Posted at 7:00 p.m
When Alexandra Stréliski released her second album, Inscape, in 2018, it was a bit like a bottle in the sea.” “There were enough fans of my first album, Pianoscope, to spark a spark,” says -She. But I thought if we sold 2000 of these that would be great. »
With 140,000 albums sold in Canada alone and around 300 million online plays worldwide, say four and a half years later, his status has changed completely.
The musician arrived at the La Presse offices on Monday morning, time for a radiant and heartfelt interview. She’s the focus of a huge advertising campaign that gets her to take part in a popular morning show in Germany – sort of a salut bonjour! German, where we didn’t overlook that she’s wearing running shoes! – at a promotional presentation (showcase) in New York.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Alexandra Streliski
As a matter of fact, Alexandra Stréliski is now part of the Sony team that represents her everywhere internationally, except in Canada. And the musician explains that the release of Neo-Romance is one of her “flagship projects” with disarming simplicity compared to the imposing device that surrounds her.
“It takes a lot of adjustment. We have grown from a 10 person team to a 80 person team. Last week we were in Europe, Saturday I was in Val-d’Or for my grandmother’s funeral, Sunday at Tout le monde en parle, this afternoon we’re going to New York. It’s my life, but at the same time it’s the same as before. It’s just bigger. »
The same, really?
” Yes ! I recently played in Los Angeles to people from Paramount, Spotify, HBO… It was super stressful, jet lagged for nine hours… But when I get up to the piano it’s just the simplicity and the sincerity. An artist’s exchange with other people’s ears and hearts. »
What has changed is that with all the travel, the pianist is more mindful of her lifestyle, “almost like an athlete.” “I can’t drink, need to move more, drink less coffee. I’m not the most disciplined person, but I push myself! »
It’s the trick she found to stay calm around her and not get distracted. Because all this fever is still extraordinary, she herself agrees.
There’s a lot of magic around me. Always.
Alexandra Streliski
But it puts it into perspective, reminding us that we are all “mini-dust in spacetime”. And thanks his naivety for allowing him to stay in the present moment, “sincere and authentic,” outside of stories of commercial success or ego.
“At the end of the day, I’m just a little curly-haired girl who plays the piano. I’ve been doing this since I was 6 years old and it’s the only way in my life. »
deconfinement
Alexandra Stréliski was in Saskatoon for the Juno Awards ceremony on March 12, 2020 when everything came to a standstill due to the pandemic. She remembers telling us about her “brown hotel room in Saskatchewan” that day, and most importantly, making a quick decision to leave the country to join his lover in Rotterdam.
His new album was composed there, explains the man who now lives between Quebec and the Netherlands. And if Inscape has surveyed its interior landscapes, the neo-romance is more outward-looking, in a true spirit of deconfinement.
“What interested me was the excitement of falling in love again after a heartbreak… I apply it as a concept to almost everything. How we keep our hearts open as we grow older as we go through sorrow and hardship as life isn’t always easy. That’s what I wanted to capture, the excitement of deconfinement. »
In fact, Alexandra Stréliski wants to capture all of life, bringing together the beautiful and the hard, the pain and the light. Élégie is probably one of the saddest pieces she has ever composed, but her aim is to “penetrate all the emotional zones of our humanity”.
The composition of the album was influenced by the European atmosphere, especially since the musician used her long stay there to “draw on the vein of her ancestors” at the side of her French father. To her great surprise, she discovered a number of Jewish musicians, conductors, violinists, piano teachers, but also actresses and theater managers, Stréliskis like her, who lived in Amsterdam 200 years ago.
“I found it symbolic to find myself in the same place 200 years later. Also, I always thought I was weird, even though I’m just one of the gang at the end of the day! »
This discovery also brought her back into the romantic era, influencing the album. Of course Alexandra Stréliski has been nurtured by Chopin, Liszt and Brahms “since Mini” and we hear them in her music. But she explains that what inspired her most about the Romantics was their “axis,” their penchant for “expressing their individual voice and imagination.”
“And just the idea of being romantic at all. What does it mean to be a dreamer today? To me it’s a nuclear weapon given the disillusionment and lack of respect surrounding it. It is an almost militant bomb trick through the imaginary and the beautiful. »
So it’s her “revolution,” and she’s convinced it’s not too late. “People will always end up fighting for their humanity. »
trip
Following the release of the album, Alexandra Stréliski will embark on a major tour that will take her from Montreal (for two nearly full Wilfrid Pelletier Halls) to Paris and London through a variety of Quebec cities through June 2024, and she will his first time accompanied by a string trio. “The solo piano has power, but from a selfish point of view it’s fun to be a band! “, says the musician, who is more the “bubbly” type than the melancholic in life.
She also included orchestrated moments on her album, arrangements she created in a “little French salon formula” in homage to her musical ancestors and applied with delicate brushstrokes. “As an artist, you always have to be innovative. Otherwise we stagnate. »
When asked to project herself, Alexandra Stréliski doesn’t hesitate for a second and declares that she hopes to compose film music. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” says the woman who made a name for herself with work on the Jean-Marc Vallée series, among other things.
In addition, she met an important agent for film music in Los Angeles who wanted to work with her, she slips towards the end of the interview. “I know it’s crazy. My life has no meaning. »
And after the success of Inscape, what does she wish for this one?
“I want him to live on in people’s hearts. I’ll throw it out into the universe and we’ll see where it ends up. We wish him a nice long journey. »
instrumental music
neo-romanticism
Alexandra Streliski
Secret City Records