There were no plush seats nor velvet curtains. The setting was spare, unpretentious at best, but the anticipation was nothing less than divine.

Granted, much of the nervous optimism probably came from the organizers of this unlikely affair – the Embassy of Italy in the Philippines and the Canossian school – but, if nothing else, the event was worth a try.

Why bring the uppity opera to a poor district? Would the young folk appreciate such an elevated form of entertainment?

Then again, why not?

This is exactly how the ambassador of Italy to the Philippines speaks about this revolutionary move: you won’t know if you don’t try.

And try they did that one Saturday night in Tondo, Manila.

Opera, the Italian “art form that tells a story through music and singing,” came alive in San Pablo Apostol Parish Multi-Purpose Court on Velasquez Street.

Giacomo Puccini’s comic opera in one act, Gianni Schicchi, was performed by the Manila Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marlon Chen.

What made this production quite different was a narration in Filipino that came before each act — a guided appreciation of the plot and all its twists and turns, if you will.

In the end, Gianni Schicchi managed to take the dead man’s fortune from the hands of the latter’s scheming family, and the Tondo youth gave two thumbs up to Italian classical opera music.

Everything was totally alien to them, but the youth of Tondo quite liked it.

This was how Prince Evaristo, a 13-year-old student at Dr. Juan G. Nolasco high school in Tondo, one of the invited youths who came to see the opera, described it.

In a DAILY TRIBUNE interview, Evaristo said his friends and classmates were there and witnessed what to them was a different type of music — opposite and very different from the kind they know, like pop rock, original Filipino music, boy bands and most of all, rap songs.

At first, he said, they were surprised to see the huge number of musicians and hear a type of singing that was very new to their ears.

“Masaya po kase ngayon lang ako nakarining ng ganun music, parang pormal na pormal at ibang iba sa uso ngayon at pati ang klase ng pagkanta kaiba — ang tataas ng boses (I am happy because that was the first time I heard such music — so formal and so different from the music today. Even the singing was different — such high tones)!” said a student named Dela Paz.

The opera in Tondo is part of the six-month-long activities of the Embassy leading to Italy Day, which is celebrated on the second of June but will be commemorated in the Philippines on 3 June. It all began with an Italian street food festival followed by an Italian language short course all for Tondo youth.

Ambassador Clemente said “the goal of staging an Italian opera in Tondo slums is to showcase the importance of culture in the country, a component that binds the Philippines and Italy.”

Trizjerez Galena, 12 years old and a sixth-grade student from Gen. Vicente Lim Elementary School, also watched the opera. “Ang ganda po ng tunog at parang disente tunog. Ngayon lang po kami nakarinig ng ganun tunog orchestra. Merun pong natatawa sa klase ng pagkanta pero sa nakakarami po, nagustuhan nila ang tunog ng sound. Pare-pareho lang po naman namin first time makarinig ng live na tugtugan na orchestra (The music was beautiful and it sounded decent. That was the first time we heard the music of an opera. There were some who found the style of singing funny, but for many of us, we liked the sound of it. We were all first-time listeners to the opera),” she said.

This Monday, she added, the show was the topic of all students who watched the performance and each had their own ideas and reactions to the opera.

The show was led by HE Italian Ambassador Marco Clemente, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, DAILY TRIBUNE executive vice president Chingbee Fernandez and director for brand and promotions Chingkee Mangcucang, Manila officials and Tondo students from different public schools.