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LADISLAO BONUS y MARIANO: “THE FATHER OF THE FILIPINO OPERA” (1854-1908)

Ladislao Bonus, “Father of the Filipino Opera” was born on June 27, 1854 in Pandacan, Manila. He was the eldest of 3 children of Pedro Bonus and Maria Mariano. He received early music lessons from Guillermo de Luna, a relative and notable musician but he is regarded to have been primarily self-taught. He was recognized as a master of the contrabass, his favorite instrument and also as having been skillful with the violin, viola, and violoncello. Because of this, it is said that he could replace any player of these instruments in any orchestra and he is known to have served in the orchestra whenever there was a foreign opera company performing in Manila. Between 1886 and 1887, he directed the first all Filipino opera company. The accomplishments of the Company and its director were described by E. Arsenio Manuel as follows:

''The first performance of the Company was done in Pandacan and Donizetti’s Lucrecia Borgia was produced in the cockpit of the town. The performance was successful judging from the request to repeat the same in Manila itself. Lucrecia Borgia was performed for successive nights in the capital city, the honorable Antonio Morto, Marquis de Ahumada, who was then the segundo cabo of the colonial government being one of the enthusiastic patrons. Linda di Chamounix was presented next, with the same cast, first in Pandacan, then in the city; followed by Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, Fra Diavolo and others which were produced from year to year. With these performances the reputation of Bonus as a musician became established. (Manuel v. 2 1970, 58)''

Because of the accomplishments of the company and the attention it gave to the town, Pandacan came to be known as “Ang Munting Italya ng Pilipinas” or the “Little Italy of the Philippines”. Pandacan was considered the cradle of Italian operas performed by Filipinos at the turn of the 20th century. In 1890, Bonus served as the musical director of the “Orquesta Femenina de Pandacan” more popularly known as “Orkestang Babae”. This was an all women orchestra which under the skillful baton of Bonus won the admiration of many musical groups. According to Antonio Molina, Jose P. Rizal sought out Bonus to set music to his poem “Recuerdos a la Patria”. This song became very popular at the turn of the twentieth century especially during Rizal day celebrations. It is even said that Bonus was the favorite musician of the Philippine national hero. (Molina 1951, 12-14) During the inaugural ceremonies of the Malolos Congress at Barasoain, Bulacan he conducted the Arevalo Band in playing the national anthem. This was his role during the Philippine Revolution of 1896. (Quirino 1995, 49) His greatest accomplishment was the opera- “Sangdugong Panaguinip” or “the Dreamed Alliance” based on a libretto by Pedro Paterno translated to Tagalog by Roman Reyes which premiered on August 2, 1902 at the Teatro Zorilla. This was the first opera composed by a Filipino and because of this Ladislao Bonus was given the title “El Padre de la Opera Filipina” or “The Father of the Filipino Opera”. But although composing the first Filipino opera may have been Bonus’ greatest accomplishment, his success did not end there. Late that year, together with the Arevalo band, he went to Hanoi, Indo-China to participate at the Grand Regional Exposition of 1902. There they won the “International Prize” for playing “Pasa-doble Hanoi”, a composition of Bonus. He proved his talent as a great musician in a foreign land giving glory to his beloved country and pride to his people. Bonus continued to write musical scores for several Tagalog zarzuelas. He composed the music of “Unang Pag-ibig” by Eliseo Mendoza and “Ang Buhay ng Lasing” in 3 acts by Miguel Mansilungan, both dramatists of Pandacan. He is also known to have composed several religious pieces: “rosario cantadas, misas de requiem, gozos--- which have not come down to present times.”	 His last compositions were “Triumphal March” and “Los Diputados” dedicated to the First Philippine Assembly. Ladislao Bonus y Mariano died on March 28, 1908 at the age of 53 and is buried at the Cementerio del Norte.

References:

Manuel, E. Arsenio. 1970. Dictionary of Philippine Biography v. 2,  Quezon City: Filipiniana Molina, Antonio J. 1951. Ladislao Bonus a self made Musician 1854-1908. Musical Philippines III 4-6 (April-June): 12-15. Quirino, Carlos. 1995. Who’s Who in Philippine History. Makati, Metro Manila: Tahanan Books.