News
Revival of Bieito's Life is Dream in Argentina
Calixto Bieito directs a new production of his version of Calderon de la Barca’s Life is a Dream opening at Teatro San Martin in Buenos Aires in July 2010.
Bieito first presented Life is a Dream in 1998 at Edinburgh International Festival and in 1999 at Barbican Theater in London and Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York with great acclaim from both critics and audiences. In 2000, the Spanish version premiered at Teatre Romea in Barcelona and Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid followed by a successful tour around Spain. The production got many awards, including the Award to the Best Director from the Spanish Society of Stage Directors.
For the premiere in Argentina, which is a coproduction between Teatre Romea and Complejo Teatral de Buenos Aires, Bieito has chosen a new cast of prestigious artists of the country such as Joaquin Furriel in the role of Segismundo and Muriel Santa Ana as Rosaura.
For the premiere in Argentina, which is a coproduction between Teatre Romea and Complejo Teatral de Buenos Aires, Bieito has chosen a new cast of prestigious artists of the country such as Joaquin Furriel in the role of Segismundo and Muriel Santa Ana as Rosaura.
For further information www.teatrosanmartin.com.ar
Calixto Bieito stages an apocalyptic Wagner’s Parsifal at Staatsoper Stuttgart
Calixto Bieito’s staging of the opera Parsifal, by Richard Wagner, will open next Sunday the 28th of March at the Stuttgart Opera (Germany), with musical direction from Manfred Honeck and singers Andrew Richards and Gregg Baker playing Parsifal and Amfortas, respectively. This is the second time that Bieito has directed an opera by the great German composer – In 2008 he directed The Flying Dutchman, also for the Stuttgart Opera – and his fourth staging for Staatsoper Stuttgart, having directed Jenufa, by Léos Janácek and The Girl of the Golden West, by Puccini in 2007.
Parsifal is an opera in three acts based on the 13th century epic medieval poem Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach about the life of a knight in King Arthur’s court and his quest for the holy Grail. Wagner conceived the opera in 1857 but did not finish it until twenty five years later. It premiered in Bayreuth in 1882.
For this staging Bieito used the concept of spiritual crisis as his starting point, as he sees this as the central concept of Wagner’s work. “Parsifal is a symbol of an empty religion, a new victim whom they are trying to convert into a new Amfortas,” and whom Bieito has placed in an apocalyptic landscape inspired by his reading of the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
Parsifal is an opera in three acts based on the 13th century epic medieval poem Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach about the life of a knight in King Arthur’s court and his quest for the holy Grail. Wagner conceived the opera in 1857 but did not finish it until twenty five years later. It premiered in Bayreuth in 1882.
For this staging Bieito used the concept of spiritual crisis as his starting point, as he sees this as the central concept of Wagner’s work. “Parsifal is a symbol of an empty religion, a new victim whom they are trying to convert into a new Amfortas,” and whom Bieito has placed in an apocalyptic landscape inspired by his reading of the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
Further information: STAATSOPER STUTTGART 
Andrew Richards as Parsifal. © Martin Sigmund
Calixto Bieito rehearses Parsifal. © Martin Sigmund
Calixto Bieito, Guest Artistic Director of the International Arts Festival of Castilla & Leon
Bieito will be the Guest Artistic Director of the 2010 and 2011 editions of the FACYL -International Arts Festival of Castilla & Leon (FACYL), work which he will combine with the artistic directions of the Teatre Romea in Barcelona.
The FACYL festival, first celebrated in 2005 in Salamanca, has gained great prestige through its affiliation with internationally known, avant-garde artists including Frank Castorf, Peter Brook, Robert Lepage, and Calixto Bieito himself, who participated with the ensemble of the Teatre Romea in the 2006 (with Ibsen’s Peer Gynt) and 2009 (with an open rehearsal of Schiller’s Don Carlos) editions of the festival. Bieito’s intentions for FACYL are “to maintain modernity, open it to contemporary opera, and make it, besides a space for avant-garde shows, a creative space.” The next edition of the festival will take place from the 28th of May to the 12th of June, 2010.
The FACYL festival, first celebrated in 2005 in Salamanca, has gained great prestige through its affiliation with internationally known, avant-garde artists including Frank Castorf, Peter Brook, Robert Lepage, and Calixto Bieito himself, who participated with the ensemble of the Teatre Romea in the 2006 (with Ibsen’s Peer Gynt) and 2009 (with an open rehearsal of Schiller’s Don Carlos) editions of the festival. Bieito’s intentions for FACYL are “to maintain modernity, open it to contemporary opera, and make it, besides a space for avant-garde shows, a creative space.” The next edition of the festival will take place from the 28th of May to the 12th of June, 2010.
