20th and 21st

CenturyDay
Multimedia Forms
 Learning Competencies

1. describe how an idea or story in a musical play is presented in a live

performance or video (MU10MM-IIIa-h-1);
2. explain how theatrical elements in a selected part of a musical play are
combined with music and media to achieve certain effects (MU10MM-
IIIah- 2);
3. create/improvise appropriate sounds, music, gestures, movements, and
costumes using media and technology for a selected part of a musical
play (MU10MM-IIIc-h-4); and
4. perform an excerpt from a 20th or 21st century Philippine musical and
highlights its similarities and differences to other Western musical plays
(MU10MM-IIIg-h-5).
Philippine
Opera
 OPERA
❑ Opera is part of Western classical music form
and tradition. It started in Italy at the end of the
16th century and soon spread throughout the
rest of Europe.

❑ Eventually, English, French, and Italian operas

also flourished.
 OPERA

❑ The opera is both a musical and art form

wherein singers and musicians perform a
dramatic work combining the text (called a
libretto) and the music, usually in an elaborate
theatrical setting.
❑ It incorporates many of the elements of theater,
such as acting, scenery, costumes, and
sometimes, even dance.
 OPERA

❑ The performance is typically presented in an

opera house, cultural center, theater, or
auditorium.
❑ It is accompanied by an orchestra or a chamber
ensemble. The dialogues were sung and not
spoken – they are called recitatives.
 OPERAS IN
THE
PHILIPPINES
 The emergence of the
Filipino opera started to take shape
during the middle part of the 19th
century.

Performers came to the

country to perform for enthusiastic
audiences.
 Foreign performers,
including instrumental virtuoso, as
well as opera singers and Spanish
zarzuela which is also known as
the drama simbolico dominated
the Philippine theater scene.
 Drama Simbolico
⮚ are one-act play came to
represent a deep and profound
yearning from freedom.
⮚ a traditional theatre genre that
dominated the Philippine theatre
scene for over one hundred
years.
Themes of Philippine Opera

Ripe for voicing out

sentiments about their
love for the country and
longing for independence
from colonial rule.
Themes of Philippine Opera

The element of tragedy,

emanating from the popular
themes of
romance, deceit, murder,
vendetta, and other elements
of human frailty, became a
favorite narrative of the
Filipino opera
Themes of Philippine Opera

❑ Some works were based on

previous literary
creations, such as Rizal’s Noli
Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo.

❑ Tragic endings and unresolved

conflicts made for excellent
choices of opera productions.
Local Theaters and
Early Philippine
Operas
 ZORRILLA THEATRE
❑ The Zorrilla Theatre or Teatro Zorrilla, also known as the Duláang Zorrilla
sa Maynila ("Zorrilla Theater in Manila") in Tagalog, was a prominent
theater in the Philippines.
❑ Once located along Calle Iris (now a part of C.M. Recto Avenue), Manila,
the theater was named after José Zorrilla (1817–1893), a Spanish poet and
playwright.
❑ The building, which had a seating capacity of 900 people, was officially
opened on August 17, 1893, and it was the venue for Spanish-language and
Tagalog-language stage performances
ZORRILLA THEATRE
 Metropolitan Theater (MET)
❑ The Manila Metropolitan Theater, otherwise known as MET, is a Philippine
Art Deco structure wherein various performances such as plays, concerts,
operas, and musicals were staged in monumental fashion.
❑ Located near the Manila Central Post Office, it was esteemed to be a
‘modern cultural center’ as envisioned by its architect, Juan M. Arellano.
❑ Despite being in disrepair, the heritage theater still holds great potential for
restoration and improvement to once again show its revitalized splendor.
Metropolitan Theater (MET)
Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)

❑ The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is the premiere showcase of

