By Fadil Shehu
Memorie.al / “In a city where old walls tell stories and songs keep the soul alive, Zhuliana Jorganxhi was born and raised – one of the most heard voices of Albanian music. In her home in Korça, where musical notes were a second language and singing was her daily breathing, Zhuliana received her first lessons in art from her father, the renowned composer and instrumentalist Gaqo Jorganxhi. But she would not simply become a successor to the family talent – she would become a legend.
Today, at the age of 76, with a career spanning almost 60 years and the title “Queen of Albanian light music lyrics”, Zhuliana Jorganxhi is one of the most respected figures of our national art. Recently, she has published the book “Zëri i shpirtit tim”, a collection of her music lyrics that have marked entire decades of Albanian music.
In this special interview, Zhuliana tells us not only about this book, but also about her extraordinary path: from the Korçërs with “Tapi” to the RTSH festivals, from the battles with censorship in the 70s and 80s to her new life in Trieste. We will hear untold stories about her talented family, about her strong friendships with legends like Vaçe Zela and Agim Krajka, but also about the burdens and pains that a long and passionate career has left her.”
Ms. Jorganxhi, recently the Albanian reader in Albania and in the diaspora, held in their hands your book entitled “The Voice of My Soul”. Why did you consider this book the book of your dreams?
First of all, I thank you for this interview, because it seems to me as if I am talking to all my compatriots wherever they are. I had been thinking about publishing the book “The Voice of My Soul”, with poems set to music, for years, but it was my good and dear friend Ilir Çumani who prepared this book and it was also the successful and generous publisher, Henri Çili, who made its publication possible and I thank them wholeheartedly. I have considered it a book of my dreams, because it contains all my work of many, many years on song lyrics. I also thank my long-time friend, like a sister, the poet, journalist, screenwriter and writer Natasha Lako, for the very seriously written preface to this book, since she knows all my poetic activity, especially with song lyrics, like no other.
Since the age of seventeen, you’re lyrical and love poetry began to be welcomed everywhere. Do you think they carry the early nectar of lyrical songs and serenades, which Korça and the people of Korça have with “Tapi”?
I grew up among patriotic and lyrical Korça songs, as I had the great fortune to be born into a family with ancient musical traditions. It was my brilliant father, Gaqo Jorganxhi “Merited Artist”, who has participated as a soloist since the 1920s in the artistic societies of Korça and played the guitar and bassoon, which nourished his four children with a love for art and music, and of course Korça songs have influenced my artistic and musical education. My father would put his children to sleep every night to the sounds of his guitar and his warm voice, singing to us not only Korça songs, but also arias from classical operas. For ten years I studied piano in the music circle at the “Vangjush Mio” Palace of Culture in Korça, but I haven’t played this instrument for years. I used to play the guitar a little, which my father taught me.
Did you feel lucky that your father, the “Merited Artist”, was your Muse of inspiration?
Of course, this was a great fortune for me and my brothers Rikardo and Edmond, for my sister Rozmari and for me. Let’s not forget that we were born and raised by the unsparing care of our enlightened mother Natali, a noble woman, with great education, civic ethics and culture, especially literary culture. She read until her old age. She passed this virtue, civic ethics and love for literature on to her children.
Your family was devoted to music. Meanwhile, you fell in love with a direction other than singing. You studied language and literature. Do you think you had made the right choice for the future of your life?
My father, who loved art and music, wanted us, his children, to follow his path, that of music. Since our childhood, he made us learn from an instrument. The older, dearer brother, Rikardo (who left this life only 7 months ago), studied violin, guitar and later piano. He graduated with distinction from the Tirana Conservatory (today the Academy of Arts) for symphonic conducting and composition. He was known as the conductor of the orchestra of this city, managing to make it professional. Rikardo has also composed many works such as the music for Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night”, which was staged by the Korça Theater and later the National Theater, directed by the great Pirro Mani “Nder i Kombit”. Later he worked as a lecturer at the Academy of Arts. While my dear sister, Rozmaria “The Great Master” (who left this life a year and a half ago) brilliantly graduated from two faculties at the “P.I. Tchaikovsky” Conservatory in Moscow, as a choirmaster and lyric singer, mezzo-soprano. She was the first Albanian conductor with a diploma and directed the TKOB choir for 16 years and sang for 30 years in this Theater.
