KRISTII. Purity After a Downpour
Kristina Schneider (moniker – KRISTII) is a polyglot and cosmopolitan in the true sense of the words. Born in Vienna, studied in Moscow, lives between Jurmala and Los Angeles. She is a songbird. An artist without a home port. Her home is the studio where she records new songs and compositions. Her time is the night, when she can go to the Internet without interference and not come back until the morning.
Christina manages to combine her love for opera diva Renée Fleming with her passion for African-American rap music. She has a keen sense of the cabaret style of the Weimar Republic and can reproduce the melody of Latvian folk songs without a hitch.
Kristina belongs to a new generation of artists, painters and IT specialists. She is not too interested in red festival carpets - she has already been there, the first class ones - Cannes, Croisette, the prestigious festival program “Special Regard”. At the time all the main editions of the Cannes Festival wrote about Larisa Sadilova's movie “Once Upon a Time in Trubchevsk”, where Christina played the main role. It was a breakthrough, a sensation, a new female type on the screen. However, Christina did not want to confirm this success with another role of a “sweet woman”. She does not like to repeat herself.
Her favorite word is “comfortable.” Every now and then you hear her say: “I am so uncomfortable”, or “I like everyone to be comfortable”... It seems that Christina puts a specific deeply personal meaning into the word, one that an outside observer cannot understand. Comfort - as a certain obligatory norm of existence, as a condition of normal life, as a goal of the universe. Everything should be as comfortable as possible! Including the relations with neighbors and with distant ones. She is stubborn and consistent in her desire to create a zone of absolute benevolence and kindness. And not so much for herself as for others. It is no coincidence that Christina's first single CD is called Recovery. In fact, it is a key word, a secret password for understanding her music, the essence of her roles and life. And recently, together with her American co-writer, she composed and recorded a song called Comfortable. And that too, as it turns out, is incredibly important.
And, of course, ecology. Ecology is one more very important word in her vocabulary. Purity of idea, purity of means, purity of execution... For Kristina it is not an empty sound. That is what she chose and loved Jurmala for: its purity and spaciousness. “There is air here!” - she says with the intonation of a person who was connected to an ALV for a long time, and now she can breathe freely and easily.
“The proximity of nature is the only thing that can bring my life to harmony. In Jurmala I find the necessary balance. When I am here, no one knows where I am. Not because I'm hiding from anyone on purpose, but there are times when I need to be with myself without thinking that I might be in the crosshairs of someone's eyes or even worse - an iPhone. In Jurmala I relax. And... breathe!”
What was the first work of art that stunned you?
Renée Fleming... It was her recital in Vienna. She sang not only classical parts, but also a medley of Frank Sinatra songs. All with great taste and a sense of style. The first sounds of her divine soprano took me to a different place and «came back» only when everything was over. I don't remember her eyes, her facial expressions, or what she was wearing. I only remember her voice! Unlike, say, Anna Netrebko, whom I sincerely admire as an actress. She literally plays every musical phrase, and her every aria is like a small performance. Renee soars, taking her listeners to some shining heights.
So, in opera, it was Renée Fleming. What about painting?
“La Gioconda”. I was little when my mom took me to the Louvre for the first time, which was awe-inspiring in its scale. I had never seen so many paintings and so much great beauty per square meter anywhere else. We stood in a long line to see Leonardo da Vinci's legendary canvas. But when I saw Mona Lisa's gaze, I realized she wouldn't let me go. It had never happened to me before and probably won't happen again, when someone's eyes from the painting literally haunted me. There was a lot of slyness in her gaze, some kind irony. It was like she knew something about me or what was going to happen to me. I wanted to stand next to her longer. But I didn't feel comfortable holding up the other visitors. They were each waiting for their own “audience” with the Mona Lisa. I didn't understand what she was trying to tell me, what she might be warning me against. But that warm gaze of her sly, penetrating eyes remained forever in my memory.
In cinema, you had the chance to be a muse, the wife of a great artist - you played Bella Chagall in the movie “Chagall-Malevich”. What qualities do you think a muse should possess?
She should be able to inspire, and not even necessarily be extraordinarily beautiful. The muses of the greats were not always beautiful in the conventional sense. But Bella Chagall had her own style. Individuality, which is easily seen in her portraits and photographs, and in her letters. She knew five languages. Unlike Chagall himself, who came from a very simple family. In people's memory she remained a sad-eyed beauty with bangs and a bob haircut, floating with her lover somewhere on a cloud. But when I was preparing for the shooting and read the memories, I realized that Bella had an internal ramrod. She didn't just handle the whole household, house, family. She gave Chagall the strength to create. At the same time her own gift - she drew beautifully, she did not develop in any way. Moreover, she tried to hide it in every possible way from prying eyes, piously believing that there culd be only one Chagall in the family]. She drew for herself. Until now, her drawings and sketches have not been published. And this is also the property of a true muse — to be able to forget about herself, about her own ambitions, to retreat into the shadows.
