Albanian-born, Italy based baritone Gezim Myshketa has been invited to perform the lead role of Ali Pasha in the opera which will make its premiere on Saturday, March 23 and stage for another three evenings on March 24, 26 and 27 at 19.00
TIRANA, March 18 – “Ali Pascha von Janina” a single-act opera by German composer Gustav Albert Lortzing dedicated to the early 19th century Albanian ruler of Ioannina will come as a premiere at the Opera House in Tirana. Under the baton of Opera House director, Maestro Zhani Ciko, and directed by France Patrizia Panton, the Ali Pasha opera will make its comeback in an Albanian stage after almost two centuries following its world premiere in Germany.
Albanian-born, Italy based baritone Gezim Myshketa has been invited to perform the lead role of Ali Pasha in the opera which will make its premiere on Saturday, March 23 and stage for another three evenings on March 24, 26 and 27 at 19.00.
The opera focuses on Ali Pasha and a French captain who falls in love with an Albanian girl housed in Pasha’s harem.
Speaking to reporters about the opera, Zhani Ciko, the director of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet says he has had access to the opera since years, but has postponed its stage several times. “I have been researching on foreign works dealing with Albania or its historical characters since time. I don’t know how much the public knows about this work, but I believe they will be interested. Staging historical works, including those by foreign authors focusing on Albanian motifs such as Vivaldi’s Skanderbeg’s is part of my strategy. We have to know what foreigners think about us,” says Ciko.
The opera is reported to have been staged in German opera houses at the time written by Albert Lortzing in the 1820s, but failed to have other stages in Germany or abroad.
“To date, there is only a CD version performed by the orchestra of Koln, but only as music with no video footage and that’s why I think our production will be interesting,” says Ciko.
In this opera Ali Pasha appears as an authoritarian leader as many leaders of that time. The opera deals neither with the Pasha’s cruelty and character nor with wars and historical events. The clash of the Pasha with two French captains in Ioannina over e beautiful Albanian woman, taken into the Pasha’s harem is the focus of the opera’s plot.
“The topic is exotic, while the music is not folkloric, it does not deal with oriental music. It is an elegant work with a lovely atmosphere. I am glad baritone Gezim Myshketa who is vocally fit to perform the Pasha is with us,” notes the Opera House director.
Italy-based Albanian baritone Myshketa will perform the lead role of Ali Pasha in original German lyrics, trying to avoid the stereotypes about Ali Pasha. “The opera was composed by the time Ali Pasha was in his 50s and this makes my job easier. The authority and personality, bravery and force of Ali Pasha will be brought through musical and stage performance,” says Myshketa.
The action taking place on stage is very clear, it is set within 24 hours with characters such as the French soldiers, the Turkish group of the Pasha’s yard, and the chorus of the Harem women. The one-act opera is in German and divided into three scenes with each of them including reciting and singing.
“It is the first time this opera has been staged after nearly 200 years. It is also the first time I am performing an Albanian character and at the same time the first time I am performing an Albanian historical character which makes me most honoured,” says baritone Myshketa.
Gustav Albert Lortzing (1801 -1851) was a German composer, actor and singer. He is considered to be the main representative of the German Spieloper, a form similar to the French op곡 comique, which grew out of the Singspiel.
His first opera, Ali Pascha von Janina, appeared in 1824, but his fame as a musician rests chiefly upon the two operas Zar und Zimmermann (1837) and Der Wildsch
