The Francis Bacon Opera

In 1986, Melvyn Bragg interviewed artist Francis Bacon for the now cancelled and much-lamented Southbank Show. Throughout the conversation, Bragg and Bacon have a few drinks, leading to an unexpectedly candid insight into Bacon's process and life. It wasn't entirely inevitable, however, that this meeting would lead to a comic opera.

"Opera is certainly not popular, but nor should it be," says composer Stephen Crowe. "If you equate 'popularity' with 'relevance' (which I think a lot of people would) then the most relevant form of culture is TV talent shows." Yet even in an over-crowded Fringe, Crowe is confident that The Francis Bacon Opera will stand out.

"The fact that it's a brand new opera is one thing, and the fact that it's fucking brilliant is another." he laughs. Using the text of the Bragg-Bacon encounter- "it's either a direct transcript, retaining all the fluffs and mispronunciations and interrupted thoughts, or it's nothing" - Crowe gets inside the mind of one of the twentieth century's most visceral painters.

"The most inspiring thing about Bacon is his childlike openness," he continues. "He says controversial things, and always has fascinating opinions- but they are genuine. They don't come from any need to be shocking or outrageous, they come from the need to be totally honest."

Bacon might have found a visual language that deconstructed the expected politeness of paint - before the explosion of conceptual art, he was already pushing taste and acceptability - but his incisive vision could be turned inward. "He can be as dismissive about his own work as he can be scathing about Rothko, and he loves a lot of things, too." And back in the 1980s, art and celebrity were not so entwined: this interview was not about the hype.

Bacon reveals, Crowe states, "the sort of vehemence and adoration you hear behind closed doors, but never in a broadcast interview, unless there is a drive for publicity at the root of it. And the fact that Melvyn Bragg was willing to join him in his quest for honesty, and that alcohol lubricated the way is just perfect!"

 

C too, venue 4, 

19–27 Aug, 

18:00 (1hr00)