Posted on February 22, 2019 The journey of ‘Noli Me Tangere, The Opera’

The journey of ‘Noli Me Tangere, The Opera’

by Omer Oscar Almenario

Based on the National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal's 1887 classic novel of the same title, “Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not), The Opera” tells the timeless story about love, betrayal, and hope set against a repulsive backdrop of tyranny, torture, and murder during the Spanish regime.

Written in three acts by National Artists Felipe Padilla de Leon (music) and Guillermo Tolentino (libretto in Tagalog), “Noli Me Tangere, The Opera” is the Philippines' first full-length opera whose orchestral arrangements were influenced by kundiman (love song) and the Western classical music tradition.

This acclaimed Filipino Opera was first premiered at Far Eastern University (FEU) in 1957 and made its debut at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in 1974.

Due to its academic demand, the opera was restaged at the CCP in 1987, led by soprano Fides Cuyugan-Asensio's Music Theater Foundation.

For their 60th anniversary, the CCP and J&S Productions Inc. presented “Noli Me Tangere, The Opera” at the CCP's main theatre, Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo, in 2017.

“Noli Me Tangere, The Opera” has its own journey. Prior to its 60th anniversary production at the CCP, J&S Productions premiered this acclaimed Filipino Opera at the Kaye Playhouse in New York City in 2013. The production also played at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. in 2014 and at Resorts World Manila in the same year.

When the opera returns to the CCP on Mar. 8-10, 2019, it will be one of the highlights of CCP's 50th anniversary.

Felipe Padilla de Leon, the opera's composer, wrote the popular Tagalog Christmas carol “Payapang Daigdig” (Peaceful World) in 1946, during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.

Besides this operatic adaptation of Dr. Jose Rizal's landmark novel, “Noli Me Tangere” has also been adapted into film, television, comic books, musicals, and plays. It is mandated by law to study Dr. Rizal's life and works in high school and college.