Then, having studied the violin under Clemente Ibarguren, he debuted as a violinist, and met with such success that in Germany he was compared to his famous countryman Sarasate.

Likewise he attracted much attention as a composer, not only in Spain, but perhaps to even a greater degree in Germany, where he resided at different times for protracted periods.

[6] They set two classes per week, and he rapidly attained astonishing technical mastery and at the age of nine made his début in Latin America.

[5] In the summer of 1892 Juanito's first public presentation takes place at the Nuevo Casino in Castellón, where he is a pianist and violinist in five successful concerts.

A press excerpt shows his success: "Indeed, it does not cease to be surprising in its own years, to see the ease and the ingenuity with which he manages the bow, the tuning and clarity of the sound and the perfection of his articulation, conditions are well directed, over time they will make the artist-child, what the French call a virtuoso " (Mercantil 7-VII-1892, Teatro Pizarro).

[5] It was in 1894 when his father, Joan Manén Abellan, believed that it was not enough that his son triumphed as a virtuoso of the violin and decided to start it in composition.

As Joan Manén himself explains in the first volume of "My experiences", his father gave him a blank paper, hoping that he, without knowledge of harmony, would begin to compose some work.

[5] Manén made numerous arrangements, both instrumental and vocal, of Spanish and Catalan folk melodies, and traditional dance styles (e.g. the Sardana) appear in his works.

His strong and demanding character and his indolent attitude towards the Franco regime made him, at the same time, loved and hated by the society of the moment; The impositions of the dictatorship prompted him to replace Catalan for a lifetime by the Spanish and to timidly approach the Franco regime in order to maintain his artistic activity throughout the country.

One of the works that was most successful among the public was a virtuoso transcription made by Manén himself, a Vals-Jota on the famous zarzuela "El Duo de la Africana" by Manuel Fernández Caballero.

But to get to write an opera of the size of Acté he had to confront the composition of several zarzuelas such as "The Tantalus Infatuation", or "Elixir de amor" works composed during adolescence in difficult times of his career as a violinist.

Thanks to the compositional experience of these works as well as the opera "Giovanna di Napoli", premiered at the Liceu in January 1903, he could face what would possibly be his key piece "Acté".