OPERA fans in the south will be delighted to hear that the Welsh National Opera (WNO) will be making two return visits to The Mayflower next year.

The acclaimed company, renowned for its lavish traditional productions, is already a regular at the Southampton theatre.

You can see singers again in March and June, when they will be performing six operas.

From March 26-30, its programme will be made up of three productions - Madam Butterfly, Puccini's powerful tale of love and tragedy, La Clemenza di Tito, Mozart's complex opera where love fights duty and honour struggles against lust, and Richard Strauss's Salome, in which lurid passions run wild and all morality is abandoned as a doomed soul is swept along to its inevitable damnation. The WNO is back from June 25-29 with another four offerings.

Alongside a new production of Rigoletto, Verdi's powerful story of desire, seduction, love and revenge, you can see a repeat performance of Madam Butterfly, Cosi fan Tutte, Mozart's comedy of manners, and Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen, a rustic tale of village folk and talking animals.

All operas are sung in the original language with English subtitles, except for The Cunning Little Fox, which is sung in English.

Tickets for all operas are now on sale from The Mayflower on 023 8071 1811. They are also available online at www.the-mayflower.com or in person from the WestQuay shopping centre.