The reason why you are getting those replies is that an Operatic voice depends very strongly on the room. When they sing, they sing to be heard clearly 20+ feet away in an acoustic situation. If you mic them in a near-field situation, you are not going to get a very good sound by classical standards. A 10x11 room is very small for this kind of a voice. There simply is not enough air space for the sound of the voice to develop.

It isn't completely forbidden to close mic a classical voice, but the definition of a close mic in classical would be a mic that is probably 3-4 feet away. And most of the time when that is done, it is a spot to touch up a sound from a main pair that is many feet away.

How is the voice being used? Is the singer singing to a pre-record or live to a piano or other instruments? You may consider a stereo pair a few feet out in front of the voice and a couple feet over the singer's head and hope that works...

--Ben