...a radicalized version of Luigi Cherubini’s “Medea”. The setting is an indistinct postmodern time zone. Jason, in a white dinner jacket and loose tie leaves Medea for Dirce, a Paris Hilton-like party girl -- the daughter of a creepy Creon, king of Corinth. Medea is a sorceress, one arm snaked with sinuous tattoos, in a modern gown.
The production begins with an excerpt from Euripides as prologue before the overture. And Mitisek had the brilliant stroke to use the orchestral introduction of Act 3 as background music for a vivid description of Medea’s exploits of destruction taken from Corneille and devastatingly declaimed by Southwell (her eyes penetrating like lasers) and Dirce’s two serving maids (Ariel Pisturino and Diana Tash).
Mitisek conducted his fine small orchestra with exactly the right combination of classical discipline and dramatic fire.
Repertoire
| TITLE | COMPOSER | COMPANY | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky | John Adams | Long Beach Opera | 2014 |
| Nixon in China | John Adams | ||
| Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1997 | ||
| Arena di Verona | 2008 | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2010 | ||
| The Death of Klinghoffer | John Adams | Long Beach Opera | 2014 |
| Bluebeard's Castle | Béla Bartók | Long Beach Opera | 1999 |
| Jane Eyre | Michael Berkeley | Opera Theatre of Saint Louis | 2006 |
| The Second Mrs. Kong | Harrison Birtwistle | Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1996 |
| Der Reigen | Philippe Boesmans | Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1997 |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | Benjamin Britten | Wiener Volksoper | 1998, 1999 |
| Death in Venice | Benjamin Britten | Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1994 |
| The Imaginary Invalid | Marc Antoine Charpentier | Long Beach Opera | 1999 |
| Medea | Luigi Cherubini | Long Beach Opera | 2011 |
| Il matrimonio segreto | Domenico Cimarosa | Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1991 |
| The Invention of Morel | Stewart Copeland | ||
| Chicago Opera Theater | 2017 | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2018 | ||
| Volo Di Notte | Luigi Dallapiccola | Long Beach Opera | 2000 |
| Oedipe | George Enescu | Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1993 |
| The Diary Of Anne Frank | Grigori Frid | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2007, 2009 | ||
| Austin Chamber Music Festival | 2007 | ||
| Irvine Barclay Theater in Irvine | 2010 | ||
| The Perfect American | Philip Glass | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2017 | ||
| Chicago Opera Theater | 2017 | ||
| Akhnaten | Philip Glass | Long Beach Opera | 2011 |
| The Fall Of The House Of Usher | Philip Glass | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2013 | ||
| Chicago Opera Theater | 2013 | ||
| Hotel Of Dreams / The Sound Of A Voice | Philip Glass | Long Beach Opera | 2006 |
| Orfeo ed Euridice | Willibald Gluck | Komische Oper Berlin | 2000 |
| Faust | Charles Gounod | Austin Opera | 2001 |
| Frankenstein!! | Heinz K. Gruber | Long Beach Opera | 2008 |
| Giulio Cesare | George Frederic Handel | Wiener Musikverein | |
| Semele | George Frederic Handel | Long Beach Opera | 2004 |
| The News | JacobTV | Long Beach Opera | 2016 |
| Jenufa | Leoš Janáček | Long Beach Opera | 2002 |
| The Cunning little Vixen | Leoš Janáček | Long Beach Opera | 2009 |
| As One | Kaminsky/Campbell/Reed | ||
| Anchorage Opera | 2018 | ||
| Portland Opera | 2019 | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2017 | ||
| As One | Laura Kaminsky/Mark Campbell/Kimberly Reed | Long Beach Opera | 2017 |
| The Good Soldier Schweik | Robert Kurka | Long Beach Opera | 2010 |
| Countess Maritza | Franz Lehar | German Tour | |
