Valley Lyric Opera hasn't presented a full production with orchestra and staging since its first opera in 1996.

The company's upcoming production, Giuseppe Verdi's "Il Trovatore," will not reach the scale of that first one, but is getting closer.

"We're being a little more ambitious this time around," said company founder Dr. Francisco Cano. "There was so much success with 'La Boheme' it seemed unfair not to jump to the next level."

The next level for Valley Lyric Opera, which stages "Il Trovatore" Sept. 26 in Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Greenville, is having a 20-piece orchestra instead of just piano accompaniment, and introducing the translation of the lyrics in supertitles.

It doesn't hurt that the company will have a world-class performer in its ranks this time: bass Samuel DePalma.

Cano called DePalma, whom he met in a chance encounter at the Springfield Grille in Springfield Township, an "out of this world" performer who has been doing concerts with Placido Domingo.

DePalma, of Franklin, has sung 31 major roles in eight languages. He has sung throughout the United States, Europe and South America under the baton of the likes of Herbert van Karajan in Vienna, Austria.

"I have never been so close to a bigger, better voice," Cano said. "It is a cannon."

That cannon will fire off the opening salvo of the opera.

"This is a huge role for the show," Cano, who will sing the tenor role of Manrico, said of Ferrando, the role DePalma will sing. "It opens the opera and sets the tone for the opera."

While DePalma is belting out his role, audience members can follow along what he is singing in Italian by the English translation broadcast in supertitles by the stage.

Cano said he could have rented a supertitle machine but found that renting the equipment cost half of buying it, so he bought it and created the titles himself.

"It was a lot of fun doing it," he said. "It didn't take all that much time."

While some opera buffs find supertitles distracting, others believe they understand the opera better when they can follow them along with the action.

"It adds more than what it takes away," Cano said.

Cano said he didn't want to make any predictions about when he might be able to get back to a full staging, but he hopes the momentum of recent years continues.

"I don't want to get too ambitious and cover too much, but I think the last couple of years we've done really, really well. I don't expect that we'll make money but if we can break even or only lose a little bit we'll be in great shape."

The company is in better shape thanks to its new director of development, James Myhra. He has helped in preparing for grants, networking with state officials who can help secure grants and setting Cano's sights on the future.

"He has been a tremendous help in terms of the structure of the organization," Cano said. "With professional help, I think we have a much clearer direction."

While many opera companies are shrinking, Cano is looking to grow Valley Lyric Opera, which is a non-profit organization. He said he could meet his goal of fully staging one opera a year for two or three shows with about $20,000 a year.

But, he wants to meet his goal by not charging admission.

"I feel it has to be a gift to the community," Cano said. "We should be able to find the money somewhere else."

The opera starts at 7 p.m. It will be repeated at 2 p.m. Sept. 28 at First Presbyterian Church, Wick Avenue and Wood Street, Youngstown. Tickets for the Youngstown show: at the door.

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