Calixto Bieito
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Podcast: Behind the scenes with Calixto Bieito's Carmen

The image of the toilet cubicles lingers on but no one can deny the fierce theatricality that shakes up English National Opera whenever Calixto Bieito's in town.

His anarchic Don Giovanni made us reassess the motivations of both sexes in the piece; his flamboyant staging of Verdi’s A Masked Ball was quite simply one of the most exciting evenings to hit the Coliseum stage in a decade. Now comes the world’s most popular opera - Bizet’s Carmen - and a wholesale return to the heat and dust and unbridled passions that drive it.

The softly spoken Spaniard has some strong views on the piece: how the dialogue does nothing for the narrative (he’s cut it entirely); how Don José is plainly bi-polar; how Carmen is not at all the liberated heroine she is so often cut out to be.

Bieito has said: “My black humour comes from Cervantes. My surrealism comes from Bunuel. My images come from Goya, and my terror came from being taught by Jesuits.” In his charming broken English Bieito picks up on that last line and reveals how his own fear was turned into something positive and creative. He has a reputation for being provocative but insists that he has no interest in provocation for its own sake. In his own words he “follows his heart”. And his astonishing nose for theatre.

- Edward Seckerson

To listen to the interview, click the 'play' button below; or to subscribe and download from iTunes, click here.

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Booking Tickets & Show Listings
	Carmen Listing Page

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	Podcast: Edward Seckerson talks to John Wilson about Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Movies - 28th Sep 2012 Radio
	Podcast: Behind the scenes with Finding Neverland star Julian Ovenden - 9th Oct 2012 Radio
	Podcast: Edward Seckerson talks to Rat Pack star Stephen Triffitt - 2nd Nov 2012 Radio
	Podcast: Behind the scenes with ENO's Pilgrim's Progress - 7th Nov 2012 Radio
	Carmen - 22nd Nov 2012 reviews
External Links
	www.eno.org

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