‘The Medium’: There’s more to opera than booming voices

Jay Valencia-Glorioso in “The Medium”

The hourlong chamber opera, Gian Carlo Minotti’s ghost story “The Medium,” opened last weekend at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater in BGC without much fanfare. Despite its meager (or nonexistent) budget for a marketing campaign, the production, a stirring meditation on corruption and tyranny, is generating buzz for proving there’s more to opera and classical music than its actors’ booming voices.

Kudos to director Leo Rialp, who cleverly scales down the genre’s larger-than-life theatricality without compromising musicality, focusing instead on the intimate and accessible story of a fake medium (Jay Valencia-Glorioso) who gets more than she bargains for. More than breaking preconceived notions about opera, Rialp coaxes good performances from a fine cast led by Glorioso and Inquirer brand ambassador Lara Maigue. Call 891-9999 for “The Medium’s” remaining performances on Nov. 23, 24 and 25.