Later, for 10 years, she sang at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Opera Theater in Trieste, where she was called the “Queen” of lyric singing. My younger brother Edmondi also studied violin for several years, but then studied medicine at the Medical Polytechnic in Tirana and practiced the profession of a physician’s assistant for over 30 years. I have been in love with literature since I was a child and I once stuttered verses in my early teens. I wrote essays in the seventh grade and high school, which were evaluated by the language and literature teachers. In the 1964 matriculation exam, it was my luck that I had family ties with the writer and poet of many song lyrics, Petraq Qafëzezi, who took some of my poems and published them in the newspaper “Drita”. They were love lyrics and in those years, female poets who wrote about love were rare. The publication of these poems gave me wings to write more and to ask for the right to study language and literature. I continued at the Faculty of History and Philology, branch of language and literature and fortunately for me and my peers, in the third year of the faculty, a two-year course was opened at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, for journalism.
The Faculty of Journalism was opened later and we were, so to speak, the new journalists, who were appointed in newspapers, central magazines and on the Albanian Radio and Television. I started working in 1968 as a journalist for the magazine “Shqiptarja e Re”, where I worked for almost seven years. This job was very valuable to me, as I got to know almost all the districts of my country, except for Tropoja and Përmeti, which I had not seen at that time. I created my first text based on the melody created by the young composer Ruzhdi Keraj, who was still a student at the time. The song was titled “Net promimesh” (Exam Nights) and was sung very beautifully by the then young singer Liljana Kodakçi. The song took first place in the Music Survey of the Month. This is how my activity with song lyrics began.
How much have the songs and serenades from Korça, and even the writers and poets from Korça, influenced your formation as a creative person?
Of course, they have greatly influenced my formation as a poet. Korça has always had distinguished writers, who were also teachers in the city’s high schools. Thus, I had the great fortune to have a literature teacher at the high school “Raqi Qirinxhi”, the poet, playwright, writer and excellent translator Prof. Vangjush Ziko, who created the school’s literary circle and, so to speak, took all of us young writers towards the path of writing.
For seven years you worked as a journalist in the central press, and for many years as a responsible editor at the Albanian Radio Television. Always successful in your work, but not infrequently song lyrics were edited by people who came with orders from above. Let us recall here the events after the 11th song festival. How did you experience these events?
The 11th festival, we youth of that time, welcomed with enthusiasm. I had friends who were singers, such as Sherif Merdani, Justina Aliaj, the poet Sadik Bejko, Natasha Lakon, the composers Agim Krajka, Kastriot Gjini, the director Mihal Luarasi, his wife the excellent artist Edi Luarasi, Bujar Kapexhiu, etc. But our enthusiasm was cut short. The festival was badly criticized and many of my friends suffered. Sherif Merdani and Mihal Luarasi were imprisoned, the poet Sadik Bejko, former literary editor for song lyrics at RTS, was taken for re-education as a miner in Memaliaj, Justina Aliaj was removed from this television, etc. All these events shocked us. I started working at RTSH as a literary editor, after this festival, in 1975.
Why was your poetry liked by many composers, especially “Nder i Kombit” Agim Krajka, “Nderi i Kombit” Ferdinand Deda, “Nderi i Kombit” Kujtim Laro. “Mjeshtri i Madh” Flamur Shehu, “Mjeshtër i Madh” Agim Prodani, “Mjeshtër i Madh” Enver Shengjergji, “Mjeshtër i Madh” Luan Zhegu, “Mjeshtër i Madh” Shpëtim Saraçi, “Mjeshtër i Madh” Ardit Gjebrea, Gjergj Leka, etc.?
I have always worked on the text over music. It has rarely happened that a composer takes my poetry and creates a melody over it. My ear for music, inherited from my family, helps me a lot. I catch the melody very quickly and reproduce it quickly in my mind.
Speak respectfully about your friendship with famous singers Alida Hisku, Ema Qazimi, Luan Zhegu, Tonin Tërshana, Myfarete Laze, Irma Libohova, Parashqevi Simaku, Lindita Theodhori, Bashkim Alibali… But focus more on the singer “Nderi i Kombit” Vaçe Zela. How was your friendship with Vaçe?
I have had a brotherly friendship with all the singers, because they are the nightingales and nightingales, who bring the song to the listener or spectator. With the great Vaçe Zela, we have had a very strong friendship over the years, a friendship almost like an older sister with a younger one. I was a friend of her family over the years. Even today, I have a constant connection with her wonderful daughter, Irma.
