Don Giovanni

Francisco’s most controversial show up to that time. The Vienna version, pure. The real title, Il Dissoluto Punito. Zerlina’s path from purity to revenge, and Elvira’s from revenge to purity, human nature’s need for revenge and punishment, its cowardice when confronted to its own instincts, but also its ability to forgive and grow, all came to the fore through Mozart’s music in a way that made some spectators intensely uncomfortable but that many hailed as one of the rare times the piece had truly made dramatic sense to them. It was Francisco’s first chance to work with designer Carol Bailey.

• Glimmerglass · Cooperstown · July 2003