Llukë Kaçaj, bass singer and meritorious artist, passed away in Laç. He was born in Bajzë (Ivanaj) of Kastrati (Malësia e Madhe) in 1926. He received his first musical education at the Jesuit high school in Shkodra. He completed his advanced singing studies at the “PI Tchaikovsky” conservatory in Moscow (1951-1956). He began his career at the Opera and Ballet Theater, where he performed leading roles in the operas “The Barber of Seville” (Rosini), “Eugene Onegin” and “Iolanta” (Tchaikovsky), “Aleko” (Rahmaninov), “Mrika” (Prenk Jakova). He developed dense concert activity inside and outside the country (Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, etc.). With the arias of Philip (“Don Carlos”, Verdi), Gremin (“Eugène Onegin”, Tchaikovsky), Leporelos (“Don Juan”, Mozart), Gjin (“Mrika”, Prenk Jakova) he created outstanding models of vocal performance, highlighting the interpretive features in the entire range of his resounding voice, such as drama, artistic temperament, exquisite musicality and especially the warm timbre with a dynamic character. In 1966, he was appointed a lecturer at the Higher Institute of Arts. His career was cut short in 1973, when he was imprisoned and convicted on political charges. He passed away in 2001. (In the photo: Llukë Kaçaj)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1082.
Photo: © National Theater of Opera, Ballet, and Popular Ensemble
Graphic processing: AHCF
