Beethoven has never been celebrated for his deafness, and I believe that that was in some way a power that he had to be able to isolate himself and develop what he did.”
The reflection comes from Gustavo Dudamel, the desired Venezuelan conductor who these days will run through Barcelona with the Los Angeles Philharmonic of which he is the owner to offer the opera Fidelio in concert version. It will be, however, with an innovative semi-scenic setup that aims to integrate and include deaf people, on and off stage.
Created for deaf and hearing audiences, this opera will be seen in two performances, on Sunday, May 26 and Monday, May 27, before on Tuesday, the powerful American orchestra and Dudamel stop by the Palau de la Música Catalana to offer the Symphony of the New World by Dvorak and the Violin Concerto composed by the Mexican Gabriela Ortiz for the extraordinary and very young María Dueñas. The violinist from Granada will also be the soloist.
The desire to celebrate Beethoven’s deafness pushed Dudamel to make the opera Fidelio – the only one composed by the Bonn genius – with actors/musicians with hearing diversity. “We initially thought of the Manos Blancas Choir, that group that is part of the System of children’s and youth choirs and orchestras in Venezuela. And from there we developed that Beethoven of integration, which, through his music and his genius, is something deeply transcendental.”
This is how the charismatic teacher expresses himself in conversation with the Liceu about this production of Fidelio. The opera will be explained through music and the expressive gestural poetry of American Sign Language, in an exploration of that sublime communication that lies at the heart of all artistic expression. In the Liceu functions, however, there will be a prior explanation in the Catalan sign language.
Premiering in 2022, the show is stage directed by Alberto Arvelo in collaboration with the Deaf West Theater of Los Angeles and this White Hands Choir specialized in allowing people with various disabilities to actively participate in musical creation and performance.
Both the Cor del Gran Teatre and the Cor de Cambra del Palau will join the Manos Blancas in this high school debut of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The one from the Palau has already participated in the start of the tour at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. And at the end of May both Catalan groups will travel on tour through Paris and London.
Also, pay attention to the solo voices: Tamara Wilson, Andrew Staples, James Rutherford, Patrick Blackwell, Shenyang, Gabriella Reyes and David Portillo will tell this story that takes place in a military prison in 17th century Seville, where the cruel governor He has secretly imprisoned his worst enemy, Florestan, for proclaiming the truths that betray him.
Based on the French drama Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal, Fidelio belonged to a genre very popular in the years of the French Revolution: la pièce à sauvetage, the triumph of the forces of good. Full of idealism, it talks about love, despotism, freedom and adversity to overcome. It premiered in 1805 at the Theater an der Wien, during the French military occupation of Vienna and with a deaf Beethoven.
