France’s ’Little Prince’ to perform in Hanoi

French stars: Singer Raphael Haroche and his girlfriend, actress Mélanie Thierry at the screening of ’The Princess of Montpensier’ during the 63rd Cannes Film Festival. - Photo zimbio.com

The concert will mark the 15 year long career of the 40 year- old artist who has been nicknamed “the Little Prince of French music”.

The origins of the nickname lie in his beautiful songs about childhood, especially his song Concordia which was inspired by the works of Saint-Exupéry, author of the novel The Little Prince.

The artist is professionally known under his moniker Raphaël.

Performing two nights this weekend in Ha Noi, the shows are part of his world tour to promote his album Somnambules (Sleepwalkers). He will perform with a choir from the international French school Alexandre Yersin on Saturday. On Sunday he will be joined by a choir of Francophone students from bilingual classes in Ha Noi and Vinh City.

The album Somnambules represents Raphaël’s dream of returning to an age of innocence. Father of two boys, he wants to dedicate his 7th album to honour his own childhood and that of his sons.

Born in 1975 to an intellectual family, Raphaël could play piano, saxophone and guitar from an early age. He released his first rock album, Hôtel de l’Univers, at the age of 24.

Since then, he was invited to perform as the warm-up act for several world music stars including David Bowie in 2002 at Olympia, one of the most prestigious venues in Paris.

In 2005, he sold 1.8 million copies of his 3rd album Caravane and received awards at France’s renowned Victoires de la Musique (equivalent to the US Grammy awards), receiving prizes for best singer, best album and best song (for the aforementioned Caravane).

During his concerts, Raphaël will introduce Mélanie Thierry, his girlfriend and muse, to the public. A famous French actress in her own right, she won a 2010 César award (a prestigious French film award) in the Most Promising Actress category.

Tickets for the concert are available at the French culture Centre, L’Espace, located at 24 Trang Tien Street, Ha Noi.