Most people will be familiar with Rule Britannia but may not be aware that it comes from Arne's Alfred, a piece about King Alfred's flight from and eventual victory over the Danes.  Originally a masque, there are a number of versions of it, including one assembled by David Garrick which mixed Arne's music with that of another composer.  The Classical Opera Company, who regularly undertake residencies at London's King's Place, will be giving two performances of Arne's own full length version, premiered in the 1750s.

The company collaborated on a production of Artaxerxes, Arne's most successful opera, with the Royal Opera House in 2009 and have now made a recording of it with Linn Records.  During their residency there will be an Insight Evening dedicated to the work with the company's Artistic Director and conductor, Ian Page and musicologist Roderick Swanston.

Classical Opera Company's residency at King's Place, London, opens on October 7 with a performance of Arne's Alfred the Great followed by a second performance on October 9.  The Artaxerxes Insight Evening takes place on Friday October 8.

Mozart's last opera, and the only one written for the popular theatre rather than a court audience, it is part pantomime and part fairy tale.  This arrangement, commissioned from Dominic Harlan and Brendan Murray by Glyndebourne Education in 2009, is designed to provide opportunities to interact with the story and conjures a cast of plucky heroes searching for truth and the enlightenment of the new day.  It will be sung by Glyndebourne singers and accompanied by flute and piano.

opera by definition presents a special arrangement of The Magic Flute for young audiences on October 7 and 8 at The Trinity Theatre and Arts Centre Tunbridge Wells.

Once upon a time (or between 1762-1830 if you must) there was a popular and prolific Portuguese composer called Marcos António da Fonseca Portugal, usefully known as Portugal.  He wrote over fifty operas and his work could be seen all over Europe including London.  Thirteen years after Mozart's adaptation, Portugal produced his own version of Beaumarchais's story of the complicated prelude to Figaro's wedding, La pazza giornata - The Mad Day.  Bampton Classical Opera say that it's much closer to the farcical spirit of the original.  A new edition has been prepared as part of a wider project undertaken by the University of Lisbon (where Portugal was born) and the libretto, by Gaetano Rossi, has been newly translated into English by Jeremy Gray and Gilly French, Artistic Directors of Bampton Classical Opera and very experienced in rediscovering little-known versions of familiar stories.

The UK premiere of the new edition of The Marriage of Figaro by Marcos Portugal takes place at the Deanery Garden, Bampton on July 23.  It can also be caught at The Orangery, Westonbirt School in August and travels to St John's Smith Square, London, in October.

Ryan Wigglesworth, a former pupil of Goehr's and himself a composer, will conduct the contemporary music ensemble Aurora Orchestra.  The cast includes Roderick Earle as Lear, Nigel Robson (Gloucester), Adrian Dwyer (Edgar) and Lina Markeby (Cordelia/Fool).  The production will be directed by ETO's Artistic Director, James Conway.

In a completely different mood, the other half of the tour is one of the most successful comedies of the 18th century, Sheridan's The Duenna, which opened at Covent Garden in 1775, broke box office records and was produced throughout the English-speaking world.  The opera is a mixture of popular 18th century ballads and music commissioned from the Linleys, father and son.  Sheridan put it together in a secretive manner because he thought it might reveal too much about his love life: he had rather inconveniently eloped with the daughter of the senior composer.  This plot is about happy consequences when a young woman flees rather than be forced by her father to marry a wealthy man.  The opera has been through many re-writings and ETO will be mounting the first production for 230 years to use parts of the original manuscripts, recently rediscovered.

ETO's production features Richard Suart and Nuala Willis.  Michael Barker-Caven directs, with harpsichordist Joseph McHardy making his conducting debut.

The English Touring Opera autumn tour opens at the Lighthouse Theatre, Poole on October 1 with The Duenna.  Alexander Goehr's Promised End opens at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London on October 9.  Both productions will tour until the end of November.

The opera is constructed in a series of scenes rather than a full narrative, several of them in grand mansions which should suit Candlelight Opera well - they take opera into stately homes and make use of extraordinary surroundings to create an appropriate atmosphere.

Candlelight Opera's new production of Eugene Onegin opens at Wilton House, Salisbury, on October 3 and then travels to the Menuhin Hall, Surrey; Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire; the Jacqueline du Pre Building,St Hilda's College, Oxford and St John's Smith Square, London.

Artistic Director of Armonico Opera Christopher Monks directs the orchestra of period instruments and Anna Tolputt directs on stage.

Monteverdi's Flying Circus opens at the Warwick Arts Centre on September 24.

As well as regularly commissioning new material Music Theatre Wales aims to present works that have rarely or never been performed in the UK and this is their second collaboration with Philip Glass, having produced his Fall of the House of Usher in 1989.  Written for two singers, an actor and a string quintet it is ideally suited to the company's intimate style.  It will be performed with the audience close up on three sides, to pack a powerful punch and display Glass's ability to challenge theatrical and musical norms.

In the Penal Colony directed by Michael McCarthy and conducted by Michael Rafferty, opens at the Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London on September 15 and then tours to Wales, England and Edinburgh until mid November.

Verdi's Sir John, one of his favourite characters, is drawn from The Merry Wives of Windsor with elements of Henry IV in librettist Boito's best Shakespeare adaptation giving a full portrait of a larger-than-life, pompous, bigheaded, melancholy and endearingly human character.  Now ageing and very short of cash, Falstaff pursues two wealthy wives of Windsor for their money, but does not bank on their determination to foil him.  Their tricks lead to his come-uppance, and the chastisement of their own, foolishly jealous husbands.  Intertwined in all is a tender love story.

Mid Wales Opera have a new Artistic Director, Nicholas Cleobury, who leads the company and the Mid Wales Opera Chamber Orchestra in this fully-staged new production alongside director Martin Lloyd-Evans and designer Bridget Kimak.  It will be sung in Amanda Holden's English translation.

The production opens at Theatr Hafren, Newtown, Wales on September 1 and then tours England and Wales throughout September, October and November.