"There are nights when culture feels ceremonialand then there are nights when it feels like combustion. The U.S. premiere of El Canto de las Manos at Lincoln Center last Friday was the latter: a gorgeous collision of intellect and instinct, where Beethoven's Fidelio was not just heard, but felt through the hands of those who cannot hear and the hearts of those who cannot forget."
"Joined by actors from Deaf West Theatre, the performance was both haunting and radiant: a choreography of sign, sound, and soul. It was not simply inclusionit was transcendence. When the music swelled, you could feel it in the air, the same way one feels thunder before rain. You could see the sound. For a few brief moments, everyone in the hallhearing, Deaf, artist, audienceexisted in perfect harmony."
El Canto de las Manos premiered at Lincoln Center, directed by Maria Valverde and conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. The performance combined the Juilliard Orchestra and Juilliard Vocal Arts with the Coro de Manos Blancas, a chorus of Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and neurodivergent performers who translated Beethoven’s Fidelio into sign and movement. Actors from Deaf West Theatre joined, creating a choreography of sign, sound, and soul that made music visibly felt. The evening shifted perceptions of inclusion into transcendence. Valverde's documentary frames the 2022 Fidelio production as a meditation on hearing with the heart.
Read at www.amny.com
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