MARK ALJON M.

ALBANO MAPEH-10

Opera
The opera is a stage play that is set in music, The entirety of an opera
includes singing, dancing, and some dialogues. Some operas have a whole scale of
music in its production while some have dialogue pauses. Some operas also include
dance performances.
The first form of opera was written and performed by the ancient Greeks.
They combined music, poetry, and drama. During the Middle Ages, the opera was
used as another form of religious plays. The patronage of the Medici family of
Florence shaped the artistic expressions of the opera.
Philippine Opera
The first full-length opera performance in the Philippines was shown in the
mid- 19th century. Although it was a new form of entertainment, the Filipinos
immediately loved the artistic forms which this play offered. By the early 20th
century, Ladislac Bonus had written the first Philippine opera entitled Sandugong
Panaginip. He was considered as the Father of Philippine Opera.
The Manila Grand Opera House was the first venue for Philippine operas. It
was built with sophisticated acoustics such that the audience could even hear the
whisper of an actor on the stage. The Manila Grand Opera House hosted different
operas featuring local and foreign artists. It also served as the home of different
forms of stage plays.
The opera is a thriving form of art in the Philippines. The advent of streaming
sites has done its damage in the different ephemeral forms of arts. Nevertheless, the
industry of Philippine opera continues to educate young artists and audience in
appreciating and recognizing opera as an art form.
Since the successful premier of Bonus's opera, other Filipino playwrights have
produced several full-length operas.
Here are some of the well-known examples of Filipino opera.
1. The La Loba Negra (The Black She-wolf) is a three-act opera that was w by
Fides Cuyugan Asensio. The national artist Francisco Feliciano compos the music
for the opera, La Loba Negra was staged at the CCP Main Thea in August 1984 and
its second season was shown a year later.
La Loba Negra was based on the story of a woman who wanted to avenge her
murdered husband and son. The opera was staged during the Spanish era when the
church overpowered the state. The governor-general wanted to stop the corruption in
his town but was prevented when the friars killed him, together with his son. The wife
of the general witnessed the murder and suffered mental anguish. She denounced
her Christianity and turned to the Aztec gods. Through curse and her new-found
sect, she was turned into a black she-wolf. The black she-wolf started her revenge
during the Palm Sunday where she was also joined by a bunch of bandits in her
mission to kill corrupt friars.
MARK ALJON M. ALBANO MAPEH-10

The opera made use of an excellent combination of libretto and music. The religious
mood during the scenes of the friars contrasted with the vengeful music of the killing
spree of the black she-wolf.
2. The Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo operas were created by the national
artist for music, Felipe de Leon. Another national artist (for sculpture) Guillermo
Tolentino, composed the libretto for the operas. The love and appreciation of De
Leon and Tolentino for Rizal paved the way for the creations of these operas.
Noli Me Tangere, (the opera) was first staged in 1974 at the CCP. It was based on
the famous novel written by Dr. Jose Rizal with the same title. Noli Me Tangere is a
story that reveals the social cancer in the Philippines during the colonization of the
Spaniards.
A young Hispanic named Crisostomo Ibarra was the protagonist in the story. He
returned to his country, only to find out that his father had died in a mysterious way.
As he sought for the truth, he fell into the web of corruption and social injustices in
the country. His young love, Maria Clara, was also a victim of the corruption, and she
ended up exiled into solitude. At the end, Crisostomo was forced to run away and
found himself taking a vengeful road.
The modern performance of the play featured a Western-based musical style. The
lyrics were written in Filipino and the newly-formed Noli Symphony Orchestra led the
symphony.
El Filibusterismo followed the story line of Noli Me Tangere. Ibarra, once an innocent
young man, was transformed into a cunning and vengeful businessman named Don
Simon. In his search for justice, his actions affected the lives of young Filipinos. In
the end, Don Simon failed to avenge his father's death, but he was able to save
other lives in turn.