Kristaq Antoniu (25 December 1907 – 17 March 1979), also known as Cristache Antoniu () in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

, was an Albanian-Romanian

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

, and actor. He was a

People's Artist People's Artist is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Union republics, in some other Eastern bloc states (and communist states in general), as well as in a number of post-Soviet states, modeled after the title of the People's Artist of the U ...

of the

People's Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...

Biography

Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, the capital of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, to an

ethnic Albanian The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbi ...

family, he lived in Romania, graduating from the Mimic Drama College of Bucharest and the

Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia The Centro sperimentale di cinematografia (Experimental Film Centre or Italian National film school) was established in 1935 in Italy and aims to promote the art and technique of cinematography and film. The centre is the oldest film school in ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He acquired much of his celebrity by acting in Romanian cinema roles during the late 1920s and early 1930s. As a concert master and operetta singer, he toured Europe with a group of musicians. He settled in Albania in 1935, and started to expand on his artistic reputation, being widely esteemed for his accomplished interpretation of classical

aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

s and folk songs. A recording of folk songs done for the Columbia society in 1942 was largely arranged by Pjetër Dungu. Antoniu was the director of the first Albanian

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, ''

Mrika ''Mrika'' (''Maria'') is an opera in three acts composed by Prenkë Jakova with a libretto in Albanian by Llazar Siliqi. It premiered (in a four-act version) in Shkoder, Albania in 1958 at the Migjeni Theatre. The revised three-act version (and ...

'', composed by

Prenk Jakova Prenk Jakova (27 June 191719 September 1969) was an Albanian composer, musician, and author of ''Mrika'' (1958), which is considered the first Albanian opera. A native of Shkodër, he studied under Martin Gjoka and Zef Kurti, and he was also a ...

. Antoniu died in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

Personal life

In 1941 he married Albania's first professional woman artist,

Androniqi Zengo Antoniu Androniqi Zengo Antoniu (26 May 1913 – 10 February 2000) was an Albanian painter. She is considered to the first professional woman painter from Albania, along with her sister Sofia Zengo Papadhimitri, and with Vangjush Mijo is credited with ...

References

External links

*
M. Blloshmi, "Kristaq Antoniu, një nga yjet e parë të artit shqiptar"
in ''

Shekulli ''Shekulli'' ( en, Century) is a daily newspaper published in Albania. The paper is owned by the media group UNIPRESS sh.p.k Its headquarters is located in Tirana, Albania. See also * List of newspapers in Albania * News in Albania Albania's ne ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Antoniu, Kristaq Romanian people of Albanian descent Romanian emigrants to Albania 20th-century Romanian male singers 20th-century Romanian singers 20th-century Albanian male singers Musicians from Bucharest 1907 births 1979 deaths Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia alumni 20th-century Romanian male actors 20th-century Albanian male actors