Lecture on Technological innovation in scenic arts
As part of the “Creative Innovation in Spain” series organized by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology and the Cervantes Institute
Thursday, November 26, 2009. Cervantes Institute, Vienna (Austria)
The stage director and artistic director of the Teatre Romea, Calixto Bieito has been invited to give a lecture in a conference on "Creative Innovation in Spain" at the Cervantes Institute in Vienna (Austria).
“Creative Innovation in Spain” is a series of events organized by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology and the Cervantes Institute in order to celebrate the European Year of Creativity and Innovation in 2009. It is about to present Spanish innovations resulting from interdisciplinary collaboration among artists, creative individuals, researchers, technologists and businessmen. It is about to promote Spain as a country that turns his recognized creative force in real innovations and generators of wealth. Therefore some operatic representations, theatrical representations or dance spectacles are true examples of innovation due to their new artistic approach and the technology required to put them on stage. The Spaniard Calixto Bieito will explain in a masterly conference the process of creation and technological innovation behind some of their great shows with the Companyia Teatre Romea, such as Tirant lo Blanc and Don Carlos, which Bieito premiered recently in theatres all over Europe.
Bieito's conference will be the last of the five meetings conducted in different European headquarters of the Cervantes Institute (Sofia, Berlin, Brussels, Palermo and Vienna) with leading Spanish innovators.
Further information:
www.innovacion2009.es
www.cervantes.es
Thursday, November 26, 2009. Cervantes Institute, Vienna (Austria)
The stage director and artistic director of the Teatre Romea, Calixto Bieito has been invited to give a lecture in a conference on "Creative Innovation in Spain" at the Cervantes Institute in Vienna (Austria).
“Creative Innovation in Spain” is a series of events organized by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology and the Cervantes Institute in order to celebrate the European Year of Creativity and Innovation in 2009. It is about to present Spanish innovations resulting from interdisciplinary collaboration among artists, creative individuals, researchers, technologists and businessmen. It is about to promote Spain as a country that turns his recognized creative force in real innovations and generators of wealth. Therefore some operatic representations, theatrical representations or dance spectacles are true examples of innovation due to their new artistic approach and the technology required to put them on stage. The Spaniard Calixto Bieito will explain in a masterly conference the process of creation and technological innovation behind some of their great shows with the Companyia Teatre Romea, such as Tirant lo Blanc and Don Carlos, which Bieito premiered recently in theatres all over Europe.
Bieito's conference will be the last of the five meetings conducted in different European headquarters of the Cervantes Institute (Sofia, Berlin, Brussels, Palermo and Vienna) with leading Spanish innovators.
Further information:
www.innovacion2009.es
www.cervantes.es
DON CARLOS. © Teatre Romea/ David Ruano
Theater Basel hosts a new success by Calixto Bieito, From the house of the dead, by Leos Janácek
Calixto Bieito signs the staging of the opera FROM THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD at Theater Basel (Switzerland). The libretto of this opera composed by Czech author Leos Janácek, is based on the novel The house of the Dead (1862) by F. Dostoievski about life at a Siberian prison.
Bieito is also the author, along with Philipp Berweger, of the set design which includes a real plane above the stage. The musical direction is by Gabriel Feltz.
This is the 4th show that Calixto Bieito presents with great success at Theater Basel, following the operas Don Carlo, by Verdi in 2006 and Lulu, by Alan Berg in 2009, besides an anthology of Spanish operettas, Pasión, staged in collaboration with Joan-Anton Rechi in 2008.
This is also the second time Bieito stages an opera by Janácek. Bieito premiered Jenúfa at Stuttgart Theater in 2007 and at Weimar National Theater in 2008.
Calixto Bieito, Artistic Director of Teatre Romea in Barcelona, was awarded this summer at Basel with one of the European Culture Awards, granted by the Pro-Europa foundation, because of his innovative contribution to operatic field.
Theater Basel has been chosen "Opera house of the year 2009" by prestigious German magazine Opernwelt.
Calixto Bieito stages Wedekind's Lulu at National Theatre in Mannheim
Calixto Bieito stages Lulu by Frank Wedekind with the ensemble of The National Theatre of Mannheim (Germany).
