Andrew Porter had contributed much to Seattle Opera with his famous translation of Der Ring des Nibelungen, which was performed each summer in Seattle between 1975 and 1983. Also a Verdian, Porter was a scholar of major stature who had discovered a great deal of previously lost material for Verdi's Don Carlos. He made his opera directing debut in Seattle with Verdi's La forza del destino, which he did as near to authentic performance practice as possible, using soft sets built in Milan by the Sormani school. The production marked the return to Seattle of the great bass Jerome Hines, who simultaneously appeared in his own opera, The Way, at Seattle Pacific University.