Hot back from a tour of Malaysia and already packing his bags for an upcoming tour of Central America, Richard Clayderman is a difficult man to pin down. We finally managed to catch up with the indefatigable globe-trotter, however, and arranged a meeting in the offices of his French record label. No sign of hysterical fans or paparazzi in the corridors of Delphine Productions and not much trace of a superstar lifestyle either. Ironically enough, while Richard Clayderman attracts 20,000-strong audiences in China and is adored from Germany to Japan, he is barely recognised in his homeland. And yet when it comes to international record sales even Jean-Michel Jarre doesn't come close to Clayderman!

I've just been having a look at the album releases listed on the Richard Clayderman web site - and the list is really quite staggering! In 1999 you released albums in China, the UK, France and Taiwan. In 2000 you followed up with a new album release in Benelux and another in Germany and now, at the beginning of 2001, you're releasing a new album in France entitled 101 solistes tsiganes. How do you manage to keep up with it all?
Well, for a start, the web site you're referring to was set up by an English fan of mine who's followed me from the beginning of my career. He's really passionate about my music and keeps up with everything I do and he set up the web site after getting permission from my record company. I think it's great when someone takes the initiative like that, when someone takes the trouble to come and see you and says "Look, I want to get this project up and running because I really love what you do!"
Now, as far as my latest releases are concerned, 101 solistes tsiganes is my newest album to date. I went into the studio to record it six months ago. The good thing about being a pianist is that even when you're completely snowed under with work you can be involved with lots of different projects at the same time. Right now, I'm busy working on a new album for China, for instance. Once I've got the melodies and the scores in front of me, I can get on with it. The work that goes on is between me and the piano, it doesn't really involve anyone else. It revolves around me making a decision about how to play a piece.
The reason I put out different albums for each country is because I like to account for different musical tastes in different cultures. My producers, who include Olivier Toussaint, and the record companies that represent me in Asia or Europe ask me to record albums specifically destined for one part of the world.

Right back at the beginning of your career - and, in fact, years before anyone else - you made a conscious decision to make a name for yourself internationally. Do you think the fact you play instrumental music opened international doors for you?
Yes, up to a point, but it's also a question of chance. There are plenty of musicians around the world who haven't been so lucky as I have, whose careers haven't taken off in the same way. I was lucky that things got off to such a good start for me. Right back at the beginning of my career my music touched the hearts of lots of different people from different cultures. And the most incredible thing is, Balade pour Adeline, Lettre à ma mère and A comme Amour - the three pieces I recorded at the start of my career - are the ones that have always been the most successful worldwide.

You performed your very first concert in Vienna in 1979...
Yes, it meant a lot to me performing in Vienna, the classical music capital of the world. I mean, there I was playing this popular, 'variété' take on classical music, but it went down really really well. That was the first experience Olivier and I had with an audience, but it went down brilliantly well - I must have played six or seven encores of Ballade pour Adeline that night! And everything just snowballed from there. Thanks to the success of my Austrian tour I went on to score a big hit in Germany and after that it was Spain. Then, conquering the Spanish market helped me make inroads in South America. After that I became successful in France and England, and England provided a springboard for my career in the States. I went out and did a tour of the States, but it wasn't as mad as in other countries. The U.S. is the only place sales haven't really explode like they have elsewhere. Too bad, that's just the way it is - I've got enough on my plate as it is!

Have you ever tried to analyse the reasons behind your success and the incredible longevity of your career?
I think a lot of it boils down to the fact that the piano's such a well-loved instrument everywhere. My choice of repertoire's got something to do with it too - the pieces I play appealed to people right from the start. What I dreamt of doing when I started out was playing all the great classics I'd heard as a kid, but playing my own version of them. And that always went down really well with the audience.

Would you say that your public image has also had something to do with it?
Back in the early days of my career I presented this image of a nice well-dressed young pianist who made concert appearances in a white shirt and tuxedo. I enjoy wearing elegant clothes when I appear in concert, even though I have to admit that in everyday life you'll generally find me in jeans. I think wearing smart clothes made an impression on people in the early days of my career. In any case, the producers I worked with always took a great deal of trouble over the photos on my record covers. We spent a lot of time setting the photo shoots up - we'd go into a studio and get the piano in the middle and then I'd be there in my white shirt and tuxedo, and I'd strike a bit of a pose at the keyboard. We always tried to make the whole thing look very elegant. We'd spend a lot of time and energy getting the cover just right. Things are a bit more relaxed these days, though!

With all your fan clubs and web sites around the world, do you get a lot of fan mail?
Yes, I do. A lot of it comes in through the fan clubs and there are people who've been passionate fans of mine since the early days who devote a lot of time replying to the letters. When I'm on tour in some countries, like Japan for instance, we actually reserve an entire day just for meeting people. Sometimes fan mail actually comes direct to the record company and I try and answer that myself. But many of the letters don't actually need a reply. People just write in to express their appreciation of the music.

