Mustafa Krantja | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait of Mustafa Krantja, 1950s | |
| Born | (1921-04-10)April 10, 1921 |
| Died | January 4, 2002(2002-01-04) (aged 80) Tirana, Albania |
| Occupation(s) | Conductor,Composer |
| Era | 20th century |
| Known for | Being the first conductor of theNational Theater of Opera and Ballet[1] |
| Children | Ermir Krantja[2] |
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Mustafa Krantja (10 April 1921 – 4 January 2002) was an Albanianclassical music conductor and composer. He has written about 20 major works. Krantja was awarded thePeople's Artist award in 1956 and theDvorak Medal in 1975.[3]
After graduating from the Academy of Arts in Prague in 1950, Krantja returned to Albania and in 1951 founded the Symphony Orchestra at theNational Theater of Opera and Ballet. The following decade, in 1964, he founded the Conservatory of Arts which later would become the Higher Institute of Arts, today known as theUniversity of Arts. He was one of the initiators in the establishment of the conducting branch in the institute.[4]
Krantja's repertoire is quite extensive, featuring more than thirty premieres of operas and ballets performed at home and abroad. The first opera he directed wasRusalka by Russian composerAlexander Dargomyzhsky, whose success encouraged him to dedicate himself to the beautiful and difficult path of art. The added success of the operaThe Bartered Bride by the czech composerBedřich Smetana was also noteworthy, which he conducted with the symphony orchestras of Russia, Romania and the Czech Republic. Krantja conducted the first Albanian operasMrika (1959) andSkënderbeu (1968), as well as the first Albanian balletHalili and Hajria (1963) and many other Albanian orchestral works.
