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WELCOME
TO
THE
HOMEPAGE
OF
RICHARD
CLAYDERMAN
Further
details
about
Richard
Clayderman,
his
music,
albums,
tours,
Delphine,
new
releases,
photographs
etc...
can
be
found
at
http://www.clayderman.co.uk
Introduction
The
Richard
Clayderman
story
began
in
1953
in
Paris,
where
he
was
born
Philippe
Pages,
the
son
of
a
piano
teacher.
He
spent
his
early
life
living
in
a
Parisian
apartment
with
his
parents
and
sister.
It
was
during
those
early
days
that
the
youngster
gained
his
formative
musical
education
by
listening
to
his
father
as
he
taught
piano
to
his
pupils.
At
the
age
of
six,
Richard
was
given
an
old
piano
by
his
grandfather
and
people
say
it
was
at
this
age
that
he
could
read
music
and
play
the
piano
with
greater
ease
than
he
could
speak
his
native
French.
He
learned
quickly
and
within
two
years
he
was
entering
and
winning
local
competitions.
At
the
age
of
12,
he
was
accepted
at
the
Paris
Conservatoire
of
Music,
here,
at
16
he
won
First
Prize
in
the
piano
competition.
A
career
as
a
classical
concert
pianist
looked
imminent.
Then...he
decided
to
give
it
all
up.
He
says:
"I
didn't
want
to
be
a
classical
pianist.
I
wanted
to
be
something
different,
so
with
a
few
friends,
I
created
a
rock
group.
It
was
a
tough
time
and
the
little
money
we
made
was
devoted
to
buying
equipment".
Then,
when
his
father
became
seriously
ill
and
was
unable
to
support
him
financially,
Richard
worked
as
a
bank
clerk
by
day
while
at
night
he
became
an
accompanist
to
a
number
of
leading
French
entertainers.
A
year
later,
he
became
a
session
musician
and
accompanied
Michel
Sardou,
Thierry
LeLuron
and
Johnny
Halliday.
"I
really
didn't
want
to
be
a
star",
he
says.
"I
was
happy
to
play
with
the
groups,
happy
to
be
session
musician.
I
never
dreamed
of
becoming
a
solo
performer".
Ballade
for
Adeline
However,
his
life
changed
dramatically
in
1976
when
he
was
auditioned
by
Olivier
Toussaint
and
Paul
de
Senneville
who
run
the
French
recording
company
Delphine.
They
were
both
extremely
successful
producers
in
their
own
right
and
needed
a
musician
to
interpret
a
gentle
ballad
which
Paul
had
written
for
his
daughter,
Adeline,
called
"Ballade
Pour
Adeline".
They
were
looking
for
a
special
kind
of
pianist...and
from
twenty
other
would-be-hopefuls,
Richard
Clayderman
landed
the
job.
At
the
time
Richard
was
still
known
by
his
real
name
of
Philippe
Pages.
"My
producers
were
a
little
concerned
about
my
real
name
as
it
is
pronounced
differently
in
every
country"
he
says.
"So
to
save
confusion
we
decided
to
use
my
great
grandmother's
name,
Clayderman,
who
was
living
in
Sweden
a
century
ago.
This
probably
explains
my
blond
hair
and
blue
eyes".
"Ballade
Pour
Adeline"
became
an
outstanding
success
throughout
Europe
and
much
further
afield.
It
was
a
hit
first
in
Spain
followed
by
Germany,
France,
South
America,
Japan,
Australia,
and
the
United
Kingdom
selling
a
massive
22
million
copies
along
the
way.
Thus
the
career
of
Richard
Clayderman
was
launched
in
spectacular
style.
Success
Since
1978
the
career
of
Richard
Clayderman
has
flourished
and
enjoyed
outstanding
international
success.
He
has
toured
the
world
regularly
bringing
his
own
distinctive
style
of
music
to
millions.
He
is
one
of
the
most
travelled
entertainers
in
show
business
and
sometimes
undertaking
over
200
concert
appearances
a
year
to
satisfy
the
enormous
demand
his
music
has
created.
Highlights
have
included
sell-out
tours
of
Australia,
South
America,
Europe,
and
Asia
and
in
1987
his
first
concert
appearance
in
China
which
was
screened
on
AsiaVision
to
an
audience
of
over
800
million.
Within
15
months,
he
had
extended
his
popularity
in
South
East
Asia
with
tours
of
Thailand,
Malaysia,
Singapore,
Korea,
Taiwan,
and
returning
to
China
5
years
later
for
several
concerts
and
in,
particular,
Peking
for
22,000
spectators.
World-wide
success
And
as
the
world
grows
smaller
with
international
travel,
Richard's
popularity
grows
larger.
In
recent
years
he
has
toured
Japan
where
he
recorded
the
melody
"Prince
of
the
Rising
Sun"
in
honor
of
the
Crown
Prince's
marriage;
Scandinavia,
Greece,
Sri
Lanka,
Malta,
Germany,
Hong
Kong,
Mexico,
Turkey,
the
Dominican
Republic,
the
United
Kingdom,
Taiwan,
Malaysia,
Singapore,
France,
Dubai,
Brazil,
Indonesia,
Thailand,
and
Russia,
where
he
played
two
memorable
concerts
at
the
Kremlin
in
Moscow.
To
date
he
has
released
more
than
900
titles,
received
63
Platinum
and
263
Gold
records
world-wide.
Copyright
©
Delphine
Productions
2002 |
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