Calixto Bieito to return to ENO? - UPDATED

But not yet.

ENO's current management are clearly not bold/crazy/desperate enough to revive his 'Dirty' Don Giovanni - they've commissioned a new one from Rufus Norris for next season.

But as the Bavarian State Opera's 2010-11 calendar reveals, their forthcoming Fidelio, directed by Bieito, is an English National Opera co-production. So presumably it'll turn up in WC2 some time in the next couple of years.

An opera about loads of men locked together in prison. Hmmm, wonder how he'll tackle that?

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*** UPDATE 15 April 8pm ***

I received the following email message from ENO's Head of Press:

"I saw the piece that you put online earlier about Fidelio in Munich [link to this post] We have not contracted Calixto Bieito so please could you remove this with immediate effect."

Clearly, I have not removed the post (and, other than adding this update, I have not amended it either).

Why? The Bavarian State Opera's calendar - which is publicly available on their website as linked - *does* claim that their Bieito-directed Fidelio is an ENO co-production. And based on that information, which I assume to be correct, it is not unreasonable to think that "presumably it'll turn up in WC2 some time in the next couple of years". In the light of the ENO email, perhaps my presumption was incorrect - but that doesn't mean it was unreasonable to make it in the first place.

Which is a long-winded way of saying my original post contained accurate facts and reasonable assumptions made in good faith, so I'm not removing it.

However I'm happy to add ENO's message, which states that they have not contracted Calixto Bieito. The message is clearly open to a variety of interpretations, which I'll leave you the reader to make.

 

Comments

[a mac]

Fidelio - I guess this is the "missing" production. He was commissioned to do 3 for ENO but only 2 have made it to date.

[Will]

Shame they ditched the Giovanni - it was amazing!

[Lilith89ibz]

I was at Liceu for that Don Giovanni and not even the singers liked the production. Stepping on sausages while singing is not too pleasant. Ew.

[a mac]

Ah - now I understand the picture !

I saw neither although I believe from what I am told that the Don Giovanni was tolerable but the ballo(?) was execrable.

[Hal]

Hey, men in prison, eh? When will we get a gay Fidelio? Inevitable, I would suspect.

[a mac]

Interesting update - !

I guess they are playing "the wait and see game" ! If it turns out to be a hit - I am sure they will snap it up.

Over the last year or so ENO have returned to a more sensible approach to productions.

btw - a gay Fidelio would be far too obvious for Bieito.

[John]

Mark Berry introduced the new season on R3 yesterday evening and talked about the agreement with the Bavarian State (BTW apart from the Fidelio an utterly dreary season - the Schenck Rosenkavalier as a new production!) and the first co-prod is Boccanegra. I am sure Munich do not launch new co-productions in the hope that someone will "snap it up".

[a mac]

I am pretty sure the Fidelio is the "missing" (See my earlier post) production which ENO have probably pulled out of at some stage.

Hence the the rather odd email from ENO press office. Which on an aside does seem to indicate they are looking at our musings!

/*amac - waves to everyone in the ENO press office

As the recent Paris/ROH Werther shows, opera productions are pretty transferable commodities these days ! I doubt any opera house would pass up the chance to flog/lend/lease a production for the right money.

One thing I did notice in the ROH season guide is that Cendrillon is boldly described as a "production new to the Royal Opera House". May be this is be a new honesty.

Just in case

/*amac - waves to everyone in the ROH press office

[inter mezzo]

@a mac excellent point, perhaps you have hit the nail on the head.

[Will]

How can a press office get it so wrong? It's hardly classified information, you just put 2+2 together. It's getting ENO mentioned on the web, whats the harm? It's the 21st century people! Even in opera!

[Nikolaus Vogel]

Well Trevor Nunn's most recent Peter Grimes was announced as a co-production between the Salzburg Easter Festival and the Met. The Met coughed up, but when Peter Gelb saw it in Salzburg, he nixed it and commissioned a new one. Also this summer's Salzburg production of Elektra was announced in the festival brochure as a co-production with ENO, but, by the time the programme was printed, ENO had clearly dropped out. I suspect something similar has happened to Bieto's Fidelio.

[ludwig]

The thought of this Catalonian charlatan being allowed anywhere near Fidelio disgusts me.

[Andres]

Why do people insist in saying that he is Catalan?? He was born in MIranda de Ebro, Burgos, as Castilian you can get! Plus his last name is as Galician as they come (his father is from this region). Mother is from Seville. The family only moved to Barcelona when he was 15.

I know it's pedantic, but I feel the same as some would feel if they hear that David McVicar is English. Rant of the weekend.

[FragendeFrau]

Ludwig, I am no fan at all of what I have seen of Bieito's work, but the Fidelio was livestreamed last summer by the BSO and I found it extremely moving.

Of course, there were no subtitles, I was unfamiliar with the opera, and put my synopsis away after the first 10 minutes because I could find no relation to what I was watching. But just going by the music, the acting, and the staging I really liked it.

There was no nudity (clothes changing, less nudity than you would see on the Isar any summer day), no dead animals, no piles of trash onstage, and none of the ugly design one usually sees.

I was incredibly disappointed that this was not later available on DVD (or even pirated that I know of). Very little of it ever turned up on YouTube.