Is the existence of the triangle, lyricist, composer and singer, necessary in achieving success?
It is definitely more than necessary. When one of these components of the song, even with the orchestration, is missing, then the song does not come out beautiful.
You have written hundreds of song lyrics, but we would like to single out the one entitled “Songs of Youth”, composed by “Nderi i Kombit” Agim Krajka, which very quickly became an anthem in Albania and the Diaspora with brilliant verses “…Like the birds of Albania when they fly / For the first time high in the sky / and the Albanian Mother with strong arms / The flight together with her children she takes…”! Do you think so too?
“Ah, this song…! At the 15th Song Festival at RTSH in 1976, someone spoke badly about the song and almost didn’t even enter the third night. I was very upset then, not only me, but also the brilliant Agim Karjka with the two singers, Luan Zhegu and Alida Hisku, because we felt that it was a very beautiful song and it almost didn’t get rid of “someone’s” envy. But, I would also single out some other songs with my own lyrics, such as “Në duart e atamës”, with music by Gjergj Lka, winner of the “Kur vjen pranvera” Concert in 1985, “Jemi emri i vetë jejët”, with music by Elton Deda, in 1990, (winner of the first prize among groups), the song “Jon”, with music by Ardit Gjebresë in 1991, “Na lini të jetojmë”! with music by Alban Emiri, in 1992, which even today continues to be an anthem song, “Se këntuam Leti t bi”, with music by Luan Zhegu “Mjeshtër i Madh”, a song with which after 20 years of silence, the great Sherif Merdani came on stage (winning at the concert “Kur vjen Pranvera” 1992), the song “Jeto dhe jeći time”, with music by Ardit Gjebresë in 1992, etc.
Although you have been living in the city of Trieste in Italy for years, you are still present at song festivals organized in Italy and Albania. How fruitful has your collaboration with composers from these two countries been?
Although far from the homeland, I have continuously participated in the festivals at the end of December at RTSH. Even at the 60th festival, I performed with two texts. One with the music of my long-time friend Flamur Shehu “Mjeshtër i Madh” and another with the music of another friend, conductor and composer, Jetmir Barbullushi. The first was a love lyric, while the second was about the triumph of life over the pandemic that struck the whole world. I participated only once with my text in the Triestine Song Festival, but I have also been active in the albums of our singers, such as Alida Hisku, etc.
If one day you wanted to return with desire and passion to one of your poems, which one would it be?
The poem “Etërit” was written in 1989 and published in the magazine “Nëntori”. It is a poem that I wrote in one breath and I have never returned to it to rework it. It seems to me that I will take away that deep feeling that this poem holds, which compassionately expresses a great concern for our fathers.
Choirmaster and renowned mezzo-soprano Rozmari Jorganxhi is your sister, who has been by your side at every step of life. What would you say about your sister, at these moments?
My dear sister, the brilliant Rozmari, is not just connected to me by blood. We had an age difference of 10 years and I have idolized her all my life, that sister. She shone everywhere not only with her art, as the first choirmaster with a diploma in Albania and as a mezzo-soprano with a velvety voice full of feeling and a warm and special timbre, but above all she was an excellent person. I don’t say this because I have a sister, but all those people who knew her and worked with her. She was a person with a great soul; she loved people and forgave them even when they did her wrong. For me, she has been and remains a loving, dedicated, caring sister at every step of my life. She was a true artist, who demanded from herself all her life and never stopped studying. With her skills, she rose and left a bright name on our TKOB stage.
She was one of the first teachers of choral conducting and singing at the Tirana Conservatory (today the Academy of Arts) and knew how not only to impart her profession and knowledge to her students, but also to create an excellent, almost parental relationship with them, always staying close to them even after they finished their studies at this Academy. She was a wife who lived for 52 years full of love and respect for each other with her husband, the physics teacher, the brilliant Kostandin Leka, as well as with his parents and relatives. She was a compassionate mother, devoted to her three children, Gjergji, Aretija and Hektori. Gjergji and Hektori became musicians (Gjergji a singer-songwriter and Hektori a lyric singer), of course thanks to their talent, but also to the care of their mother. Gjergji has been creating since a young age and has an absolute ear, a rare thing for a musician, while Hektori studied violin for 8 years and later as a bass-baritone singer and today sings at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Opera Theater in Trieste.
