Pavel Stratan

Pavel Stratan in Chicago, 2013

Pavel Stratan (born November 11, 1970 in Nişcani, Călăraşi Rajon , Moldova , then USSR ) is a Moldovan singer and songwriter . He usually appears as a solo artist with guitar and sings his folk-influenced songs in Romanian . In addition to his home country, he is best known in Romania . His daughter Cleopatra Stratan became a child star at the age of three in 2006 and has since sold more records than himself.

Career

In 1977 he first appeared with his guitar at a school performance. In 1983 he composed his first songs. In 1996 he made his first stage appearance, not yet as a musician, but as a magician. Pavel Stratan graduated from the Academia de Muzică, Teatru şi Arte Plastice in Chișinău .

In 2002 he released his first album “Amintiri din copilărie” (Translator: Memories of Childhood) in Chișinău , which was an extraordinary success on the relatively small Moldovan music market with 50,000 copies sold. At that time he toured Romania with his band Planeta Moldova, which made him famous there. The Romanian radio station KissFM began playing its songs, which became popular due to the sophisticated word games and its Moldovan accent. Especially the melancholy song “Eu beu” (translator: I drink) became a hit. In 2004 Stratan released his first album again in Romania, together with the second CD “Amintiri din copilărie vol. 2 " .

Both albums sold together 150,000 times in Romania in 2004, making Stratan the best-selling musician on the Romanian music market that year. In 2005 he was awarded platinum twice for this . In November 2005, Stratan, who had meanwhile moved to Bucharest , released his third album, which sold 60,000 pieces in a few months and received two gold records .

While recording the third album, he discovered the talent of his then three-year-old daughter Cleopatra by chance. He had taken her to rehearsals in a studio in Bucharest, where she spontaneously picked up one of the microphones while playing and sang along with dad. The studio team was enthusiastic about the random recording and it was decided to record more songs with them. This resulted in the album "La vârsta de trei ani" (Translator: At the age of three), which was released in 2006 and was a great sales success with 150,000 copies sold. The single “Ghița” became an international hit through word of mouth from Romanians abroad and even on YouTube, and an English-language version was also released in addition to the Romanian version. As the youngest singer ever to achieve a number one hit in any country, Cleopatra entered the Guinness Book of Records with this song and received three MTV Awards in Romania in 2007 .

In 2008, after a two-year hiatus, he recorded a new album with his daughter entitled "La vârsta de cinci ani" (Translated: At the age of five). In the same year his son Cezar was born in Chișinău. In 2009 he released an album with self-composed and traditional Romanian Christmas carols. Father and daughter sing together on this album.

style

Pavel Stratan's solo albums are characterized by his somewhat rough voice paired with acoustic guitar. The often melancholic or nostalgic ballads move stylistically between gentle rock and Southeast European folklore sounds. His texts are thought-provoking and sometimes have socially critical content, but without reference to current political issues. Special feature of his songs is also his Moldovan accent as opposed to spoken in Romania Romanian slightly Russian sounds.

Albums

• Amintiri din copilărie vol. 1; 2002 (Moldova), 2004 (Romania)
• Amintiri din copilărie vol. 2; 2004
• Amintiri din copilărie vol. 3; 2005
• Colinde Magice; 2009 (together with Cleopatra Stratan)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ radioboss.ro: Biography Pavel Stratan (Romanian)
2. ↑ famouswhy.ro: Pavel Stratan (Romanian)
3. ↑ lifeisreallzbeautiful.com: Cleopatra Stratan… Isn't She Lovely? (English)
4. ↑ hotnews.ro: Cleopatra Stratan a lansat Colinde Magice (Romanian)