ENGLISH Touring Opera present two opera nights at York Theatre Royal this week: Mozart's The Marriage Of Figaro on Friday and Puccini's Il Tabarro and Gianni Schicchi on Saturday, both starting at 7.30pm.

Directed by Blanche McIntyre and conducted by Christopher Stark, ETO's energetic new production of Mozart’s comedy will be sung in English. During the course of one eventful day, Figaro and Susanna must overcome every obstacle put in their way by Count Almaviva and his cronies before finally they can be united as man and wife.

McIntyre, who directed ETO's Tosca last year, returns to oversee this most warm-hearted of operas, working with a cast of Dawid Kimberg (Count), Ross Ramgobin (Figaro), Rachel Redmond (Susanna), Nadine Benjamin (Countess), Katherine Aitken (Cherubino), Omar Ebrahim (Bartolo), Gaynor Keeble (Marcellina), Abigail Kelly (Barbarina), Devon Harrison (Antonio) and John-Colyn Gyeantey (Basilio).

James Conway directs Il Tabarro and Liam Steel is at the helm for Giannia Schicchi, two Puccini one-act operas conducted by Michael Rosewell and sung in Italian with English surtitles. These works could hardly be more different: one is a moody romance ending in a grotesque murder on a barge in Paris; the other is a sparkling comedy about a family inheritance in Florence.

Il Tabarro's cast comprises Craig Smith (Michele), Sarah-Jane Lewis (Giorgetta), Charne Rochford (Luigi), Andrew Glover (Tinca), Timothy Dawkins (Talpa) and Luciano Botelho (Young Lover). Gianni Schicchi features Andrew Slater (Gianni Schicchi), Galina Averina (Lauretta), Luciano Botelho (Rinuccio), Bradley Travis (Betto), Andrew Glover (Gherardo), Timothy Dawkins (Simone), Joanna Skillett (Nella), Clarissa Meek (Zita) and Ed Ballard (Marco).

Pre-show talks for both productions start at 6.30pm; tickets are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.