That’s one of the reasons why the Minoru Opera series, which is making its return for another spring season, is traditionally a hot ticket.
Charles Barber, artistic director for City Opera, one of three companies that will perform in the intimate confines of Minoru Chapel on three dates from April to June, said he is very pleased to be back for a sixth year in a row.
Part of that has to do with the immediate feedback his singers experience.
“It’s wonderful for a singer to be able to see individually all the shining eyes in the house. It makes all the difference in the world,” he said, adding the communication is so direct, real and personal when performing for around 100 people packed in a small space that it offers a nice change for his company’s singers who are used to bigger venues and audiences.
“They love going there because there is an intimacy of discourse, an intimacy of expression that you only find in a place like Minoru Chapel, or when you sing a lullaby to your child. It’s that up close.”
On the other side, it’s a unique opportunity for the audience to enjoy being up close and personal with the singers.
“For people not in the (opera) business, but who love the art, it is an opportunity for them to bear witness up close to who the singers really are and what the stories are that they are telling,” Barber said. “If you’re in a 3,000-seat house and you’re 95 feet away you have to presume certain kinds of storytelling.
“In a 100-seat house and you’re six feet away, you know what the story is, because if the singers know what they are doing, and I believe they do, the audience immediately understands that the singe is delivering the performance to them, personally.”
It also allows the audience pretty much get a “backstage” glimpse of how the performance operates.
“When you’re that close you hear the breathing, you hear phrasing in a way that is enormously distinct and clarified. And you hear all the words – there’s no confusion at all, regardless of language,” Barber said. “There are a lot of mutual rewards. It’s very much a two-way street and everyone gets to meet directly.”
Helping out are acoustics in the church that Barber described as “splendid.”
“It’s one of the freakish, happy things about churches and chapels built a century ago,” Barber said. “They may not have understood acoustics, but they understood proportions. And so the size, the play and the rebound of the music that goes out works very well.”
The series at Minoru Chapel kicks off on April 6 when Opera di Concertisti presents Aïda, a story of jealousy, treachery, death, love and transformation presented.
Barber’s City Opera performs on May 4 with Great Arias and Duets for Soprano and Baritone with performances ranging from comedy to drama, revelation to fantasy, and from times past to today.
And on June 1 the series will conclude with Opera Opulenza presenting the story of Cavalleria Rusticana, a journey through old world beauty, brutality, love, betrayal and death.
“We are offering a banquet of music. It’s not by one composer or one story. And the combination of soprano and baritone is somewhat unusual. It’s normally soprano and tenor. But we`ve decided to break it out a little,” Barber said.
City Opera’s show features singers Chloé Hurst and Samuel Chan,a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music who boasts plenty of family connections in the Richmond area.
And that is a huge plus for the series and this particular show, Barber said. “It’s a special task for us who offer exclusively Western music and opera in a community like Richmond where half of the folks are not from the west and have no innate familiarity necessarily with our music. And we want to make them feel enormously welcome. Part of the way you do that is by letting them hear Samuel Chan who is making a career in Western music.
Barber said Chan has a tremendous voice and a wonderful stage presence and promises he and Hurst will make a good couple.
And that’s important factor in a world where opera has declined in popularity, Barber said.
“We at City Opera do everything we can, times 10, to make people feel welcome in our music and experience of art. And performing at Minoru Chapel is one of many ways I hope that we are building an audience.”
Performances for all shows are at 2 and 7 p.m. Seating is limited and tickets can be purchased at the door or, as recommended, in advance by calling 604-276-4300. Admission is $20 for adults, $18 for students and seniors.
