It's a veritable epidemic. No stage is safe.

But Opera Ireland have somehow managed to get out of the traps just before any of the other big-scale productions begin, which is certainly a good idea in a time of such a widespread fever. The company opened their spring season with Donizetti's Don Pasquale on Friday (25 May) and followed last night with Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte.

With the Gaiety unavailable due to red-tape at the moment, Opera Ireland has been forced to up sticks to the RDS, namely the Serpentine Hall of that venue.

An opera company would be readily forgiven for baulking at the notion of working in this quite inhospitable space, in respect of an operatic production at least. So it is not surprising that both of the operas have received quite minimalist staging in terms of scenery though Dieter Kaegi (artistic director of Opera Ireland and director of Don Pasquale) and Gavin Quinn (of Pan Pan Theatre Company and director of Cosi Fan Tutte) have pushed the boat out considerably in their respective approaches to the direction of the productions.

Audiences at Don Pasquale will be turning their heads quite regularly to follow the action because the lead roles forsake the stage on occasion in favour of the centre aisle, by virtue of which physical movement, the humour of Donizetti's comic opera is exaggerated well, particularly with the high standard of acting among this cast.

The three-act opera tells the typically silly tale of the hoodwinking of Don Pasquale into marriage with his nephew's would-be-bride, whom the Don has forbidden him to marry. Therein is license to overact to the ultimate comic effect, as is very much the case in this performance, which also gives rise to some splendid arias and duets from each of the four lead roles . . . Marcel Vanaud (Don Pasquale ), Silvia Colombini (Norina ) Jud Perry (Ernesto ) Enrico Marrucci (Dr. Malatesta). Conductor Gianluca Martinenghi runs a tight ship from the podium and commands judicious tempi and dynamics from the RTE Concert Orchestra (in a quasi-pit front of stage) and cast, which includes, to great effect, the National Chamber Choir among the chorus.

When audiences see the opening scene of Cosi Fan Tutte, suspicions may arise that they are in fact at the wrong venue. The first act opens with the male cast, singing their opening chorus strung across the stage in full football attire, appearing tired and sweaty after a game. It seems to have little to do with La Ponte's libretto, which tells the tale of two young men who make a wager with Don Alfonso, that their girlfriends are incapable of being faithful to them, to which end the boyfriend's set about disguising themselves as Albanian would-be suitors in order to test the girls' fidelity. But Gavin Quinn's modern take on the story works well, and will certainly appeal to a broad spectrum of an audience.

Don Pasquale is given again tonight, Tues (29), Thu (31) and Sat (2) and Cosi Fan Tutte on alternate nights until Friday (1) and tickets are available from the Central Ticket Bureau. Also, and unusually so, the company take the productions on a mini-tour this season, with a performance of each opera in UCH Limerick on 7 and 8 June.