To my dear and bright sister Rozmari, I dedicated the lyrics of the song “Spring does not come with a flower” (or as it was corrected by the censor of the time “Spring wants flowers a lot”), with music by Ardit Gjebresë, sung so beautifully by the great Frederik Ndoci, at the “Kur vjen Pranvera” concert in 1989. My sister was also a grandmother, who raised her granddaughter, Gjergji’s daughter, Dorina, with great care. Dorina studied piano at the “Tartini” Conservatory in Trieste and took singing lessons from her sister Rozmari. She participated in the X-Factor here in Italy and was appreciated as a singer with a beautiful voice. She sings in concerts and at the same time works as a graphic designer on the computer, where she received her first lessons from her grandfather, the brilliant Kostandin.
A year and a half ago in Tirana, a concert dedicated to your creativity over the years was organized. Not only during the concert but even on ordinary days you were among your friends, where undoubtedly your nephew, Lambert Jorganxhi, composer, son of Rikardo, who directed this concert and as Artistic Director and pianist, made your presence more beautiful. How do you evaluate this concert dedicated to your creativity?
This concert was organized by the Municipality of Tirana with the initiative and care of my dear friend Ilir Çumani and it has created great emotions in me all the time, because there, in addition to the songs selected with my lyrics, I met with great longing and love with many of my singer friends, who participated in this concert, such as; Alida Hisku, Luan Zhegu, Myfarete Laze, Justina Aliaj, Irma Libohova, Eranda Libohova, Bashkim Alibali, Liljana Kondakçi, Kastriot Tushe, Elton Deda, Emi Bogdo etc.
In addition to the poetry volumes “Exam Nights,” “Growth”, “Aunt Nastës’ Children” (children’s stories), “Flowers on the Tree of Freedom”, “Gaqo Jorganxhi and the ‘Lira’ Group” (literary monograph), “Forbidden Pain”, “Beautiful Pain” (Love Lyrics), you have written in prose the book of stories “…They Also Sipped Tea…”! What motive inspired you to write this book?
I have had this book in mind for years. There I have collected stories written over the years and now after the ’90s.
Another story written with feeling and inspiration is “Innocent Guilty”, in memoria, by the scientist and artist Enrico Veizi. How is it to write real events in a story or essay about the years he experienced, especially during his prison years?
I had this story as a pledge for my friend as a brother, the brilliant scientist and artist Enrico Veizi, who was imprisoned, tortured and not even two years after his release, in 1991, died on May 11, 1993, just two years later, at the age of 54, as a result of his prison ordeal. I met Enrico in 1969, and he connected me with a brotherly friendship. He was not only a geophysical scientist and a cartoonist, but above all a real, honest man, who worked and created his entire life with great passion and honesty. His punishment has hurt my soul and I still mourn his departure from this world! I took the events of the story from the stories of others who had suffered and lived with him, his friends, while he himself did not want to remember his sufferings…!
You are known as the only creator in Albania awarded with many titles and medals, where we would like to highlight seven times winner of the song festival on television, four first prizes in various festivals. You have been baptized with the title “Queen of Albanian light music song lyrics”, the award “Golden Disk of the Festival”, twice the decoration “Gratitude”, “Career Award” and finally the title granted by the President of the Republic, “Grand Master”. How do you feel in the face of these awards?
I feel appreciated, but for me the opinion of our art-loving public, who meet me on the way in Trieste and Albania and say a good word to me, is valuable. But, as for the other assessment, the state one, I am left with a minimum pension in my country. I receive 155,000 lek (old pension) and surprisingly, many of those who came after me have received special pensions even recently. I have 58 years of creativity and in a few days I will celebrate my 76th birthday!
Another 100 happy years, Zhuliana!
Thank you for the congratulations, Mr. Fadil.
Almost 60 years of creative work. Do you feel tired?
No. The creator knows no age. Inspiration comes when you least expect it, even at an age like mine.
After the literary monograph book dedicated to your father, the symbol of Korça songs, Gaqo Jorganxhi, you are working on another new biographical book dedicated to your life. What does it mean to you to write the life of Zhuliana Jorganxhi?
I wanted to write such a book and I started it years ago, but then I gave up. It was very difficult for me to tell about myself. Better than such a book, the latest book “Voice of My Soul” speaks.
What would be the message for your fans and friendship in Albania and the Diaspora?
I wish you all, along with my patriots, wherever you are, and good health, success in every work for the welfare of Albania and far from envy, to have love for each other. Love and respect each other, asking you every day at the end of the day, “What did I do for my Homeland and people”?! Memorie.al
