Effervescent, high-spirited, vocally brilliant, a work of comic genius: Rossini's masterpiece The Barber of Seville is a favourite with audiences around the world.

ETO's new production, directed by the exciting and imaginative Thomas Guthrie and conducted by an experienced master of Italian opera, Paul McGrath, promises to be one of the highlights of the artistic calendar in 2012.

The roguish young Count Almaviva, masquerading as the student Lindoro, will be sung by Nicholas Sharratt, one of the UK's most promising Italianate tenors. Kitty Whately, winner of this year’s Kathleen Ferrier Award, plays his beloved Rosina, as cunning as she is lovely.