How do you deal with such a high level of international fame?
Well, I think as I've got older I've tried to become as professional as possible. In the early days of my career, I didn't stop and think about things too much because everything went so smoothly for me. But over the years I've come to realise how tough things can be. I realised that there are an awful lot of musicians out there trying to make their way in the same career as me, musicians who haven't been as lucky as I have and who are struggling to make a name for themselves amongst a lot of other people. Sometimes I walk into a record store and actually feel quite dizzy, because you're bombarded from all sides with hundreds of new releases.

Is there any country in the world you'd like to perform in that you haven't visited yet, like certain African countries for example?
Well, up until now, I've largely concentrated on South Africa. Things really exploded for me in South Africa, but then over the past five or six years the excitement died down completely. I suppose that's normal in a way. I mean, you can't stay at the top of the charts for ever! But, surprisingly enough, things have started picking up there again recently and my music's taking off in a big way again in South Africa now.

How do you decide where you'll be appearing in concert next?
It's all down to popular demand. All of a sudden, you never know exactly why, an album will start taking off in one country more than another - and that's what's happening right now in South Africa with one of my recent compilations. You get a sudden craze, a sudden wave of excitement and everyone starts ringing up asking for interviews. So I think what will probably happen is we'll go out and do a tour in South Africa and do a spot of TV promotion and things at the same time.
You spend a lot of your life on the road, don't you?
Yes, I generally spend around 6 or 7 months a year on tour, although I never do it all in one stretch. The rest of the year I'm either in the studio recording or going off to different countries to promote new albums. Every year I'll do between 30 and 40 concerts in Japan. It's amazing - I've done that for 20 years now! We get to do really wonderful concerts out there. The Japanese always provide us with top-quality equipment. They always come up with the most amazing lighting and sets. It's really wonderful!
We're going to go off on tour of Central America soon and I know that's going to be a very different experience. Audiences out there really get into the concerts, they're really with you all the way - it's always nice for a musician to have an audience swaying along as you play! In fact, people get so into it sometimes that they'll burst into applause in the middle of a piece! Things are a bit more complicated when it comes to the organisational side of things, though.

You haven't changed your musical style or your look once in the past 20 years. Hasn't there ever been a moment when you've been tempted to change musical direction?
Generally, when I'm doing a concert around 40% of the set will be pieces I've never recorded before. I'll experiment with a bit of jazz-fusion, for instance, even though I won't exactly get carried away with some crazy improvisation. And then I might throw in a few Brazilian pieces, a bit of jazz-rock or a track by Metheny or Joe Sample. But there's continuity to the whole thing, because of my interpretation, the way I choose to render things. One of my greatest dreams would be to play with Pat Metheny or Larry Carlton - I really love guitarists! The question is, would they actually want to get up on stage and play with me? I don't know!

The French media appears to have taken little interest in your career. In fact, some French newspapers have been downright derogatory about you. Yet the international press has been full of rave reviews throughout your career. Do you ever feel these attacks on you in France have become a bit spiteful and automatic?
Yes, that's exactly how I feel a lot of the time. But then I'm lucky because there are plenty of other countries in the world where they want me to do concerts. Things have started to get a bit better in France now though. I'm viewed a bit differently, especially in professional circles, which is really important to me. At the beginning of my career other musicians used to be very critical, saying that I played 'easy' music. But when they saw how my career took off and how successful I became, they started thinking that maybe there was something to my music after all. Things are still pretty tough with the French media, though, and music critics can still be very unkind. I've never really understood what they have against me.

How do you see yourself in the future? Where will Richard Clayderman be in 20 years' time?
I'd love to still be doing concerts in 20 years' time. But I have to admit that 20 years is a long time for a pianist. There are some pianists who've managed to carry on their careers much later in life though. I've just turned 47, so I'd be happy to enjoy another five years at this level - and even happier to have another ten years or so after that! But then you have to start wondering whether your body would actually be up to it. It's exhausting going on tour all the time, with all the travelling and jetlag and lately my schedule seems to have become more hectic than ever.

How do you feel about music on the Internet?
I'd say that as things stand right now the Internet is very detrimental to musicians, but there's no denying that it's the future. The thing is, music on the Net isn't in everyone's interest and the illegal copying of records has reached pretty phenomenal proportions. There's a girl here (at Delphine Productions) whose entire job revolves around tracking down bootlegged copies of my albums around the world. She tracks down the people behind the illegal copying and then the local police raid the HQ and seize the equipment. Record companies face huge losses because of this 'pirating'. There have been times when I've reached number 1 in certain countries, but with a bootleg copy of an album rather than the official one. That happens a lot in Asia, but it's gone on in the UK and Holland too. I don't realise it half the time. But when I'm abroad with my producer he'll have a look round local record stores and find Richard Clayderman albums that have been put out on pirate labels. In fact, I think I must be one of the most bootlegged artists in the world!