Junior Dorian Bandy is no mere student -- he's an impresario.

Bandy, who studies musicology and literature in the College of Arts and Sciences, recruited performers and supporters on campus and from across America and Europe to stage a historical version of Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" Nov. 14-16 in Risley Hall.

"I play baroque violin and harpsichord, so everything I do is already historical in form," Bandy said. "When I was thinking of doing an opera, the natural thing was to go to actual practices. I saw a production in Europe of 'Don Giovanni' set on a spaceship, and I started to wonder how they would have done it back [in Mozart's time]."

Audiences filling Risley's wood-paneled Great Hall found out. In a production featuring period instruments and acting styles, wigs and makeup, swordplay and dance, they saw the opera, based on the legend of the doomed rake Don Juan, in a form close to its original presentation in 1787 in Prague.

The only non-period concession Bandy made was electric candlelight, because fire codes prevented the use of real candles.

The production, with 25 musicians and more than a dozen students, was the culmination of more than three years of research, contacts with professionals, study abroad and immersion in historic acting practices from treatises written by directors and actors of Mozart's era.

"When I first decided to do this, I thought this was going to be connected to my thesis on Mozart operas, but since then my thesis topic has changed entirely," said Bandy, a College Scholar and Presidential Research Scholar.

Bandy memorized the entire score, conducted from the fortepiano, was co-stage director, helped prepare wigs and props, and raised funds for the project. He also deepened his European language skills to read the treatises and studied Greek to learn more about classical drama.

"I slept about two hours last night and hope to get more when this is done," he said three days before opening night. "

An international roster of musicians, professional opera singers and dramatic performers were eager to take part in the production, including the baroque orchestra Les Petits Violons and members of London's Amphion Consort, Bethlehem Bach Choir and the New York State Baroque Ensemble.

"I trusted them to do everything right," Bandy said. "Some I've worked with before; others I'd met briefly. The cellist [Michael Brüssing of the Esterházy Ensemble] I've worked with a lot, and I don't like working with other cellists. He'd never been to New York before, and he wanted to come. The bass player is my sister Amalia."

For the stage direction, Bandy worked with Javier López Piñón, stage director of the Dutch National Opera Academy.

"He's a specialist in 18th-century acting. I've read all the treatises, but I'm not a director; he's been translating my ideas into what can work on stage," Bandy said.

Bandy also wanted to showcase one of Mozart's "most stunning" musical achievements in this work. Part of the score features three orchestras playing at the same time. Bandy and the musicians recreated this -- without the singing -- at a preview concert Nov. 13 in Lincoln Hall.

"This is one of the best-written scenes ever, with some of the most amazing orchestral writing. Unfortunately we can't often hear this because there is so much singing going on," he said.

With support from his thesis adviser, Mozart scholar Neal Zaslaw, and professor of music James Webster, Bandy worked to fully fund the project, soliciting grants from two foundations and 12 Cornell departments and programs.

"At first it was a real stretch," he said. "Jeffrey Rusten in classics was one of the first to support the project. He also wrote the program notes. With the French studies department, I made the case that Molière adapted this work; I also approached German studies, since Mozart considered himself German."