the arts in the Philippines.
❑ Founded in 1969, the CCP has been producing and presenting music,
dance, theater, visual arts, literary, cinematic and design events from the
Philippines and all over the world for more than forty years.
Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)
❑ Local theaters, including the Teatro Zorilla, Vista del Teatro
Principe Alfonso XII (located nearby the modern day
Metropolitan Theater), Variedades, Teatro de Tondo, Circo Teatro
de Bilibid, Teatro Filipino, and Teatro Popular were the choice
venues for the mainly Italian operas that came into the country,
such as Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ernani, and La Sonnambula.
Sandugong
Panaguinip
Sandugong Panaguinip
❑ First Filipino opera
❑ libretto in Spanish by Pedro Paterno, a
poet, novelist, musician, and government
official
❑ translated into Tagalog by Roman Reyes
❑ music by Ladislao Bonus.
Sandugong Panaguinip
❑ First staged at the Zorilla Theater on
August 2, 1902.
❑ Produced by Molina-Benito Theater
Company which was owned by Juan
Molina (father of soprano and actress
Titay Molina and National Artist Antonio
Molina).
Sandugong Panaguinip
❑ First staged at the Zorilla Theater on
August 2, 1902.
❑ Produced by Molina-Benito Theater
Company which was owned by Juan
Molina (father of soprano and actress
Titay Molina and National Artist Antonio
Molina).
 ORIGINAL
PHILIPPINE OPERAS
ORIGINAL
PHILIPPINE
OPERAS
LA LOBA NEGRA
LA LOBA NEGRA

❑ The opera tells of the story of the

Governor-General Francisco Bustamante
and his subsequent assassination and the
revenge of his wife Luisa, now called La
Loba Negra, after the death of her
husband.
LA LOBA NEGRA

❑ It is a three-act Filipino opera. Acts I and II

are based on history. Act III is based on a
legend attributed to Fr. Jose Burgos, one of
the three martyred priests Gomez, Burgos,
and Zamora who were executed in
Bagumbayan (now Luneta) in 1872.
 LA LOBA NEGRA

❑ The music was composed by National

Artist Francisco Feliciano, with libretto by
soprano Fides Cuyugan-Asensio.
❑ The premiere was held in 1984 with
National Artist for Theater and Film
Lamberto Avellana as director.
NOLI ME TANGERE, THE
OPERA
NOLI ME TANGERE, THE OPERA

❑ Written in Spanish and published in 1887, José

Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere played a crucial role in
the political history of the Philippines.
❑ Drawing from experience, the conventions of the
nineteenth-century novel, and the ideals of
European liberalism, Rizal offered up a devastating
critique of a society under Spanish colonial rule
NOLI ME TANGERE, THE OPERA

❑ The Opera tells the timeless story about love,

betrayal, and hope set against a repulsive
backdrop of tyranny, torture, and murder.
❑ The three-act opera Noli Me Tangere was
composed by National Artist Felipe Padilla de
Leon, with libretto by National Artist Guillermo
Tolentino.
NOLI ME TANGERE, THE OPERA

❑ It premiered in 1957 at the FEU Auditorium.

❑ The cast included Juanita Javier Torres as Maria
Clara, Don David as Ibarra, Fides Cuyugan
Asensio as Sisa, Milo Cristobal as Padre
Damaso, and Morli Daram as the director.
EL FILIBUSTERISMO, THE
OPERA
EL FILIBUSTERISMO, THE OPERA

❑ El Filibusterismo is the sequel of the novel Noli

Me Tangere written by Philippine National Hero,
Jose Rizal.
EL FILIBUSTERISMO, THE OPERA

❑ The opera El Filibusterismo was composed by

National Artist Felipe Padilla de Leon in 1970,
with libretto by Anthony Morli. It is in three
Acts and written in Tagalog.
❑ It was first staged at the Cultural center of the
Philippines.
EL FILIBUSTERISMO, THE OPERA

❑ El Filibusterismo (The Filibuster) was a novel

by Dr. Jose Rizal and a sequel to the earlier Noli
Me Tangere.
EL FILIBUSTERISMO, THE OPERA

❑ It tells the story of Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, whom

everyone thought to be already dead, returning to
San Diego after 13 long years as a rich jeweler
named Simoun who intends to start a revolution
against the government.
❑ It tells of the continuous struggle of the Filipino
people to achieve freedom and emancipation from
colonial rule.
EL FILIBUSTERISMO, THE OPERA

❑ Through the major characters involved, it

reflects the prevailing state of Philippine
government and society that has become corrupt
and immoral.
❑ For which, a revolution was being seen as the
only solution for change.
EL FILIBUSTERISMO, THE OPERA

❑ It was also perceived as a warning from Rizal –

an intellectual from the highest order.
❑ Although he favored a peaceful way of
instituting reforms, the seemingly hopeless
situation points to armed rebellion in aim of
independence.
 ASSIGNMENT
Directions. Complete the table below by indicating the
contributions/works of the following prominent figures in
Philippine Opera.