The orchestra, joined by the rising violin virtuoso María Dueñas as well as the cast and choruses of Fidelio, presented seven performances at four venues, winning applause and accolades along the way.
Barcelona
The LA Phil and cast of Fidelio at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Photo credit: David Ruano
The tour began with two performances of the LA Phil’s landmark semi-staged production of Fidelio at the Gran Teatre del Liceu on May 26 and 27. Featuring a cast of opera singers alongside Deaf actors who performed the libretto in International Sign Language, the production, “united two communities in an opera house: those with hearing functionality and those who are Deaf like Beethoven himself,” reported La Vanguardia.
On May 28, the orchestra performed at the modernist gem, the Palau de la Música Catalana. John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare and Theme opened the program before Dueñas joined in for Gabriela Ortiz’s violin concerto Altar de cuerda. The second half of the program featured Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.” La Vanguardia summed up the programs: “The maestro leaves a new success at the Palau de la Música and a human lesson on deafness with Fidelio.”
Paris
A pair of sold-out houses greeted the orchestra in the City of Lights, where it performed both programs at the Philharmonie de Paris. On May 30, composer Gabriela Ortiz joined Dueñas to a rapturous reception for her Altar de cuerda. Efecto Cocuyo described the evening’s concert as “a sensory journey that left the audience paralyzed and breathless.”
The following night, the cast of Fidelio was equally applauded. “The recitatives, exclusively performed in sign language, are performed in a striking silence that captures the attention,” wrote Forum Opéra, and Le Point remarked on how this integrated production “touched on the transformative power of art.”
London
The third and final leg of the tour took the orchestra to the Barbican on June 2 and 3. Reporting on the first concert, featuring the music of Williams, Ortiz, and Dvořák, Scene and Heard International wrote, “The LA Phil has no weak sections…. This was a performance of exactitude: Gustavo Dudamel wasted no time getting started, and from then off, razor-sharp precision was the order of the day.”
The production of Fidelio provided a fitting finale for the 2024 European tour, an extraordinary union of orchestra, two casts, three choirs, and the opera’s message of “brotherhood” under Dudamel.
Support for the LA Phil on tour is generously provided by the Michele and Dudley Rauch Tour Fund and the Karl Loring Fund