GLAMOROUS and sexy, the OperaBabes are far removed from the typical image of the large opera diva almost bursting from her costume as she hits the high notes.

The audience will be able to see this for themselves when mezzo-soprano Karen England and soprano Rebecca Knight perform at Malvern Theatres tomorrow (Saturday) at 8pm.

Karen said that the stereotypical image of the large opera singer was now in the past.

"If you're going to be on stage playing a character you have to have a lot of stamina and be fit and well. Looking good is really important," she said.

For their new album Renais-sance, Elisabeth Emmanuel, who designed for Princess Diana, gave the girls a new image with costumes inspired by the theatrical side of opera.

Karen said the outfits were fantastic and dressing up in them took them back to performing operas on stage, which was where they first started out.

The duo shot to stardom in 2001 after they were spotted busking in Covent Garden to raise funds for singing lessons.

Performing at prestigious venues worldwide and an album that reached number one in the classical charts followed.

"It's been quite an adventure, we didn't go out looking for a recording deal it all happened just by chance," said Karen.

Their second album, Renais-sance, comes out at the end of this month and a move from Sony to independent record label Instant Karma Classics has given the due total control of its content.

Aprs un Reve, by Faur, a techno version of Scheherazade, by Rimsky Korsakov, and Stephen Sondheim's Send in the Clowns are among the mixture of tracks on the new CD.

The OperaBabes aim to make opera accessible to everyone and Karen encouraged newcomers along to tomorrow's performance.

"People think opera might be a little bit intimidating, but we make it informal and chat to the audience to explain what we're singing about," said Karen.

"It's really popular stuff and a really entertaining evening for everybody."

Tickets are £17 and £18 from 01684 892277.