Kristaq Antoniu

Kristaq Antoniu, also known as Cristache Antoniu in Romanian, was an Albanian-Romanian operetta tenor, baritone, and actor. He was a People's Artist of the People's Republic of Albania. Born in Bucharest to an ethnic Albanian family, he lived in Romania, graduating from the Mimic Drama College of Bucharest and the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. He acquired much of his celebrity by acting in Romanian cinema roles during the late 1920s and early 1930s. As a concert master and operetta singer, he toured Europe with a group of musicians. He settled in Albania in 1935, and started to expand on his artistic reputation, being widely esteemed for his accomplished interpretation of classical arias and folk songs. A recording of folk songs done for the Columbia society in 1942 was largely arranged by Pjetër Dungu. Antoniu was the director of the first Albanian opera, Mrika, composed by Prenk Jakova. Kristaq Antoniu died in Tirana, Albania.