FIDELIO CONCERT

Version

The French drama Léonore ou L’amour conjugal on which Fidelio is based belonged to a genre very popular in the years of the French Revolution, the pièce à sauvetage, in which heroes, representing the forces of good, emerge victorious from a situation of grave danger after a series of vicissitudes, in an optimistic vision of the positive values of injustice and reason.

The action takes place in 17th century Seville, in a terrible military prison, ruled by the cruel Don Pizarro, who secretly holds his worst enemy prisoner, Florestan, who has dared to proclaim truths that betray him. Leonora, a magnificent embodiment of the brave woman in love, suspects that her husband, the missing Florestan, is unjustly imprisoned. She disguises herself as a man, named Fidelio, and gains the trust of the jailer Rocco – a good character with great personal dignity – in a desperate attempt to save her husband.

The first scenes follow the tone and structure of singspiel – Rocco’s daughter Marzelline falls in love with Fidelio believing she is a boy – but soon the opera becomes a splendid oratorio celebrating the strength of love and purity that defeats suffering and injustice.

Gustavo Dudamel, charismatic and energetic, conducts his American orchestra: the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This innovative semi-staged production was created for both deaf and hearing audiences. Explained through the composer’s own music and the expressive gestural poetry of sign language, the performances explore the sublime communication that lies at the heart of all artistic expression. This performance is stage directed by Alberto Arvelo, in collaboration with the Deaf West Theatre (Los Angeles) and the Chorus of Manos Blancas de El Sistema (Venezuela).

Premiered in 1805 at the Theater an der Wien, in the middle of the French military occupation of the city with a deaf Beethoven, the music brims over with the composer’s huge energy and passion in a score replete with idealism and sublimation.

Tamara Wilson

Soprano. Her repertoire includes leading roles by composers such as Verdi, Mozart, Strauss and Wagner. Throughout her career she has received awards such as the Richard Tucker Award, as well as a nomination for the Olivier Awards. She made her debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the 2014/15 season with Norma and returned with Il trovatore (2016/17).

Andrew Staples

Tenor. His repertoire includes Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, La cenerentola and La bohème, which he has sung in London, at the Jordan Music Festival, Musique Cordiale in Provence and the Menton Festival. He has also sung a semi-staged version of Die Zauberflöte at the Lucerne Festival. This is his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Alberto Arvelo

Stage director. In 1986, he released his first two feature films, La canción de la montaña and Candelas en la niebla. With twelve films under his belt, throughout his career he has developed a cinematographic language recognised for the deep human charge of his characters and the visual power of his films. This is his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Gustavo Dudamel

Conductor. Currently music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Opéra national in Paris and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, his tireless advocacy for arts education has brought classical music to new audiences around the world. He made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the 2020/21 season with Il trovatore and has returned with Otello (2020/21), Die Zauberflöte (2021/22) and Mahler's 9th Symphony (2022/23).