opera

• Opera


  An art and musical form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (called libretto) and musical score, usually in an elaborate theatrical setting
• Elements of Opera


  • Acting
  • Scenery
  • Costumes
  • Dance
• Elements of Spoken Theater


  • Performances
  • Opera House
  • Cultural Center
  • Theater
  • Auditorium
• The emergence of the Filipino opera started during the middle part of the 19th century
• Foreign performers, including instrumental virtuosi, as well as opera singers and Spanish zarzuela performers came to the country to perform for enthusiastic audiences
• The element of tragedy became a favorite story pattern of the Filipino opera
• Some operatic works were based on previous literary creations, such as Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo
• Teatro Zorrilla or Zorrilla Theatre

  Also known as Dulaang Zorrilla sa Maynila, a prominent theatre in the Philippines
• Other choice venues for Italian operas

  • Principe Alfonso
  • Variedades
  • Quiapo
  • Tondo Theaters
• The first Filipino opera is said to have been Sandugong Panaginip by Pedro Paterno, first presented at the Zorrilla Theater on August 2, 1902
• Sandugong Panaginip was later translated by M.W. Loving with the title The Dreamed Alliance
• Bonifacio Abdon


  First Filipino opera conductor
• Dr. Ramon Javier


  First Filipino opera impresario who promoted local talents to participate in foreign productions
• Other Filipino operas


  • Lakangbini by Patricio Mariano - December 19, 1933
  • La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi
  • Lucia de Lamermoor by Gaetano Donizetti
  • La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini
• La Loba Negra (The Black She-Wolf)


  Three-act Filipino opera, music composed by National Artist Francisco Feliciano, libretto by soprano Fides Cuyugan Asensio
• Noli Me Tangere, The Opera


  Three-act Filipino opera, music composed by National Artist Felipe Padilla De Leon in 1957, libretto by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino
• El Filibusterismo, The Opera


  Three-act Filipino opera, music composed by National Artist Felipe Padilla De Leon in 1970, libretto by Anthony Morli