World’s most successful pianist announces three NZ concerts, accompanied by strings section.
He never intended to be a performer – let alone become a superstar – but Richard Clayderman has outsold Bob Dylan, Coldplay, Adele, Jay Z and Lady Gaga. Today, his distinctive piano reinterpretations of familiar tunes from every era and genre are still heard in every corner of the world. Whether we know it or not, his music has become the soundtrack of our lives.
Stewart and Tricia Macpherson proudly announce that Richard Clayderman – just weeks after the release of his latest albumRomantique which rocketed to #4 on the NZ Music Chart – will perform in three very special New Zealand concerts of the same title.
Featuring hits from his latest album Romantique, concertgoers can expect favourites including Spartacus Adagio, medleys from Les Miserables and West Side Story, his mega hit Ballade Pour Adeline, The Flower Duet, Adele’s Someone Like You, Hallelujah, You Raise Me Up and Puccini’s Nessun Dorma.
He will be accompanied by a dazzling strings section. Fans are urged to be quick as Richard’s concerts sell out worldwide. Tickets on sale Monday.
Described as doing more than anyone else to popularise piano since Beethoven, the shy Frenchman is arguably the world's most successful pianist, having sold over 85 million albums. With his trademark style of smooth, lavishly orchestrated reinterpretations of popular hits, show tunes and well-known pieces from the classical repertoire, Clayderman has collected 267 gold and 70 platinum discs in almost every country in the world. Not bad for a session musician who became a star by accident.
As a small boy, he could read music better than his native French. At 12 he won a place at the Paris Conservatoire and graduated with first prize. But instead of embarking on a career as a classical pianist, he became a studio musician to support his sick father and young family.
Until one day in 1977 when he received a call from French music producer Olivier Toussaint, who was looking for a pianist to play a brand new tune composed to celebrate his musical partner Paul de Senneville's newly-born daughter Adeline.
Extraordinarily, and unlike any pop song before it, the popularity of ‘Ballade Pour Adeline’ spread slowly around the globe over the next five or six years, conquering one country after another until there was almost no corner of the world immune to its melodic charms.
The private and modest Richard Clayderman never set out to become a star, but for the past 35 years his boyish blond good looks and distinctive piano style have made him instantly recognisable all over the world as a man whose records sell millions.
www.clayderman.co.uk
Wellington 21 June - Michael Fowler Centre
Napier 22 June - Municipal Theatre
Auckland 23 June - Civic Theatre
