Classical KDFC – The State of the Arts Interview

The stormy relationship he has with Carmen is high-intensity: "It’s not that she’s the opposite of him. In fact, I think she brings out the parts of him that are really who he is, the killer inside of him. The aggressive, insecure man that he is. And she plays with those things, and they have these fights, and they have good times in the bedroom, and they have crazy times outside the bedroom fighting."

San Francisco Opera’s upcoming run of Georges Bizet’s Carmen marks the US premiere of a production by director Calixto Bieito, who is known for edgy and provocative interpretations. The action has been moved to the 1970s under Franco’s rule, and a tiny Spanish town across the Strait of Gibraltar, on northern Africa. Tenor Brian Jagde will be singing the role of Don José in all but one of the performances. Enjoy his interview at the following link.

The production has a parental discretion advisory for violence, nudity, and suggestive behavior, “But there are actually very few scenes that are really raw in that way,” Brian Jagde says. “They’ve done it in a really tasteful way, in fact, this is Beieto’s most tame production, I think, out of all the productions he has done.” And the setting builds on the charged atmosphere of the story. Don José is a soldier who is at heart a criminal. “He’s actually murdered probably three people already. And the third one, he has the choice to become a soldier, or go to jail, because they catch him.  He’s become a soldier because he had to. Not because he wanted to, not because he was a good guy. He’s a guy just doing what he has to do to get by, because it’s the easiest choice. And along comes this woman.” The stormy relationship he has with Carmen is high-intensity: “It’s not that she’s the opposite of him. In fact, I think she brings out the parts of him that are really who he is, the killer inside of him. The aggressive, insecure man that he is. And she plays with those things, and they have these fights, and they have good times in the bedroom, and they have crazy times outside the bedroom fighting.”