Gustavo Dudamel leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a deeply emotional, innovative new semi-staged production of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, created for both Deaf and hearing audiences. Told through the composer’s music sung by hearing vocalists and the expressive gestural poetry of sign language by Deaf actors, the performances explore the search for communication—both primal and sublime—that is at the heart of all artistic expression.

Premiered in 1805 as Beethoven was reckoning with his own Deafness, Fidelio is a tale of triumph over oppression as the noblewoman Leonore goes undercover to daringly rescue her husband from political imprisonment. Dudamel conducts the LA Phil and a star-studded cast in a groundbreaking event co-directed by Alberto Arvelo and Joaquín Solano and produced in collaboration with Los Angeles’ acclaimed Tony Award®-winning Deaf West Theatre (Artistic Director, David Kurs) and Venezuela’s Coro de Manos Blancas (White Hands Choir.)

The LA Phil's Humanities Programs are generously supported by Linda and David Shaheen.