This advertisement shows that Lohengrin would have been the first Wagner opera performed in Manila in August 1895—almost half a century after the opera’s inaugural performance in Weimar. The Manila premiere production was staged by the visiting Compañia de Opera Italiana under the musical direction of Italian composer/conductor Maestro Ciro Cavalieri, together with the local Orquesta Molina under the baton of Filipino composer/conductor Maestro José Estrella.

Lohengrin in Manila

Image: ©National Archive of the Philippines