Mid Wales Opera are back on the road with their second SmallStages tour, Ravel’s exhilarating one-act bedroom farce, A Spanish Hour – L’heure espagnole.

The company is returning to some favourite spots from last autumn’s tour of Walton’s The Bear, as well as a host of new venues from village halls and small theatres to churches.

First performed in Paris in 1911, L’heure espagnole is set in a clock shop in Toledo, central Spain. It follows the fortunes of Torquemada, the hardworking clockmaker, as, during the course of one hot afternoon, his young wife Concepción negotiates her way through her collection of ridiculous lovers. Ravel’s music is bursting with hummable melodies, lively habanera dances and other Spanish folk song elements to get audiences buzzing.

Cath Backhouse, singing the role of Concepcion, says: “I absolutely love Ravel’s music, it has elements of Spanish dance, some really jazzy harmony and bags of personality especially for Concepcion. She is sassy, fiery, witty and fabulous!”

This is opera for everyone - featuring an outstanding cast of five young singers as well as four brilliant musicians, performing a new English translation by artistic director Richard Studer and a new arrangement of Ravel’s exotic score created by music director Jonathan Lyness.

With tickets priced around £10 and performances from Fishguard to Colwyn Bay, A Spanish Hour is perfect for MWO’s SmallStages performances, keeping opera live and local and reaching places where opera is rarely if ever performed. There’s no formal dress code, and the production’s designed to be a great night out in relaxed and informal settings.

Last year’s SmallStages tour went down a storm with audiences and critics alike – awarded four stars by The Stage and described by Rian Evans in the Guardian as “definitely worth going out of your way to see”.

In the second half of the evening, Y Viva España,musicians and singers come together to produce an eclectic and entertaining taste of Spain – with some old favourites and new delights for audiences to enjoy and maybe even join in.

See A Spanish Hour - L'heure espagnole at the Assembly Rooms in Presteigne (tickets from The Workhouse and wegottickets.com) on November 11, St Mary's Church in Hay-on-Wye (part of Hay Festival's Winter Weekend - hayfestival.com/01497 822 629) on Thursday, November 22 and St Lawrence's Church in Ludlow (01584 878141/ludlowassemblyrooms.co.uk) on Friday, December 7.