RALEIGH - The pressure of premiering an evening-length ballet a month after another major work seems to have inspired rather than hindered Carolina Ballet's Robert Weiss, for his "Don Quixote" is one of his very best creations, a huge crowd-pleaser at Thursday's opening.

For most, "Don Quixote" means the 1869 Petipa ballet, while aficionados also know Balanchine's 1965 version. The former makes Quixote a minor character, the latter makes him the lead but with mostly mimed action.

Weiss' new version keeps Quixote central and a true dancing role yet makes room for an array of other characters, allowing stage-filling spectacle and engaging romantic encounters. Weiss uses a dozen incidents from Cervantes' book, connected with narration.

His conception can work only with a performer who acts as well as dances. Timour Bourtasenkov fits the bill perfectly, his bumbling antics amusing, his yearning for Dulcinea moving. He plays the older Quixote with doddering dignity but transforms into the romantic hero in the first act finale, a dream pas de deux with Melissa Podcasy an ethereal Dulcinea.

Bourtasenkov plays well with companion Sancho Panza, an amazingly agile Nikolai Smirnov (given the extra padding), who adds many mirthful moments.

Margaret Severin-Hansen and Pablo Javier Perez make a delightful shepherd and shepherdess who end bereaved in a soulful farewell.

Weiss tells the story of two pairs of lovers disrupted by infidelity in a sequence of three pas de deux brilliantly developing the complications. The expected qualities of Margo K. Martin and Attila Bongar are matched by Marcelo Martinez's dashing athleticism and Lara O'Brien's lovely delicacy.

Weiss saves the best till last in a joyous wedding celebration, involving a lowly shepherd in love with a beautiful farm girl betrothed to a rich farmer. Gabor Kapin proves why he's been sorely missed the last few seasons, his feisty shepherd amorous and witty. Lilyan Vigo is another vision of romantic allure, and Alain Molina gives the farmer a brash verve.

The work's grand scale is expertly realized technically. David Heuvel's richly detailed costumes make beautiful complements to Jeff A. R. Jones's subtly hued mountain backdrop and substantial interiors. Ross Kolman's lighting adds striking chiascuro effects and impressive dimensions. Clever evocations of horses and windmills brought audible gasps from the audience.

The over-long, complicated narration could use trimming, and the ballet's two hours could be tightened by dropping some shorter sequences, but these minor considerations do not mar the considerable pleasure of this latest success.

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