Singing reet: Yorkshire version of the Barber of Seville to open new Bradford opera festival

Team behind festival want to make opera relevant to people of the city as well as find and train talent of the future

Explain!" says Count Almaviva to Figaro in the Barber of Seville. Tha what?" says the count in next month's Yorkshire version of Rossini's comic opera.

Rosina's wrath if crossed will be less viper and more a whippet's bite"... A hundred traps ah lay / Until I get mi way / Get thissen set / Get thissen set" the soprano will intone as she sings the thrilling, showstopper aria una voce poca fa'. The opera will be heard like never before thanks to a full translation into Yorkshire dialect by the poet, writer and broadcaster Ian McMillan.