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| The Poster for the premiere production |
The opera was an adaptation of the novel "La Loba Negra" which was falsely attributed to Fr. Jose Burgos. It is a part true story and part fiction. The first acts deals with the story of Governor General Fernando Bustamante, his imprisonment of several corrupt political and church officials, and his assassination (which actually happened), while the final act deals with his wife, Luisa's revenge against the friars by slaughtering them (which is fiction).
The music, which was written by Francisco Feliciano, was quite reminiscent of Wagner and some expressionist composers. This expressionist and sometimes romantic style, with its dense and great orchestration for large orchestra perfectly describes the intensity and horrors portrayed on the oepra.
The libretto was written by Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, a soprano who has also sung the lead role in the opera. The verses doesn't rhyme, like Wagner's operas, which I like since in my opinion it feels more "human" and more normal than rhymed verses. I haven't read the original novel yet, so I can't say of the accuracy of this adaptation.
The opera:
There is no overture, but there is a prologue: A haunting dark scene set in a forest. The singers sing a melody reminiscent of the pasyon chant. The prologue is connected to the first scene of the first act which introduces Bustamante and his family, Fray Totanes, and other officials in the Ballroom of the Governor-General's palace. Here Bustamante denies the gifts the wealthy officials gave to him, and he denounces them of being corrupt. As he leaves the scene Totanes comes to the scene and reminded the people of God's power over the state. He goes on to accept and take the precious gifts and jewelries denied by Bustamante.
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| Image from Act 1 Scene 1, premiere production 1984 |
The second scene focuses on Bustamante's family. At the start of the scene Luisa is playing the harpsichord and singing a lullaby about "Huitzilopotchli". This scene also introduces us more to Bustamante's family more deeply.
The third scene shows Totanes and other people dividing and sharing the recently-collected taxes to themselves. But they already left when Bustamante enters. Bustamante finds out that the treasury of the state is nearly empty, and ordered the arrest of Auditor Torralba - which is in charge of collecting taxes.
The 2nd act is set some time after the events of the 1st act. People led by Fray Totanes are praying for the release of several imprisoned politicians and church officials, including the Archbishop of Manila. The guardia civil attempted to thwart off the demonstration but failed. At the end of this scene the leader of the revolutionaries learned of Bustamante's doings to corrupt officials.
the 2nd scene shows the haunting scene of Totanes and other priests plotting to assassinate Bustamante, and the 3rd scene depicts the assassination of Bustamante by the priests. Luisa saw what they did to his husband, and her mind snapped.
The 3rd act is set some years after the last act. The first scene is a mass held in Easter that ends with Luisa (now called La Loba Negra) killing the priest presiding the mass. The 2nd scene is about Luisa and the leader of the Revolutionaries meeting, agreeing to cooperate with each other.
Unfortunately I haven't watched the final scene as I underestimated the length of the opera. The library is about to close so I'm forced to not watch the final scene. But from the souvenir program this is the part presented in the prologue. In the forest were Luisa, his daughter and the revolutionaries. here Luisa sang "Napakahaba na ng Gabi" and her daughter and the leader got married and swore to get the independence of their country from the colonizers.
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I don't know which of the 1984 performances that I watched. I am certain it's not the first performance, because I think Eleanor Calbes is singing in this recording. She did a spectacular job in singing the mad scene at the end of act 2. It was very electrifying even though I'm watching it from an old VHS tape of the opera. The acting and singing of the actors were great, and their costumes and stage setting were wonderful as well. I think the only problem I have with this opera is that in between scenes there's no transitions or anything, just silence (with the exception of the prologue and act 1). You have to wait for a few minutes before the next scene is ready to be played.
A very spectacular opera. Personally I rank this higher than de Leon's Noli. I would definitely recommend it to everyone. I think this is one of the greatest achievements of Feliciano and to some extent, a great milestone of the filipino classical music scene. I would be very happy if a new production of this is made.
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