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Artistic expression that gives life to our traditions
Since the beginnings of the Banda Primitiva, the performing arts have always accompanied the band’s activities. Already in the first premises of the Society, a small theater group was created, which performed zarzuelas such as El Barquillero, Alma de Dios, La Reina Mora, among others. This genre has been the most acclaimed by the Clarinero public, as it unites music and interpretation, two fundamental passions of our Musical Society.
In 1919, the theater moved to the “Teatro Español”, which would later be known as the Teatro Centro Artístico Musical “El Clarín”. It was there that zarzuelas such as El Cabo Primero and Gigantes y Cabezudos were premiered. However, one of the most outstanding performances was the sacred-lyrical drama Emmanuel, which was a great success both artistically and in terms of audience response.
A great event took place in 1925 with the premiere of Escoto o el Doctor Sutil, popularly known as El Paladín de la Inmaculada.
Then, in 1926, with great success, the zarzuela A la sombra del Pilar with a cast of actors and actresses, from Clarín, directed by the Maestro director and concertmaster Juan de Dios Martínez.
Between 1929 and 1930 a comedy was performed that would mark an epoch because it was written in Valencian, Pare vosté la burra, amic! by Felipe Melià, which was subsequently performed on numerous occasions.
The years went by and the successes followed one after another, with the premiere of the zarzuela El Rey que rabió, by Ruperto Chapí, directed by Juan de Dios Martínez, standing out. Despite the difficulties of the war, the Banda Primitiva and its Theater Group continued with the performances. In 1936, they premiered La Montería, a zarzuela for the benefit of the Comedor Popular, destined to help the people most disadvantaged by the war situation. During these years, other plays were also performed, highlighting the fact that the theatrical activity did not stop despite the adverse context.
After the war, and under the stage direction of Vicente Martínez (Vicentico), zarzuelas such as La Dolorosa and Los Claveles were performed, which were highly appreciated by the public. In 1941, the Theater Group staged one of the most important works of the Spanish repertoire: Luisa Fernanda by Federico Moreno Torroba, with the participation of the great divo Marcos Redondo. The play was a resounding success, and Marcos Redondo continued to collaborate with the Band in several productions, such as Los Gavilanes and La del Manojo de Rosas.
In 1941, with the eagerness to overcome the successes obtained during decades, the leaders of the Cuadro Artístico “El Clarín”, Juan de Dios and Vicentico, staged one of the most important zarzuelas of the Spanish lyric genre: Luisa Fernanda, by Federico Moreno Torroba. In this work they had the privilege of having the participation of the great divo Marcos Redondo, who was so fascinated with the Cuadro Artístico that he did not hesitate to repeat his participation in different performances on several occasions over the years: Los Gavilanes (1942; in which the illustrious D. Juan Vicente Mas Quiles acted as concertmaster, who in 1943, returned to direct D. Marcos in the zarzuela by Soutullo y Vert, La del Soto del Parral.
That same year, and already under the direction of maestro Cebrián, he also sang La del Manojo de Rosas, by Pablo Sorozabal, and in 1944, he returned to sing under the direction of the same director, El Cantante enmascarado. Five years later, without ceasing to perform sainetes in Valencian, Marcos Redondo returned to Clarín in June 1949. On that occasion he sang La Parranda, with music by Francisco Alonso, and the following day, once again, La del Manojo de Rosas. The concertmaster was the then head of the Band, Mr. José Mª Machancoses. These were the last two zarzuelas performed in the old theater.
Inaugurated the new Concert Hall Theater Banda Primitiva de Llíria (1951), that same year and also with Marcos Redondo, was represented El Cantar del Arriero, with music by Díaz Giles. The following year 1952, in April, the musical comedy ¡Yo quiero ser artista! was premiered, with plot and dialogues by Juan Llavata and with Lirio Palomar and Vicente Castellano in charge of the musical adaptations, achieving another triumph similar to those previously achieved.
But it was not only Marcos Redondo who came to sing with the Cuadro Artístico de la Primitiva. In later years, the Valencian baritone Antón Navarro sang La del Manojo de Rosas and La Calesera. Also the Majorcan Francisco Bosch, sang the great zarzuela of Serrano, La Canción del Olvido. Likewise, the Valencian tenor José Ciscar sang La Dolorosa and Los Claveles. All this, as we have said, with the Artistic Group of the Banda Primitiva.
A Cuadro Artístico, that between zarzuela and zarzuela, staged a large number of sainetes (pieces in Valencian) by such renowned authors of the genre as Escalante, Peris Celda, Felipe Meliá, Paco Barchino, Eduardo Boil and Enrique Beltrán, among others.
It would not be fair not to mention in this context of professionals who came to act next to the artistic group, those who without being so, since they were true “amateurs”, such as the voices of María Verdeguer, Remedios Arastey; those of Luis Izquierdo and Vicente Cantó; those of Juan Llavata and Vicente Albiach, without forgetting the actresses and actors, such as Consuelo Navarro, Amparo Cervera, and Lourdes García, Salvador Cortés, Manuel Rodrigo, Francisco Torres, and Juan Morató, along with a long etcetera. All of them, either with their voice or their scenic art, contributed to the successes that the Cuadro Artístico de la Primitiva achieved performance after performance.
In 1966 the Cuadro Artístico de la Banda Primitiva de Llíria, under the direction of Salvador Cortés Quiles, participates with the play Pare vosté la burra, amic! in the XX Concurso Teatral Fallero obtaining several awards: First Prize to the best actress, Enriqueta Morató Navarro; First Prize to the best direction and First Prize to the best group of actors. After obtaining these awards, subsidized by the Aula Cultural de la Caja de Ahorros, the comedy was performed by the Cuadro Artístico de la Primitiva, in the towns of Bétera and Algemesí, with notable success.