This is the second time Calixto Bieito stages a play in German with German performers. Previously, he premiered Macbeth in 2001 at the Salzburg Festival and at the Munich Kammerspiele. On the other hand, he has presented three shows in Germany with the ensemble of the Theatre Romea: La ópera de cuatro cuartos (The Threepenny opera) at the Ruhr Festival in 2004, Tirant lo Blanc in Berlin and Frankfurt in 2008, and Don Carlos, at International Schiller´s days at National Theatre in Mannheim in 2009.
Bieito is also working regularly at German opera houses such as the Komische Oper in Berlin or the Stuttgart Oper. He has also collaborated in various ocassions with TheaterBasel (Switzerland), where he staged the opera version of Lulu in 2008.
For further information:
www.nationaltheater-mannheim.de
This is the second time Calixto Bieito stages a play in German with German performers. Previously, he premiered Macbeth in 2001 at the Salzburg Festival and at the Munich Kammerspiele. On the other hand, he has presented three shows in Germany with the ensemble of the Theatre Romea: La ópera de cuatro cuartos (The Threepenny opera) at the Ruhr Festival in 2004, Tirant lo Blanc in Berlin and Frankfurt in 2008, and Don Carlos, at International Schiller´s days at National Theatre in Mannheim in 2009.
Bieito is also working regularly at German opera houses such as the Komische Oper in Berlin or the Stuttgart Oper. He has also collaborated in various ocassions with TheaterBasel (Switzerland), where he staged the opera version of Lulu in 2008.
For further information:
www.nationaltheater-mannheim.de
Photo courtesy of Nationaltheatre MannheimCalixto Bieito bestowed with EUROPEAN CULTURE AWARD PRO EUROPA 2009
Calixto Bieito, Artistic Director of the Teatre Romea in Barcelona, is one of the artists awarded at the 2009 Edition of the prestigious European Culture Prize granted by the European Culture Foundation Pro Europa (Europäische Kulturstiftung Pro Europa). Calixto Bieito is bestowed with this honor for his creative work as a stage director in the European opera field.
The Advisory Council of the Foundation Pro Europa, chaired by the Prince of Denmark, is formed by personalities from Germany, Switzerland, Norway and France. Those awards are granted for 20 years to individuals and institutions that stand out for its innovative contribution to the European culture. Among others, in past editions, the award was bestowed to artists such as Daniel Barenboim, the television channel Arte, architects Norman Foster and Jean Nouvel, and politicians such as Mikhail Gorbachev. Eduardo Chillida, Plácido Domingo are some other Spanish artists previously awarded with a European Culture Award.
The Award Ceremony took place on the 29th of August, 2009 at the Frank Gehry building at Novartis Campus in Basel (Switzerland).
For further information about the event complete list of European Culture Awards 2009:
www.europaeische-kulturstiftung.de
The Advisory Council of the Foundation Pro Europa, chaired by the Prince of Denmark, is formed by personalities from Germany, Switzerland, Norway and France. Those awards are granted for 20 years to individuals and institutions that stand out for its innovative contribution to the European culture. Among others, in past editions, the award was bestowed to artists such as Daniel Barenboim, the television channel Arte, architects Norman Foster and Jean Nouvel, and politicians such as Mikhail Gorbachev. Eduardo Chillida, Plácido Domingo are some other Spanish artists previously awarded with a European Culture Award.
The Award Ceremony took place on the 29th of August, 2009 at the Frank Gehry building at Novartis Campus in Basel (Switzerland).
For further information about the event complete list of European Culture Awards 2009:
www.europaeische-kulturstiftung.de
Calixto Bieito and the rest of awarded personalities
Calixto Bieito & George Delnon, General Director of Theater BaselCalixto Bieito stages Armida for the Komische Oper
Calixto Bieito stages the classical opera Armida, for the Komische Oper of Berlin. The premiere took place in April, 2009.
Armida, heroic opera in five acts, of the great innovator of classical opera (XVIII century) - Christoph Willibald Gluck.
This is the third production of Calixto Bieito at the Komische Oper. Previously he directed in Berlin The Abduction from the Seraglio by Mozart in 2004 (with several revivals) and Madama Butterfly by Puccini, in 2005, which is still in the repertoire of Komische.
For further information:
www.komische-oper-berlin.de
Photo by David Baltzer