Canada's only repertory opera company is once again travelling from Vancouver to provide Squamish audiences with quality entertainment.
At 8 p.m. on Oct. 23, Opera Pro Cantanti will be performing enchanting scenes and arias from various operas for a Brackendale Art Gallery audience. Originally planning to perform the entire opera Norma, the lead soprano's last minute unavailability has led to a change in routine.
"It will be various arias from various operas with lots of Norma such as we can without Norma thrown in," said artistic director Richard Williams. "Other characters will have their solos and there will be a duet and some chorus numbers."
First produced in 1831, Vincenzo Bellini's Norma is a story of love, betrayal, revenge and duty. In Act 1, a secret love unites the seeress Norma with Pollione, the Roman proconsul by whom she has borne two children.
But Pollione has grown tired of the aging druidess and has fallen in love with Adalgisa, a young temple virgin. Despite Adalgisa's piety and virtue, she agrees to flee to Rome with Pollione. Adalgisa innocently tells Norma of her love, and Norma curses Pollione for his treachery.
In Act 2, Norma is about to kill her children, but her love for them prevails and she confides them to the care of Adalgisa. When Pollione comes to take Adalgisa from the temple, Norma denounces him and he is seized by the Druids after refusing to give up Adalgisa.
Norma proclaims herself equally guilty with him. The pyre is lighted and, ascending it, Norma dies with her lover.
Williams said the story will not be lost and intermixing other operas will only add to the performance.
"There will be a sprinkling of excerpts from Norma intermixed with other arias from different operas."
Between 15 and 20 company embers will be performing and despite the absence of the lead soprano, two mezzo-sopranos will be part of the evening recital.
Williams said he and the company have been performing at the BAG for three years now, and every occasion is enjoyable because of the intimate atmosphere.
He said Opera Pro Cantini calls their type of performance "opera in a matchbox" because of the audience's proximity to the stage and the performers.
"Most opera is presented in huge vast theatres of anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 seats, so people sit miles away from the stage," he said.
"When we're in a small venue like Brackendale, all of that glorious noise and passion is condensed and focused into a really tiny space - the effect is huge on the audience and we love that effect."
Williams said another perk is seeing the audience's faces and how they react.
"It becomes more of an exchange or interchange between the audience and the performers."
Co-owner of the BAG, Dorte Froslev, agreed with Williams.
It's very intimate," she said. "You're right there just a few feet away and it's quite wonderful to hear and almost be a part of the music."
Tickets are $18 or $15 for seniors and students and are available in advance at the BAG and The Bookshelf, or at the door.