The importance and interest in zarzuela continues to be evident in the 90’s, being now the musician professor Vicente Barona Nácher who picked up the baton. Responsible for the Vocal Ensemble of the School of Music, he took the opportunity to mount a series of anthologies that will continue to grow. With the titles En Zarzuela Viva, I, II and III, he takes the opportunity to bring new elements, let’s call them actors, who take part in these anthologies.
This began in 1994 with two performances. It continued in 1995 with two more, one of them performed at the Palau de la Música in Valencia. Both in these and in the later ones, the public enjoyed the most famous romanzas, duets and chorales, interpreted by singers whose voices were very applauded by the audience.
1996 began with the staging and performance of the zarzuela El Rey que Rabió, by Ruperto Chapí. Three performances were given to a full house, and it was the first time that the role of the King was sung by a man. In this case, by the tenor Ricardo Gozálvez. And this year ended with a performance in October at the Teatro Principal of Valencia, with a new anthology, now entitled Esto es Zarzuela.
The year 1998 began with the staging of Los Gavilanes, by Jacinto Guerrero (2 performances). That same year, another anthology was staged, entitled Fleta, Aragonés Universal. It was staged at the request of the Centro Aragonés de Valencia, and was sponsored by the Department of Education and Culture of the Government of Aragón, in collaboration with IberCaja. It was performed in April at the Palau de la Música in Valencia, and in May at our theater. A year later, 1999, this anthology was performed again in May in Llíria, and a week later in Castellón, also sponsored by the same entity. In this anthology, as in the previous ones, Vicente Olivares, champion of jotas in Aragón, triumphed with his voice.
In 2000, the zarzuela by Pablo Sorozabal, La del Manojo de Rosas, sung by the Valencians Boro Giner, baritone, and Ignacio Giner, tenor, was staged and performed twice. One of them was included in the program of the San Miguel festivities, sponsored by the City Council, with a contribution of 1,500,000 pesetas.
And finally, in February 2002, Serrano’s zarzuela La Dolorosa was performed again, also sung by Ignacio and Boro Giner. And finally, in March 2003, La Parranda was performed by the baritone Javier Galán. These last two were performed under the musical direction of maestro Roberto Forés Asensi, and as on previous occasions, to a full house.
After a few years without raising the curtain, in June 2008, Paco Ibáñez took over from his predecessors and brought together again a group of people who like the world of interpretation, and thus, the Theatre Group of the Banda Primitiva de Llíria, under the name of Grup de Teatre “El Clarín”, resurfaced like a phoenix. In November 2008 they premiered the play Eixa dona és ton pare with great success, with the support of the whole Clarin family.
In March 2009 the Theatre Group “El Clarín” delighted us again with the play Christus “Passion and Death”, in which they again demonstrated the good work of the cast of actors and actresses who represented it with great success. In July 2009 they performed the Lorca drama “La Casa de Bernarda Alba”. During the following years, the theater group performed Tres forasteros en Madrid by Escalante, in July 2010; Viviendo en las nubes by Alfonso Paso, in January 2011; and Con el Culo al aire. The stage of Paco Ibañez as director of the Theater Group “El Clarín” ended with the representation of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, on April 23, 2013, within the cycle of inauguration of the new facilities of expansion of the Ateneo Musical and Ensenyanza Banda Primitiva de Llíria.
In the spring of 2015, actor John Garcia became the new director of the “El Clarín” Theater Group. Under his direction, two plays of different genres were performed. In January 2016, an adapted version of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. And in November 2016, the musical Sister Music was performed; an adaptation of the movie Sister Act. And it did so with live vocals.
In January 2017, the edetano Josep Albert takes over the direction of the Theater Group of the society. With the staging of Don Juan Tenorio by J.Zorrillla, represented on October 28 and 29 of that same year.
Again in 2018 he returned to the direction of the John Garcia Theater Group with the adaptation of the play, Los Diez Negritos. It will be performed on October 19 and 20.
In 2019 on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Banda Primitiva the musical El Diluvio que Viene directed by Paco Ibáñez, a joint collaboration with the Grup de Teatre “El Clarín” and the theater group of San Francisco “El Teatret” is represented, That same year also represents the Zarzuela, El Manojo de Rosas with the direction of Paco Ibáñez and ends this year with the representation of the Sacred-Lyric drama El Emmanuel after 100 years of its premiere, also under the direction of Paco Ibáñez.
The Theater Group makes several collaborations, one on August 18, 2020 entitled Muerte de Amor (poetry) in tribute to García Lorca accompanying the orchestra of the society. And in 2022 a children’s musical show in collaboration with the music school of the group entitled El Donyet de Francisco Abellán which is performed in April. And in May the play El secreto de las Hermanas Taylor by John García as author and director is performed.
In 2023, Paco Ibáñez takes again the direction of the Grup de Teatre “El Clarín” with a Gala Tribute to all the artistic staff of the group since its inception until the 50s.
Already in 2024 on January 27 and 28 and as director of the group Paco Ibáñez represents the play 8 Women by Robert Thomas.
Currently he continues as director of the Paco Ibáñez Society Theater Group.
The Banda Primitiva de Llíria, also known as the Clarín, is the oldest Civil Music Band in Spain. It was founded by the Franciscan Antonio Albarración, in 1819 as a wind band.
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