Saturday, January 12, 2008

Jose Mossesgeld-Santiago: A Piece of Philippine History

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JOSE MOSSESGELD-SANTIAGO

an annotated version of a document prepared for the Guerrero Clan reunion

 

Jose Mossesgeld-Santiago is the second son of Simon Mossesgeld-Santiago y Gonzalez of San Miguel de Mayumo in Bulacan and Rosa Font y Guerrero of Manila. 

 

Befitting his stature, Simon Mossesgeld-Santiago was called Kapitan (Captain), an honorific title given to prominent gentlemen and land-owners. His family name was originally Santiago and Mossesgeld must have been selected (and appended) from the Catalogo Alfabetico de Appellidos (Alphabetical Catalogue of Family Names), in accordance with Governor Claveria’s November 21, 1849 decree. Simon’s only sibling, Tomasa, married Simon Tecson, also of San Miguel.

 

Rosa was a daughter of Petra Guerrero y Leogardo and Gaspar Font, a Spaniard from Palma de Mallorca where his relatives, the Fonteroys, still reside today.

 

Jose, fondly known as Pepito, took the road less traveled by choosing classical opera as his vocation and career. He left the Philippines in 1926 to pursue his dream and brought honor and fame to the family and to the country before World War II. Using the stage name Jose Santiago-Font, he sang in opera houses in Italy, South America and the United States. He had a wide repertoire that included a majority of the main operatic roles for bass: Wotan in Die Walküre, Viandante in Siegfried, and roles in Lohengrin, Mignon, Simon Boccanegra, Forza del Destino, La Gioconda, Don Carlos, Faust, Mefistofeles, etc. He sang for a couple of years in the Roxy Theater in New York. Jose also recorded Filipino songs for Columbia records in the United States.

 

But his greatest achievement is his performing in one of the world’s most famous opera houses, Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala as it is known), made possible when he won the Enrico Caruso vocal competition in the United States. The official La Scala publication of the operas and performers of the 1932-33 season describes Jose as follows: “…voice of rare power and beautiful in its entire range …. Magnificent actor…with acute artistic sense and aplomb.” In La Scala, he sang the roles, among others, of Ramfis in Aida and Sparafucile in Rigoletto. To date, he is the only Filipino opera singer who has performed in this world-renowned theater. 

 

Jose’s son Enrico married Sabina Castillo y Legaspi and they had two children, Simon and Rosa Maria (my mom).

 

Jose married Isabel Llewellyn and they had two sons, Joseph and Phillip. He and Isabel divorced in 1941 and after a couple of years in South America with the La Scala touring company, he came home to Manila where he taught classical singing and produced and directed operas. He also worked as a real estate broker.

 

He has three other children, Mila Santiago, Teresita and Sigfrido, the latter two with Genoveva Perlas. 

 

Jose passed away on March 5, 1959.

 

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My mom said Lolo Pepito was the first person to record the Lupang Hinirang. We actually still have a copy of that record. The lyrics were different then though, probably used the original.

 

Lolo Pepito also sang a kundiman on the radio - "Hibik ng Pilipinas" during the war which "was a thinly veiled call for independence" (from: Elizabeth Enriquez, "The Filipino Appropriation of American Broadcasting: A History of Radio).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attachment: 07 Track 7.mp3

16 comments:

  1. Here's to our great-grandfather cousin! :D

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  2. Am writing a thesis mentioning various filipino opera singers. So that I can cite your article in my paper, please write me your name and when this article about your grandfather was written, would be greatly obliged.. The thesis will be published tomorrow, so it would be great if you could send me this info asap. E-mail: cantarre@web.de

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  3. This is a wonderful piece about my father. I have 28 of his original recordings for Columbia Records as well as several made with my mother Isabel Llewellyn all are sung in Tagalog. I also have the originals of the playbills displayed in this article
    Phillip

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  4. Nic, did you write this piece ? Nice work. Tito

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  5. actually it was tito monchito who wrote it (if im not mistaken).

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  6. Jose Mossesgeld-Santiago was also one of the consorts in the Manila Carnival of 1918. The 4th pic, shows him as the last consort standing on the right:

    http://manilacarnivals.blogspot.com/search/label/Enriqueta%20Aldanese

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  7. Here's an excerpt from the Fides et Musica (Ateneo College Glee Club) 75th anniv. souvenir program:"Prof. Jose Mossesgeld Santiago was a 1911 A.B. graduate of the Ateneo...In 1921, when he was appointed musical director of the Ateneo Glee Club by Fr. Francis X. Burne, S.J., the first American rector of the Ateneo, he was already conducting the Ateneo Boys Choir and the Ateneo Orchestra. The three groups came to public notice after their St. Cecilia Concerts and the first presentation of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado in Manila."

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  8. I am a collector of historic opera and other vocal recordings. I have had one of your Grandfather's records in my collection for many years now. Once, when visiting another collector, who boasted collecting only 'important, mainstream and world-class opera singers' I needed something to impress him with: he played me rare recordings of caruso, Lilli Lehmann, etc. I was intrigued by more 'obscure' artists' as my collection was full of them, and some are very important to other cultures. Well, you can imagine how he scoffed when I handed him the record; then he played it. As the strains of the unfamiliar kundiman wafted across the room, his jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out. You should all - as Filipinos - be very proud of his legacy: he is, to my mind, your Caruso. I am thrilled to have found this website, and all of you who can appreciate him and help me to know more about him myself.

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  9. hi Nic, lolo Jose is the younger brother of my great great grandfather lolo Pedro. Mossesgeld is their original surname and they added Santiago from the Spanish list, later on like my lolo Pedro, they dropped the Santiago, that's why my grandma's surname was only Mossesgeld. There were actually 4 Mossesgeld siblings who sailed here from Spain, 2 brothers and 2 sisters, the other 2 sailed back to Spain.

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  10. I am a little disappointed that no mention anywhere about Gounod's FAUST produced, directed and sung by the great Bass/baritone at the FEU Theater in 1954(?). I saw the Sunday matinee and his Mephistopheles was permantly etched in my memory. Sorry I don't remember any of the other singers.

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  11. My father had the privilege of studying with this great singer when stationed in the Philippines after the war. He was in awe of Mr. Santiago both as a teacher and as a vocalist.

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  12. Tomasa was my great grandmother. Her daughter, Concepcion, was my Lola Nitang, married Dr Bernabe de Guzman de la Fuente, also from Bulacan.

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