Opera Singer. A soprano, she was her country's best known singer over a relatively brief career. Born at Faiyum to an Albanian family, she was raised in Egypt until moving with her family to Korce, Albania, in 1921 and showed early evidence of musical talent. Sent to Montpellier, France, for training in 1927 she studied at the Paris Conservatory from 1932 until 1936 when she returned home. Tefta soon established a busy recital career while becoming a mainstay of Radio Tirana from its founding in 1938. Her concerts were to carry her throughout Albania and into neighboring countries and were especially popular for her presentation of 'urban songs', the folk music of Albania, though she also programmed the music of Schubert, Mozart, and other classical composers. In the 1940s she gave acclaimed performances at the Tirana Opera and the Belgrade Opera, her repertoire including Mimi from Puccini's "La Boheme", Violetta of Verdi's "La Traviata", Leila in Georges Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers", and Rosina of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville". Tefta helped found Tirana's School of Arts and was immensely respected though some considered her too 'Westernized' and thus politically unreliable. In 1946 she wrote to dictator Enver Hoxha in an attempt to clarify her status but before a resolution could be reached she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Tefta was posthumously designated People's Artist of Albania and has been depicted on an Albanian postage stamp. She cut a number of records for Columbia in Italy in 1937 and 1942 with much of her legacy preserved on CD.
Opera Singer. A soprano, she was her country's best known singer over a relatively brief career. Born at Faiyum to an Albanian family, she was raised in Egypt until moving with her family to Korce, Albania, in 1921 and showed early evidence of musical talent. Sent to Montpellier, France, for training in 1927 she studied at the Paris Conservatory from 1932 until 1936 when she returned home. Tefta soon established a busy recital career while becoming a mainstay of Radio Tirana from its founding in 1938. Her concerts were to carry her throughout Albania and into neighboring countries and were especially popular for her presentation of 'urban songs', the folk music of Albania, though she also programmed the music of Schubert, Mozart, and other classical composers. In the 1940s she gave acclaimed performances at the Tirana Opera and the Belgrade Opera, her repertoire including Mimi from Puccini's "La Boheme", Violetta of Verdi's "La Traviata", Leila in Georges Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers", and Rosina of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville". Tefta helped found Tirana's School of Arts and was immensely respected though some considered her too 'Westernized' and thus politically unreliable. In 1946 she wrote to dictator Enver Hoxha in an attempt to clarify her status but before a resolution could be reached she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Tefta was posthumously designated People's Artist of Albania and has been depicted on an Albanian postage stamp. She cut a number of records for Columbia in Italy in 1937 and 1942 with much of her legacy preserved on CD.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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