Capital of Albania. An Italian touring company, the Carro di Tespi Lirico, first brought staged opera to Albania in the 1940s (Rigoletto, La traviata, Tosca and La bohčme in 19423). The earliest step towards a systematic organization and development of music and dance was the founding, formalized in 1950, of the Filarmonia Shqiptare (Albanian Philharmonia), embracing the Tirana RSO (later the Albanian Radio and Television SO), the State Chorus, a ballet company and a number of opera singers. The organization had in fact been active earlier, with Dasma Shqiptare (Albanian Wedding), a musical tableau in a prologue and three scenes by Konstandin Trako (191986), given at the stadium in 1947. The earliest opera production with an Albanian cast was Darghomļzhskys Rusalka, given by the newly founded Teatri i Operės dhe i Baletit (Theatre of Opera and Ballet; TOB) in 1953.
The first indoor performances of the Albanian Philharmonia were given at the Teatri Kombėtar Dramatik (National Theatre for Drama), formerly a cinema, with some 500 seats. With Smetanas The Bartered Bride (1956) the company transferred to the conservatory theatre, constructed by the Italians, with excellent acoustics and 560 seats. Finally, with Vangjo Novas opera Heroina (The Heroine, 1967), it settled in the modern theatre (cap. 865) of the Palace of Culture in Skanderbeg Square. Before 1991 two opera or ballet performances were usually given weekly, from September to May or June; the theatre was also used for concerts and recitals. Ticket prices are low as the enterprise is state-funded. The early achievements of the Albanian Philharmonia and the TOB owed much to native pioneers of opera in Albania.
The work of the TOB is almost equally divided between opera and ballet. From 1966 a change of cultural policy encouraged national creativity while disallowing the presentation of foreign works. Only after the fall of the Communist regime in 1991 did the TOB begin to perform the international opera and ballet repertory. The company also presents orchestral, choral and chamber concerts. The TOBs extensive archive embraces all the events held at the Tirana Palace of Culture and the greater part of Albanias musical life.
In addition to a conservatory students orchestra giving occasional concerts, two orchestras survived in Tirana after 1991: the Albanian Radio and Television SO under its conductors Ferdinand Deda, Jetmir Barbullushi and Petrika Afezolli; and the orchestra of the TOB under Rifat Teqja and Bujar Llapaj. There are also two string ensembles, Virtuoset e Tiranės, which has toured abroad under the violinist Zhani Ciko, and Nėnė Tereza. Mixed chamber ensembles in Tirana incude ASMUS, Spectroom and the Emerson Bassoon Quartet, named after the British bassoonist and music publisher June Emerson, who promotes Albanian music. In 1993 Suzanna Turku, director of the TOB choir, founded Pax Dei, a 20-strong mixed chorus which has toured in Germany and Greece.
A number of new festivals have been inaugurated in Tirana since 1991. Mbrėmje e Muzikės sė re Shqiptare (Evenings of New Albanian Music) was founded in 1992 by the composer Feim Ibrahimi and later taken over by the composer Aleksandėr Peēi as Ditė (Days) e Muzikės sė re Shqiptare. Entirely devoted to new Albanian music, it takes place every year in May. The composer Sokol Shupo, founder and president of the Albanian Section of the ISCM (1991), is also the founder and director of the festival Ditėt Ndėrkombėtare tė Muzikės se Re tė Dhomės (International Days for New Chamber Music, 1994), consisting of between ten and 12 concerts, each dedicated to the music of a particular country. In 1998 it was renamed Vjeshta e Tiranės (Tirana Autumn) and included a mini-festival devoted to the works of Xenakis. Festival i Romancės Shqiptare Tonin Harapi (Albanian Song Festival Tonin Harapi), featuring works by Albanian composers for solo voice and piano, was founded in 1994 and takes place each December. Festivali i Interpretimit tė Muzikės Bashkėkohore Nikolla Zoraqi (Festival of the Interpretation of Contemporary Music Nikolla Zoraqi) was also founded in 1994, and was repeated in 1997 and 1998. Some works are composed especially for this festival, and participants are obliged to perform an Albanian work from the 1990s. Finally, a festival of childrens song, Feļm Ibrahimi, was held for the first time in June 1998.
The main establishments of musical education in Tirana are the conservatory, founded in 1962, and the Jordan Misja secondary music school. In addition to the Palace of Culture and the concert hall of the conservatory, the city has a number of halls where concerts are given. These include the Lidhja e Shkrimtarėve hall, used for chamber music and recitals, the Odeoni Koncertor or Qendra Ndėrkombėtar i Kulturės (International Cultural Centre), the Pallati i Kongreseve (Congress Palace), with a capacity of about 2000, and a small recital hall at the Rogner Europapark hotel.
See also Albania, §I.
GEORGE LEOTSAKOS