By Paul Horsley

Opera choruses: You know you love ’em. The big splashy numbers in the drama where the lights go brilliant and dozens of boisterous singers fill the stage will color and sound. Sometimes the music is so good that you wish you could hear it without all the distractions of costumes and stage action.

Enter “Festa Italiana,” the Kansas City Symphony’s concert October 23-25 of operatic excerpts featuring the Symphony Chorus performing with the Kansas City Symphony in full glory under Michael Stern’s directorship. As trained by Charles Bruffy, the 160-voice Symphony Chorus in recent years has sounded as good as it ever has, and this concert shines particular light on its achievements.

“What people will really love about this program is, whether they are fluent in Italian or not, they’ll be able to sing along with every opera chorus in the set,” said Charles, whose activities also include the directorships of the Kansas City and Phoenix Chorales and the Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church Choir.

The “Anvil Chorus” from Verdi’s Il trovatore. The “Humming Chorus” from Madama Butterfly. “Va pensiero” from Nabucco. “Zitti, zitti” from Rigoletto. The “Triumphal March” from Verdi’s Aida. And so forth. Deftly crafted by Michael and the Symphony’s artistic team, the ingenious program opens with a Rossini Overture and intersperses orchestral interludes by Puccini and Mascagni.

So what exactly are the special techniques behind preparing a chorus for such a specific task? “The approach to sound will be a little more unbridled than the sound the Chorus sometimes makes,” Charles said, with a laugh. (A committed equestrian who owns his own horse farm, Charles finds it difficult to avoid the occasional equine metaphor.) “One element that we have really raised our consciousness about, again because so many of these pieces are so familiar, is that it’s as much fun for us to sing as it is for our listeners to hear.” That being said, he added, with emphasis: “We already know how the songs ‘go,’ so our task is to be sure that all 160 of us are aligned and executing the details with perfect synchronicity, instead of turning it into a sing-along … because everybody already knows the ‘songs.’ And that’s what’s going to make these performances really magnetic and unique.”

The goal is to sing on a level that’s difficult to achieve on an opera stage. “We stand and sing, without costumes or makeup, so it’s a different kind of presentation.” Execution is uppermost even in a brindisi or drinking-chorus, he added, with signature dry humor. “When we are singing those peasant-toasting-drinking songs, our apparent ‘imperfections’ from the wine are practiced, not unexamined.”

The Kansas City Symphony performs ‘Festa Italiana’ from October 23rd through the 25th at the Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall. For tickets call 816-471-0400 or go to kcsymphony.org.

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KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY CHORUS, 2015-2016 SEASON

October 23-25: “Festa Italiana,” program of operatic favorites (Michael Stern, KC Symphony, Helzberg Hall)

December 3-5: Messiah, with the Independence Messiah Choir and soloists (Aram Demirjian, KC Symphony, Helzberg Hall)

December 11: “Jingle Bell Doc,” Doc Severinsen with the Kansas City Symphony (Helzberg Hall)

December 17-22: “Christmas Festival,” with Allegro Choirs of KC, Richard Ridenour (piano), Jay Kraybill (organ) and Rezound! Handbell Ensemble (Aram Demirjian, KC Symphony, Helzberg Hall)

May 15: “Symphony Chorus in Concert” (Charles Bruffy, Helzberg Hall)

June 16-19: “Beethoven’s Ninth,” with soloists, program includes Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 2 (Michael Stern, KC Symphony, Helzberg Hall)

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