What is amazing is that, despite the fact that your don't look like your heroine, you managed to achieve a striking resemblance to Bella Chagall without special tricks of makeup artists. I was told that the granddaughter of the artist Meret Chagall instantly noted that when she first met you.
When Meret opened the door of her Paris apartment to me, I flinched. There was Chagall looking at me. Except there was scarlet lipstick on his lips. I think, she was even more surprised to see me. She started calling me “babka” (grandma) at once. “Grandma, come in, Grandma, sit here...” She was literally gazing into me with her bright, cornflower-colored eyes like her grandfather's. I, of course, was confused when she offered me a seat at the head of the table. Jews don't do that, it's a place for men. “But you are the eldest here! Now light the candles,” Meret commanded. - “And recite the prayers. I don't know any Jewish prayers. But I had one scene in the movie where I sing a lullaby in Yiddish. And I started singing it sitting at the table. In this low-ceilinged, wood-paneled room with priceless paintings on the walls... I had the feeling that Chagall was right there with us at that moment.
Our conversation takes place on the set of an ancient theater hall in the center of Riga. This seems to be your first project that is directly related to the history of Latvia, with the tragic history of the Skatuve theater, which takes us back to the 30s of the last century. Are you at ease with the musical repertoire of that time?
In fact, this style is also close to me in its own way. I grew up partly on the music and songs of the 30s and 40s. They live in my subconscious, in my memory. I remember my grandmother singing these songs when she used to put me to bed. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that one can still hear some inexplicable comfort in them. We remember the times and circumstances in which they were composed and sung. People were literally saved by these songs. In an insane world where fear ruled, where life was a half step away from death, this music drowned out anxiety. It was like a promise of happiness and instant relief from pain, like a shot of morphine. That's how I sing them in the documentary that is being filmed in Riga by the director Daria Violina. It will feature not only Latvian and Soviet songs of the era, but also German songs. I have always liked Marlene Dietrich's repertoire. I know many of her songs by heart since childhood.
Of course, I'm not trying to imitate her. It's impossible! I have my own intonation, my own sense of the style of that era. All I would like to do is to try to convey the charm of Marlene's songs, to let you hear their delicate but persistent flavor, to help you rediscover them....
That said, it seems to me that the title of “retro singer” is the last thing you want to hear about yourself. The story of Marlene Dietrich's songs is nothing more than an episode. In what language does your soul sing now?
My soul sings in different languages and in completely different musical styles. It all depends on my mood and how the day started. Thank you to my dear parents who insisted that I get a good education. I am able to appreciate now how precious my background is. I speak German, English, French, Russian, Italian every day. I can easily explain myself in Hebrew and Yiddish. I am learning Latvian at the moment. I think I really know how to adapt to circumstances and understand others. It is not without reason that I had the nickname “chameleon” when I was a child.
I'll tell you a funny story. We once came to Los Angeles, my favourite city, with my mother. We're standing at the front desk of a hotel. I'm saying something to my mom in Russian. I'm talking to the desk clerk. In English, of course. Every once in a while, my iPhone rings. I answer in German.
Suddenly, an African-American man comes up to us and says to me with that simple-mindedness so characteristic of Americans: “Excuse me, who are you?” I hesitated for a moment. And really, who am I? Well, I couldn't tell him my whole biography. But the stranger went on: “Ma'am, I immediately realized that of course you are local, an American from LA. But what are those languages you just spoke?" So in America I can easily pass for an American, it's not for nothing that I graduated from AIS (American International school). And in Austria I'm a Vienna resident, because my German has a Viennese accent.
But first of all you are singer KRISTII. Tell us about your new project.
I'm recording a new album “Sunrise” for the Grammy's, it has the style of urban and r&b music and is meant for the American music market. That's my main base right now. There are concrete plans for a big tour in California. I have received invitations from several open summer festivals in the US, I have also been invited to participate in Steff London and OTGenasis shows. All my music is available on Spotify: Kristii. And on AppleMusic: Kristii.
Which rock band singers are particularly close to you right now?
There are all kinds of musicians on my playlist. There's Dua Lipa, Depeche Mode, Ella Mai, Muse, Sam Smith. It's hard to single someone out and say that he or she is my favorite. They are all my favorite!
What is the best way to cheer up on a rainy day in Jurmala?
Start dancing and singing, anywhere. At home, on the street, in the car, in the supermarket... Singing warms the soul.
Best summer of your life?
The best summer of my life is yet to come.
Your motto?
Do everything with a smile and love and then you will win!
Text: Sergey Nikolaevich
Photo: Natalia Berezina
Style: Dace Krievina-Bahmane
Make-up and hairstyling: Julija Balinska
