Multi-gifted Mitisek, able to pull both directing and conducting out of his basket of tricks, directs the two with ample injections of commedia dell’arte, vaudeville and burlesque. Pantomime, dumb show, mask and puppetry are employed, along with speaking and choral speaking so compositionally integrated that they could have been germane, or have been borrowed by any number of performance traditions. These ample resources do much to lighten the load of an evening that includes the character of Death, imprisoned peasants, and blatantly celebrated misogyny.
Repertoire
| TITLE | COMPOSER | COMPANY | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nixon in China | John Adams | ||
| Wiener Operntheater | 1997 | ||
| Arena di Verona | 2008 | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2010 | ||
| The Death of Klinghoffer | John Adams | Long Beach Opera | 2014 |
| I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky | 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 | 1996 |
| Der Reigen | Philippe Boesmans | Wiener Operntheater | 1997 |
| Death in Venice | Benjamin Britten | Wiener Operntheater | 1994 |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | Benjamin Britten | Wiener Volksoper | 1998, 1999 |
| The Imaginary Invalid | Marc Antoine Charpentier | Long Beach Opera | 1999 |
| 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 | 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 Fall Of The House Of Usher | Philip Glass | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2013 | ||
| Chicago Opera Theater | 2013 | ||
| Akhnaten | Philip Glass | Long Beach Opera | 2011 |
| The Perfect American | Philip Glass | ||
| Long Beach Opera | 2017 | ||
| Chicago Opera Theater | 2017 | ||
| 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 |
| Semele | George Frederic Handel | Long Beach Opera | 2004 |
| Giulio Cesare | George Frederic Handel | Wiener Musikverein | |
| The News | JacobTV | Long Beach Opera | 2016 |
| The Cunning little Vixen | Leoš Janáček | Long Beach Opera | 2009 |
| Jenufa | Leoš Janáček | Long Beach Opera | 2002 |
| As One | Kaminsky/Campbell/Reed | Anchorage Opera | 2018 |
| As One | Laura Kaminsky/Mark Campbell/Kimberly Reed | Long Beach Opera | 2017 |
| The Good Soldier Schweik | Robert Kurka | Long Beach Opera | 2010 |
| Giuditta | Franz Lehar | Wiener Volksoper | 1998 |
| Countess Maritza | Franz Lehar | German Tour | |
| Pagliacci | Ruggero Leoncavallo | Hawaii Opera Theater | 2001 |
| Le Grand Macabre | György Ligeti | Wiener Operntheater | 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 | |
| Così fan tutte | Wolfgang A. Mozart | Seattle Opera | 2005 |
| Le nozze di Figaro | Wolfgang A. Mozart | ||
| Hawaii Opera Theater | 2001 | ||
| Yale Opera | |||
| Don Giovanni | Wolfgang A. Mozart | ||
| Seattle Opera | 2007 | ||
| Orlando Opera | |||
| The Abduction From the Seraglio | Wolfgang A. Mozart | Wiener Operntheater | 1999 |
| La Clemenza di Tito | Wolfgang A. Mozart | Wiener Konzerthaus | 1989 |
| 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 | 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 |
| Tosca | Giacomo Puccini | Orlando Opera | |
| Il Tabarro | Giacomo Puccini | Long Beach Opera | 2000 |
| Madama Butterfly | Giacomo Puccini | Orlando Opera | |
| The Indian Queen | Henry Purcell | Long Beach Opera | 1998 |
| Das Schloss | Aribert Reimann | Wiener Operntheater | 1996 |
| Moscow, Cherry Town | Dimitri Shostakovich | Long Beach Opera | 2011 |
| 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 | ||
| Elektra | Richard Strauss | Long Beach Opera | 2001 |
| Die Schweigsame Frau (Silent Woman) | Richard Strauss | Long Beach Opera | 2004 |
| Salome | Richard Strauss | ||
| Austin Opera | 1999 | ||
| Opera Philadelphia | 2000 | ||
| 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 | ||
| Rigoletto | Giuseppe Verdi | Austin Opera | 2003 |
| Nabucco | Giuseppe Verdi | ||
| La forza del destino | Giuseppe Verdi | Theater Würzburg | |
| 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 |