Alexandra Streliski: Being a Neo Romantic in a world devoid of Romance
The Verity team, were invited to the oldest musical manuscript library in Paris, to an 18th century pale green chamber, featuring a grand piano, portrait paintings of Mahler and green velvet covered benches to sit on, all this for a showcase with Sony Execs, to discover their newest signing, pianist Alexandra Streliski. It’s on the their brand new Classical/pop Instrumental label XXIM, or « Twenty one », as they call it for short. They are very proud as they introduce her presence, in front of a huge projected image of her non committal album cover. The star arrives shortly after, and she politely jokes that it is like hearing a gushing parent talk about her. It’s hard to know if she is being modest, or if she just wants to get on with the music…
Alexandra is an understated Franco-Canadian keeping all her delicate poetry for the piano, preferring to make amusing quips between songs that we wish we understood better but can’t always because of her endearing Canadian accent in French. Somewhat of a celebrity in her native Québec, Canada, I interpret her as the Yann Tiersen of North America, as they explain that she has already sold thousands of records, and lent her musical talents to numerous movies. However she is relatively unknown in Europe, but with this third album, she will be showing herself to the patrons of her childhood roots. She has Polish ancestry, grew up in Paris with a French father, but moved to her mother’s native Canada as a teen.
She explains to the audience that she started out in advertising, as a studio assistant, occasionally composing for clients. Then came the urgent need for her own compositions to express some some kind of reality and she recorded her first album in between studio sessions. Now she writes for feature film and her solo projects, and she is also the co-owner of a very large post production studio, the one where she began her career. Despite her small stature, she is an impressive lifeforce. However behind the heads of various journalists, all we see are her small black rimmed glasses, perched on her light and kind face, with a bush of curly black hair. She hides herself in a cotton uniform and trainers, giving us the impression that she is much younger than her actual age. But that is the intemporal nature of the artist. And a true artist she is.
I’ve been listening to the beautiful INSCAPE all day, (her last album) and I’ve been quite excited to hear her live. But the atmosphere is strange in this little room. As soon as she starts playing, a man yells out « Mais c’est de la musique de Cinéma »… Meaning « Sounds like film music ». We all look over at him, wondering what he was hoping to contribute with these whimsical words. For her second piece, she is accompanied by a stunning Polish string quartet, and when they join her , swells of emotion drift through the room. She indicates that playing solo can get lonely and that with this album she was ready to share the stage with orchestral musicians. The Acoustics in this room are not built for romantic recitals. I can’t help wishing we were all in a large black box theater sitting on the floor around the piano. I long to hear the notes resound so that they have a chance to reach my chest. She has something of a New York avant gardiste from the 80s to her. I can imagine Basquiat painting next to her in a loft, and people slamming poetry to her music. But these clichés do not do her justice. Despite the appearance of a relatively classical and pop instrumental artist, she has much more of an intellectual energy. She explains the title of her album as something of a political statement.
« I don’t see myself as neoclassical composer like my classical contemporaries, I’m a neo romantic ». Indeed for Alexandra, Romance is about hope, seeking beauty in a world where corruption and the destruction of the natural world are becoming more and more prevalent. She sees romance as a necessity for the imagination, much like Japanese Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. It might be too romantic for some cynical French tastes, only time will tell. But as her Korean counterparts who use French literary Romantic motifs in their Weekly animated sitcoms…she dips back into a time when France dared to dream of sweet rebellion, when Art was about focusing on the beauty of a « What if » and not only a reflection of « What is ».
Alexandra is touring Europe and North America throughout 2023.
Her album « Néo Romance » will be available in April.
TO READ A REVIEW OF HER ALBUM IN FRENCH…GO TO THE FRENCH SIDE OF VERITY JOURNAL