Director Damiano Michieletto invigorates opera with stagings that astonish some, appall others

By RONALD BLUM
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Damiano Michieletto has been prominent on European stages for two decades, known for contemporary reconsiderations that at times cause controversy. The 48-year-old Italian’s latest production, Massenet’s rarely performed “Don Quichotte,” is running at the Paris Opéra through June 11 in a staging that suggests Don Quijote may have suffered from dementia or substance abuse. Michieletto’s work appears regularly in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, but the Metropolitan Opera backed out of staging his version of Saint-Saëns’ “Samson et Dalila” after concluding it was too bleak.