Asked to describe the protagonist of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Adam Turner doesn’t mince words: “He’s opera’s original bad boy rock star.”

This weekend, Virginia Opera’s latest rendition of the masterpiece comes to the Dominion Energy Center.

“To me, it’s like the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll of opera,” explains Turner, Virginia Opera’s artistic director.

Based on the legend of fictional libertine Don Juan, “Don Giovanni” tells the story of a charming but predatory ladies’ man who eventually gets his comeuppance. Mixing melodrama, comedy and the supernatural, the opera is one of the most popular works in the canon.

When the opera opens, Don Giovanni has just attempted to seduce or rape a woman named Donna Anna while wearing a mask. As he escapes, he is confronted by Donna Anna’s father and kills him in a swordfight. That altercation will haunt Don Giovanni in ways he could never anticipate.

In its new production, Virginia Opera is embracing Don Giovanni’s debauched nature by staging the work like a rock concert, placing the orchestra onstage and having the singers perform on platforms that put them closer to the audience.

“The lighting equipment is visible, there’s a lot of haze and strobe effects, so it does feel like a rock concert,” says Turner, who will also conduct. “It’s really confronting the audience with all the high stakes emotions.”

Instead of taking their cues from Turner in the orchestra pit, the singers will stay in time by watching Turner conduct on TV monitors.

“It hasn’t really presented any big challenges,” says Turner of placing the singers in front of the orchestra. “If anything, it favors the singers more than normal. I love that, because oftentimes people forget that opera is one of the only artforms that makes people sing unamplified without any assistance whatsoever.”

This production marks baritone Ethan Vincent’s debut in the title role.

“He’s an up-and-coming talent who, I’m sure, is going to go off to very big theaters like the Met and whatnot after this,” Turner says. “He fits the mold of performers that we try to feature on our stages that are the next wave of big talents in our industry. We always like to say that we got them first,” he says, naming Renée Fleming, Nadine Sierra and Lawrence Brownlee as a few examples.

Turner also raves about soprano Symone Harcum who plays Donna Anna.

“She’s really knocking it out of the park, and it’s been wonderful to feature someone that we have a relationship with for well over a decade,” he says, adding that her part is “iconic for all of the color and the high notes and stamina and physical endurance that it requires.”

Harcum was studying at Norfolk State University more than a decade ago when her teacher encouraged her to audition for the Virginia Opera chorus. Since then, Harcum’s star has been on the rise, including performances at the Glimmerglass Festival, Minnesota Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

At the risk “of sounding like a Mozart girl,” Harcum believes “The Marriage of Figaro” has a perfect score, but that “this is a close second.”

“It’s alive at every turn,” she says of “Don Giovanni.” “The music tells the story itself. It’s kind of a jam and lends itself quite well to the idea of a rock concert.”

Of all the roles in opera, Donna Anna is one of Harcum’s favorites.

“The character is multidimensional and sometimes it’s hard to find that in opera for women,” she says. “She’s got so much fire. She has a rage aria.”

After Don Giovanni kills her father, Donna Anna “spends the rest of the opera hunting Giovanni down with Ottavio while battling with the death of her father,” Harcum says. “There are just so many dynamics to that role that you can play. You have every opportunity to show so many sides of her.”

Turner says Mozart’s music provides commentary on the action, such as woodwinds laughing along with a scene or trombones providing an ominous backdrop to the proceedings.

“It really provides you with a kaleidoscope of sonic splendor,” he says. “It’s just a sublime score, and it’s such a treat to hear it every night at rehearsal. I can’t wait to perform it.”

Virginia Opera’s “Don Giovanni” plays Oct. 12 and 13 at the Dominion Energy Center, 600 E. Grace St. For information, visit vaopera.org or call 866-673-7282.