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.^[1] The revised three-act version (and the one used today) premiered in Tirana at the Academy of Music and Arts of Albania in December 1959.^[2] The work is based on a "musical action" in two scenes, Dritë mbi Shqipëri (Light over Albania), a previous collaboration between Jakova and Siliqi which had premiered in Tirana in July 1952. Mrika is popularly considered to be the first Albanian opera.^[3] Its first stage director was Kristaq Antoniu.^[4]

References

1. Rubin, Don (2001), The world encyclopedia of contemporary theatre, Taylor & Francis, pp. 41–, ISBN 978-0-415-05928-2
2. Leotsakos, George (2001). "Jakova, Prenkë". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.‎
3. Prifti, Peter R., Socialist Albania since 1944, Vol. 23, MIT Press, 1978, p. 124. ISBN 0-262-16070-6
4. Një nga yjet artit shqiptar, Kristaq Antoniu [One of the Albanian art stars, Kristaq Antoniu] (in Albanian), Gazeta Vatra, 2015-12-24, retrieved 2016-01-29