Center (台北國際會議中心). The venue is located at 1 Xinyi Rd, Sec 5, Taipei (台北市信義路5段1號)
When: 8pm Saturday, July 24 and Sunday, July 25.
Tickets: Tickets cost from NT$800 to NT$2,500 and are available from ERA Ticketing outlets nationwide.
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