BIRMINGHAM is helping the Welsh National Opera celebrate its 60th birthday.

The celebrations - which will be spread over three seasons at the Hippodrome this year and next - will include four new opera productions.

These include Verdi's epic Don Carlos, Lehar's glittering The Merry Widow, Wagner's haunting The Flying Dutchman, and the next instalment in the WNO's Russian series, Tchaikovsky's Mazepa.

One of the highlights of the impending autumn season is that the ever popular Lesley Garrett, who began her career with WNO, is returning to the opera stage. She will be singing in The Merry Widow, which opens the autumn season on November 1.