Georges Rochegrosse's poster for Don Quichotte (1910) I’m heading north to catch today’s matinee of Jules Massenet’s 1910 comédie-héroïque, Don Quichotte, at Seattle Opera. Originally conceived as a vehicle for the great Russian basso, Feodor Chaliapin (1873-1938), several other outstanding singers have performed and/or recorded the title role since its premiere in Monte Carlo, including Boris Christoff, Jerome Hines, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Ruggero Raimondi, Samuel Ramey, José van Dam, and Ferruccio Furlanetto. (Seattle’s Gold Series Don Quixote is John Relyea, and his Silver Series counterpart is the young French bass-baritone, Nicholas Cavallier.) In this pair of clips, we can see and hear two of those noted interpreters in action. First off is van Dam, who in this 201o production from Brussels, attempts to do battle against a giant windmill blade at the end of the second act. His hapless Sancho is Werner Van Mechelen. And from a 2002 concert performance in Moscow, Nicolai Ghiaurov sings Quixote’s moving Death Scene in Act 5, with his wife, Mirella Freni, providing the off-stage voice of Dulcinée.