When Rosina falls in love with mysterious young suitor Lindoro, she must use all her cunning – and a little help from her local barber – to outwit her calculating guardian Dr Bartolo. Expect heart-melting serenades, ridiculous disguises and a fairytale ending waiting just out of reach. From the barber’s opening number ‘Largo al factotum,’ with its cry of ‘Figaro!,’ to Rosina’s feisty aria ‘Una voce poco fa,’ Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera is a riotously entertaining affair. Rafael Payare makes his House debut, and joins Christopher Willis in conducting a cast that includes Andrzej Filończyk, Aigul Akhmetshina, Laurence Brownlee, Konu Kim and Bryn Terfel.

Thanks to her open heart and determination, Cinderella triumphs over her mean-spirited relatives in Rossini’s sparkling version of the story. Karine Deshayes, lauded for her “emotional depth and vibrant, beautiful sound”, makes her San Francisco Opera debut in the beloved fairy tale about a gentle but courageous servant girl who catches the eye of a handsome prince. In San Francisco Opera’s charming and heartwarming production, esteemed Spanish conductor Jesús López-Cobos leads a superb cast.

All the men of Touraine are away on a Crusade. Only the young Count and his companions are around but have other things in mind; they are on the prowl for amorous adventures. In ridiculous disguises, they try to outwit the women, for now, bereft of their husbands. The beautiful and strict Countess Adele, to honour her crusading brother and other knights, has taken a vow of chastity, although she has fallen in love with Count’s noble squire, the young Isolier. Surely, in such circumstances, shouldn’t all men be banished from her castle?