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Inva Mula | |
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| Born | (1963-06-27)27 June 1963 (age 62) |
| Other names | Inva Mula Çako |
| Occupation | Operaticlyric soprano |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Parent(s) | Avni Mula,Nina Mula [sq] |
Inva Mula (born 27 June 1963) is an Albanian operalyric soprano. She began her soprano career at a very early age. Her father (Avni Mula) and mother (Nina Mula [sq]) were also opera singers. She is also known for providing the voice of the diva Plavalaguna in the filmThe Fifth Element.
Mula was born inTirana, Albania, toAvni Mula and Nina Mula. Avni was aKosovo Albanian man fromGjakova while Nina was aRussian woman fromIzhevsk. In 1987 she won the Cantante d'Albania competition in Tirana[citation needed] and in 1988 theGeorge Enescu Competition in Bucharest.[citation needed] In 1992 she won the Butterfly competition in Barcelona. She received an award atPlácido Domingo's firstOperalia International Opera Competition in Paris, 1993. A CD of the event was released.
She later performed in various concerts at theOpéra Bastille in Paris, and in Brussels forEuropalia Mexico, in Munich, and in Oslo. In 1996 she performedLuigi Cherubini's operaMédée (which was taped for TV) atCompiègne in France. She then returned for Bizet's operaLa jolie fille de Perth (released CD, filmed for TV, and released DVD in Japan) in 1998. After this she recorded Puccini'sLa rondine withAngela Gheorghiu forEMI and for 2005's stage production she took Gheorghiu's place in the leading role of Magda during performances inToulouse and Paris. Later on, she performed Bizet'sIvan IV concert version, which had its recital debut atSalle Pleyel in Paris, and a live recording was released as CD. In 2001, she was busy in Italy, performing Verdi'sFalstaff at theTeatro alla Scala andRigoletto at theVerona Arena, both of which were taped for TV then released on DVD.
Mula has sung inLucia di Lammermoor,La bohème, andManon, among others. She is also a renowned Violetta inLa traviata, and has sung the role in many cities around the world, including Tokyo, Bilbao,Orange, Trieste, and Toronto. In 2007, she performed Adina inL'elisir d'amore at Toulouse, and in 2009 she sang the title role in Gounod'sMireille with theParis Opera at thePalais Garnier, a performance that was issued on DVD. Also in 2009, she released the albumIl Bel Sogno, a compilation of opera arias.
She is often accompanied by the French-Albanian pianist Genc Tukiçi.[1]
Her ex-husbandPirro Çako is a well-known singer and composer from Albania, but she used the spelling Tchako rather than Çako. However, after mid-1990 she began using the name Inva Mula, and never returned to the old one. Her current husband isHetem Ramadani, a businessman from Kosovo.[2]
Mula is perhaps best known to Western filmgoers as the singing voice of the Diva Plavalaguna, played on-screen byMaïwenn Le Besco, in the 1997 filmThe Fifth Element, where she is credited using her then married name as Inva Mula Çako. She performed the aria "Il dolce suono" from themad scene ofGaetano Donizetti'sLucia di Lammermoor and "The Diva Dance".
DirectorLuc Besson adoredMaria Callas, but the sound quality of her 1956 EMI Classics recording ofLucia wasn't clear enough to use on a film soundtrack, so Callas's agentMichel Glotz, who had produced this recording, introduced him to Mula.[citation needed]
