Under Milenski’s guidance, the company developed an alternative vision for opera – to present striking visual drama that would speak directly to contemporary audiences while maintaining the highest musical standard.
Important LBO productions of Milenski's tenure included Powder Her Face by Thomas Adès, Richard Strauss’ Elektra (which was televised in Germany), Leoš Janáček's From the House of the Dead, The Beaumarchais Trilogy (The Barber of Seville by Giovanni Paisiello, The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and The Guilty Mother by Mark McGurty) and the complete operas of Claudio Monteverdi.
"[4] Several American premieres were presented on Milenski's watch, including King Roger by Karol Szymanowski, Schoenberg’s Die Jakobsleiter, Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Turning, I Saw Great Injustice and John Cage’s Europeras 3&4 (issued in a commercial recording).
Under Mitisek, LBO's significant works included two different productions of Piazzolla's tango opera María de Buenos Aires in 2004 and 2012, daylong performances of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in the abridged version by Jonathan Dove, the west coast premiere of Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar and the American premiere of Vivaldi's long-lost opera Motezuma.
[5] In 2014, it mounted the first local performance of John Adams’ controversial The Death of Klinghoffer, a work that Los Angeles Opera co-commissioned in 1991 but flinched from staging.
He mounted the world premiere of Fallujah,[7] based on post-traumatic testimonials by Iraq War veterans and a joint project with New York City Opera.
[11] During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic LBO turned to virtual programming, including a series of Community Conversations and a seminar on music history and social justice activism through the arts.