The problem with Don Quichotte is that it always has been linked with the larger-than-life Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin. He was an extroverted singer-actor, while the opera really is an intimate piece that works best with a restrained lyrical performance by the title character.

Don Quichotte was conceived for Chaliapin, but the composer changed his mind and chose the lighter-voiced bass Vanni Marcoux for the 1910 premiere. Marcoux was an elegant performer, just as the chivalrous Don Quixote imagined himself to be. And, in fact, as the composer imagined himself to be. Massenet was age 67 and in ill health but he was infatuated with the woman who sang Dulcinée at the first performances.

To give a comparison closer to our time, Massenet's hero Werther was best impersonated by the unhandsome but elegant tenor Alfredo Kraus, while the role was less-successfully assumed by the tall, stunning and big-voiced Franco Corelli. Massenet's music asks for understatement and subtlety.

The Metropolitan Opera in New York City performed Don Quichotte in 1926 with Chaliapin as the Don. After devastating reviews, the Met never again performed it. Chaliapin's recording of it is notorious for his audible sobbing.

Massenet was a meticulous craftsman and he excelled at creating diaphanous layers of orchestral sound. He also added a splash of Spanish color and rhythm to his normal Gallic palette. That characteristic of Don Quichotte will surprise a first-time listener who may have expected something closer to Boris Godunov.

Another revelation is the importance of Dulcinée in the opera. She gets virtually as much stage time as the Don, and a wide variety of numbers - some playful, some seductive, and she dances.

Burak Bilgili presented a sweetly befuddled Don, singing tastefully. Chrystal E. Williams was a sultry Dulcinée with a voice that was powerful over a wide range. Baritone Zachary Nelson was impressive as the loyal sidekick, Sancho Panza.

Stage director Tito Capabianco returned to the AVA to evoke the opera's varied locales, abetted by a field of windmills. The Massenet instrumentation was colorfully portrayed by the orchestra conducted by the AVA's perspicacious music director Christofer Macatsoris.

The large cast was filled with talented AVA resident artists. Such an experience broadens their education; they may not be cast again in Don Quichotte because revivals of it are rare, but this should help them with other Massenet operas.

Photo: Burak Bilgili as Don Quichotte and Chrystal E. Williams as Dulcinée