Marie Kraja or Marie Paluca (24 September 1911 – 21 November 1999) was an Albanian

opera singer 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 libretti ...

who is particularly known for her delivery of Albanian

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

Life

Kraja was born in 1911 in

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

Kingdom of Dalmatia The Kingdom of Dalmatia ( hr, Kraljevina Dalmacija; german: Königreich Dalmatien; it, Regno di Dalmazia) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entir ...

, then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, in a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

family. She was a relative of

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...

, and she would later organize the funeral services for her mother and sister. When she was six, her family moved to Shkodra. Although she was an immigrant, her family were

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

and she had lived in a small Albanian community in Zadar. In Albania she learnt local wedding and love songs. In 1930 she started her singing studies at the Singschule (now

University of Music and Performing Arts Graz The University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, also known as Kunstuniversität Graz (KUG) is an Austrian university. Its roots can be traced back to the music school of the '' Akademischer Musikverein'' founded in 1816, making it the oldest u ...

), which she completed in 1934. After graduation she started to teach at a secondary school in Shkodra, then at the Queen Mother Women's Institute in Tirana. She started making appearances in Tirana with Tonin Guraziu as accompanying pianist. Kraje represented Albania at an "Evening of Nations" hosted in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Kraja's singing was peculiar, because she had a German way of phrasing her words, which gave a precision to the phrasing of the lyrics she sang. She started to sing traditional urban songs (Albanian urban lyric songs), and she was able to show how a professionally trained singer could present them. She worked with

Lola Gjoka Lola Gjoka Aleksi (22 May 1910 – 6 October 1985) was an Albanian pianist during the period of the Communist regime. Life Gjoka was born in Sevastopol in 1910, into an Albanian family. She began learning the piano at the age of six, and her ...

, who was the arranger of the harmonies and also the pianist, and together they recorded over 300 songs. By today's standards the recordings were not perfect, but they still survive today. In 1937 she gave a recital in

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, Italy, and the following year she gave concerts in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Germany. That same year she was included in a concert in June with

Tefta Tashko-Koço Tefta Tashko-Koço (; 2 November 191022 December 1947) was an Albanian singer and soprano. She was a leading figure in the regional music industry and is considered one of the most influential personalities of the 20th century in the Albanian ...

and

, to raise funds for the baritone Kristo Koço (Tefta Tashko-Koço's husband). He needed the money in order complete his singing lessons he was taking in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. In 1939 she gave a recital in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

before returning home. After the Second World War, Kraja taught at the

Jordan Misja Academy The Jordan Misja Artistic Lyceum ( sq, Liceu Artistik Jordan Misja) is an artistic school in Tirana, Albania, for youth from 6 to 18 years old. Established in 1946, it included music, ballet, dramatic arts, painting and sculpting classes. Today it ...

. She combined this with continuing to sing in the Opera, and in 1959 she appeared in the first Albanian opera. The opera was called ''

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 ...

'', with

Prenkë 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 an ...

as composer, and

Llazar Siliqi Llazar Siliqi (1924 – 2001) was a notable Albanian poet. His poetic profile was influenced by the work of Mayakovsky. Siliqi was born in Shkodër, the son of the Albanian poet and nationalist figure Risto Siliqi. He was an active participa ...

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

. Kraja 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 ...

in 1999. She had been awarded the highest recognition for artists, the

People's Artist of Albania The People's Artist () was an honorary title for outstanding art performers of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, whose merits were exceptional in the sphere of development of the performing arts (theatre, music, cinema and art). It was c ...

title.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraja, Marie 1911 births 1999 deaths People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia 20th-century Albanian women opera singers Albanian Roman Catholics Musicians from Zadar Queen Mother Pedagogical Institute faculty University of Music and Performing Arts Graz alumni People's Artists of Albania Emigrants from Austria-Hungary Immigrants to Albania

Life

See also

References