| Giuditta | Franz Lehar | Wiener Volksoper | 1998 |
| Pagliacci | Ruggero Leoncavallo | Hawaii Opera Theater | 2001 |
| Le Grand Macabre | György Ligeti | Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1994 |
| Tears of a Knife | Bohuslav Martinu | Long Beach Opera | 2012 |
| La Cavalleria Rusticana | Pietro Mascagni | Hawaii Opera Theater | 2001 |
| Malakut | Nader Mashayeki | Wien Modern | 1997 |
| Joruri | Minoru Miki | Tokyo Opera | 2006 |
| Der Bettelstudent | Carl Millöcker | German Tour | |
| Le nozze di Figaro | Wolfgang A. Mozart | ||
| Hawaii Opera Theater | 2001 | ||
| Yale Opera | |||
| La Clemenza di Tito | Wolfgang A. Mozart | Wiener Konzerthaus | 1989 |
| Così fan tutte | Wolfgang A. Mozart | Seattle Opera | 2005 |
| Don Giovanni | Wolfgang A. Mozart | ||
| Seattle Opera | 2007 | ||
| Orlando Opera | |||
| The Abduction From the Seraglio | Wolfgang A. Mozart | Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1999 |
| No Mozart | Michael Nyman, Louis Andriessen, Arvo Pärt | Long Beach Opera | 2006 |
| La Périchole | Jacques Offenbach | Long Beach Opera | 2003 |
| The Clever One | Carl Orff | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2009 | ||
| Chicago Opera Theater | 2014 | ||
| Camelia La Tejana: Only The Truth | Gabriela Ortiz | Long Beach Opera | 2013 |
| The Devils of Loudon | Kristof Penderecki | Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1995 |
| Maria de Buenos Aires | Astor Piazzolla / Horacio Ferrer | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2012 | ||
| Chicago Opera Theater | 2013 | ||
| Thérèse Raquin | Tobias Picker | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2015 | ||
| Chicago Opera Theater | 2015 | ||
| Les mamelles de Tirésias | Francis Poulenc | Long Beach Opera | 2010 |
| Il Tabarro | Giacomo Puccini | Long Beach Opera | 2000 |
| Tosca | Giacomo Puccini | Orlando Opera | 2006 |
| Madama Butterfly | Giacomo Puccini | Orlando Opera | 2007 |
| The Indian Queen | Henry Purcell | Long Beach Opera | 1998 |
| King Arthur - Redux | Henry Purcell | Long Beach Opera | 2020 |
| Das Schloss | Aribert Reimann | Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1996 |
| Il Signor Bruschino | Gioachino Rossini | Wiener Operntheater, Vienna/Austria | 1993 |
| The Barber Of Seville | Gioachino Rossini | Wiener Neustadt Festival, Austria | 1988 |
| Moscow, Cherry Town | Dimitri Shostakovich | Long Beach Opera | 2011 |
| Salome | Richard Strauss | ||
| Austin Opera | 1999 | ||
| Opera Philadelphia | 2000 | ||
| Fledermaus | Johann Strauss | German Tour | 2001 |
| Elektra | Richard Strauss | Long Beach Opera | 2001 |
| Die Fledermaus | Johann Strauss | ||
| San Sebastian Festival, Spain | 1999 | ||
| Komische Oper Berlin | 1999, 2000 | ||
| La Orquesta Sinfónica de Valencia | 2004 | ||
| Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi | 2009 | ||
| Die Schweigsame Frau (Silent Woman) | Richard Strauss | Long Beach Opera | 2004 |
| The Rake's Progress | Igor Stravinsky | Vancouver Opera | 2001 |
| Eugene Onegin | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | ||
| Seattle Opera | 2002 | ||
| Teatro Municipal de Santiago | 2006 | ||
| The Emperor Of Atlantis | Viktor Ullmann | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2009 | ||
| Chicago Opera Theater | 2014 | ||
| Nabucco | Giuseppe Verdi | National Theatre Zagreb, Croatia | 1995 |
| La forza del destino | Giuseppe Verdi | Theater Würzburg | |
| Rigoletto | Giuseppe Verdi | Austin Opera | 2003 |
| Montezuma | Antonio Vivaldi | Long Beach Opera | 2009 |
| The Ring of the Nibelung | Richard Wagner | Long Beach Opera | 2006 |
| Der Freischütz | Carl Maria von Weber | Seattle Opera | 1999 |
| The Threepenny Opera | Kurt Weill | Long Beach Opera | 2005 |