{{Short description|Albanian opera singer}} {{BLP sources|date=November 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = Inva Mula | image = Inva Mula (cropped).jpg | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = Photograph of Inva Mula | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | other_names = Inva Mula Çako | birth_date = | birth_place = Tirana, PR Albania | occupation = Operatic lyric soprano | years_active = 1970s–present | parents = Avni Mula, {{ill|Nina Mula|sq}} | website = }} '''Inva Mula''' is an Albanian opera lyric soprano. She began her soprano career at a very early age. Her father (Avni Mula) and mother ({{ill|Nina Mula|sq}}) were also opera singers. She is also known for providing the voice of the diva Plavalaguna in the 1997 film ''The Fifth Element''.

==Early life== Inva Mula was born in Tirana, Albania, to Avni Mula and Nina Mula. Avni was a Kosovo Albanian man from Gjakova while Nina was a Russian woman from Izhevsk.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==Career== In 1987 Mula won the Cantante d'Albania competition in Tirana{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} and in 1988 the George Enescu Competition in Bucharest.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} In 1992 she won the Butterfly competition in Barcelona. She received an award at Plácido Domingo's first Operalia International Opera Competition in Paris, 1993. A CD of the event was released.

She later performed in various concerts at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, and in Brussels for Europalia Mexico, in Munich, and in Oslo. In 1996 she performed Luigi Cherubini's opera {{lang|fr|Médée}} (which was taped for TV) at Compiègne in France. She then returned for Bizet's opera {{lang|fr|La jolie fille de Perth}} (released CD, filmed for TV, and released DVD in Japan) in 1998. After this she recorded Puccini's {{lang|fr|La rondine}} with Angela Gheorghiu for EMI and for 2005's stage production she took Gheorghiu's place in the leading role of Magda during performances in Toulouse and Paris. Later on, she performed Bizet's ''Ivan IV'' concert version, which had its recital debut at Salle Pleyel in Paris, and a live recording was released as CD. In 2001, she was busy in Italy, performing Verdi's ''Falstaff'' at the Teatro alla Scala and ''Rigoletto'' at the Verona Arena, both of which were taped for TV then released on DVD.{{fact|date=March 2026}}

Mula has sung in {{lang|it|Lucia di Lammermoor}}, {{lang|fr|La bohème}}, and {{lang|fr|Manon}}, among others. She is also a renowned Violetta in {{lang|it|La traviata}}, and has sung the role in many cities around the world, including Tokyo, Bilbao, Orange, Trieste, and Toronto. In 2007, she performed Adina in {{lang|fr|L'elisir d'amore}} at Toulouse, and in 2009 she sang the title role in Gounod's {{lang|fr|Mireille}} with the Paris Opera at the Palais Garnier, a performance that was issued on DVD. In 2009, she released the album {{lang|it|Il Bel Sogno}}, a compilation of opera arias.{{fact|date=March 2026}}

She is often accompanied by the French-Albanian pianist Genc Tukiçi.<ref>{{cite book |title=88 notes pour piano solo |author=Jean-Pierre Thiollet |author-link=Jean-Pierre Thiollet |publisher=Neva Ed. |date=2015 |page=180 |isbn=978 2 3505 5192 0}}</ref>

Her ex-husband Pirro Çako is a singer and composer from Albania, but she used the spelling Tchako rather than Çako. However, after mid-1990 she began using the name Inva Mula, and never returned to the old one. Her current husband is Hetem Ramadani, a businessman from Kosovo.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rotovnik a new |url=http://www.dnevnik.si/nedeljski/aktualno/1042325198 |access-date=9 February 2013 |newspaper=Dnevnik |date=22 December 2009 |language=sl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213054510/http://www.dnevnik.si/nedeljski/aktualno/1042325198 |archive-date=13 February 2015 }}</ref>

===In film=== Mula provided singing voice of the Diva Plavalaguna, played on-screen by Maïwenn Le Besco, in the 1997 film ''The Fifth Element'', where she is credited using her then married name as Inva Mula Çako. She performed the aria "{{lang|it|Il dolce suono|italic=no}}" from the mad scene of Gaetano Donizetti's {{lang|it|Lucia di Lammermoor}} and "The Diva Dance".

==See also== * Lists of Albanians

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * {{IMDb name|id=0611639|name=Inva Mula}} *Auzias, Dominique, and Labordette, Jean-Paul (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=YhVF3QgdBHAC&dq=Inva+Mula&pg=PA80 "Enfants du pays"], ''Albanie'', Petit Futé, 2009, p.&nbsp;80. {{ISBN|2-7469-2533-8}}

{{Albanian music|state=collapsed}} {{Portal bar|Biography|Opera}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mula, Inva}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Tirana Category:Albanian operatic sopranos Category:Albanian people of Russian descent Category:Operalia prize-winners Category:University of Arts (Albania) alumni Category:20th-century Albanian women singers Category:21st-century Albanian women singers Category:20th-century Albanian women opera singers Category:21st-century Albanian women opera singers Category:Çako family Category:Albanian people of Kosovan descent