Born Philippe Pages on 28 December 1953 he takes up the piano when still at the beginning of his life. His father who was a piano teacher lays foundations on his future success and starts teaching him how to play at a very early age. Rumour has it that when six Clayderman was able to read music better than his native French. At the age of twelve he is admitted to the Paris Conservatoire where he wins the first prize at the age of 16. People foretell him a promising career of a classical pianist. But soon after that, surprisingly to everybody, he leaves his classical education aside and faces contemporary music.
To earn his living Clayderman finds a job as accompanist and session musician. His talent does not remain unnoticed and soon after that he becomes much wanted as accompanist of such big French stars as Michel Sardou, Thierry Leluron and Johnny Holiday. The turning point is in 1976 when he receives a phone call from Olivier Toussaint, a famous French music producer, who, along with his partner Paul de Senneville, has been searching for a pianist to record a piano ballad. Seneville had composed this ballad in the honour of his newly born daughter Adeline. The 23-year old Philippe Pages appears at a hearing along with 20 more candidates and to his surprise is given the job. “We liked him right away”, Paul de Senneville says, “his very special and tender touch to the piano keys combined with his reserved personality and good appearance impressed both me and Olivier Toussaint. We made our minds in no time.”
The name Phillippe Pages is changed to Richard Clayderman (he adopts the family name of his great-grandmother in order to avoid the mispronunciation of his real name outside France) and the single hits the top, selling the stunning 22 million copies in 38 countries. The music bears the name “Ballad to Adeline”.
This is beginning of an exceptionally successful career and since the Richard Clayderman’s intrinsic style at the piano has brought him glory of a super star all over the world. Today he has behind him 1200 songs and as a German journalist says: ”for sure, he has contributed to the popularisation of the piano across the world more than anybody else from Beethoven onwards”.
Richard Clayderman creates a “new romantic” style with a repertoire combining his “trade-mark” originals with classic and pop sounding. He realizes huge sales of records worldwide amounting to 90 milion copies as per the most recent data and the incredible 276 golden and 70 platinum CD’s. But the “Prince of romance”, as Nancy Reagan calls him, is not only a studio performer. In fact, despite his natural humbleness and reticence, he feels quite at home at the stage. Every concert of his is really overwhelming.
Clayderman’s international success results in an exhausting programme in which in the past he had to perform not less than 200 concerts within 250 days, spent outside France. The biggest price he pays for his international renown is the time he spends away from his family, a sacrifice which makes everybody suffer and yeat accepted as a part of his duty to the millions of his admirers. His last album bears the name “The best of Richard Clayderman” is realized in 2009. He is noted by the Guinness Book of World Records as being "“the most successful pianist in the world.”
On 15th of October, 2008 in National Palace of Culture, Hall No.1 Richard Clayderman and Classic FM M –Tel ……
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