“Elevator music has virtues: you hear it everywhere!”
Pianist Richard Clayderman, one of the few French artists adored abroad, is back with a 35th studio album at the end of February,
Forever Love
, bringing together unreleased songs and adaptations by Ed Sheeran and Coldplay.
Nicknamed the
"Mozart of the Walkman"
by Renaud in a 1981 song, crowned
"prince of romanticism"
by the former first lady Nancy Reagan, the artist revealed in 1977 by the heady melody of
Ballade pour Adeline
- sold to more than 22 million copies in 38 countries- has never left the stage.
He claims to date more than 2000 concerts, 1400 different recordings and 90 million
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Followed by two million people on Facebook, one of the most popular pianists in the world still cannot believe it:
“I was very surprised by the success.
I was Thierry Le Luron
's pianist
and the composer Paul de Senneville offered me one day to adapt
Ballade for Adeline to the piano
.
We said to ourselves “we will see what happens”...”
, he told AFP.
“It was a terrible detonator for my career.
However, we were in the middle of the disco period... This very simple melody, which has become universal, has touched people's hearts.
Since then, I have never stopped..."
, says Richard Clayderman, 68, before a new tour that will take him to Latin America, the United States,
He started playing at the age of five, his father being a piano teacher and giving lessons on the family instrument placed in the living room.
“I was naturally drawn to it.
He gave me the basics and I was admitted to the Conservatory when I was twelve
,” recalls Richard Clayderman, who has accompanied several artists including Thierry Le Luron.
“He imposed me on the shows.
I owe him a lot…”
, he continues.
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After the success of
Ballade pour Adeline
, he performed thirteen times in the Salle Pleyel, then dedicated to classical music.
“I've always had detractors... Classical musicians still don't understand, except those who accompany me on stage.
At the end of the concert, they realize the fervor of the public.
It's a bit of a little revenge
,” notes Richard Clayderman.
He is delighted that the public can be interested in the classical repertoire through his music.
"My greatest reward is the children who start playing the piano with my pieces"
, explains the man who still considers himself
"a modest performer"
.
He praises the work of composer Paul de Senneville who, although he does not play any instrument,
"has the gift of finding melodies that speak to people"
.
“My job is to transcribe them for the piano and to interpret them.
I go to great lengths to make it sound good,”
he describes.
Despite everything, he regrets that success abroad has taken him away from France, a phenomenon which also concerns Mireille Mathieu, another ambassador of French variety throughout the world.
“I find myself somewhere between a classical pianist and a popular music pianist.
This title of Prince of Romanticism given to me by Mrs. Reagan goes very well with the music that I play.
In France, it's a bit pejorative, while abroad, France is the homeland of romanticism.
, underlines the musician who lives in Paris.
"It's well known: no one is a prophet in his country..."
, he quips.
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