English Touring Opera, Britain's leading mid-scale visiting company, is the only opera provider at this year's Festival, offering pieces by Johann and Richard Strauss.

Die Fledermaus is Johann Strauss' frothy masterpiece of adultery and alcoholic misunderstandings set in the Vienna of the 1870s.

It is utterly delightful, packed full of tunes from the pen of the Waltz King, then at the height of his talents.

It is a wacky tale but the music is sumptuous and there is room to take a few liberties for topical jokes - and English Touring Opera takes full advantage in this production, not least in the manner in which the role of the prison warder in Act Three is portrayed.

During the 19th Century, the Strausses were famous as bandleaders who seemed to have their own polka and waltz factory.

The family turned to operettas in the face of fierce competition from Offenbach and Die Fledermaus was a hit from the very beginning.

In Austria, it holds a similar place to Peter Pan in London and special performances are held every New Year.

It seems to have conquered most of the world except for, perhaps, Italy, and there have been some pretty scandalous and risqu versions over the years.

In one notable English National Opera production, Lesley Garrett received enormous publicity for revealing more than a little flesh.

ETO doesn't go quite that far but this is a splendidly rousing production delivered with great energy, in period, with a superb use of lighting.

Fledermaus does have something of a dark side amid the froth. If looked at as drama rather than, say, cabaret, it is an expose of bourgeois hypocrisy and a moral fable for the socially ambitious.

But for most of us, this operetta is just an opportunity to sit back and relax as the comic tale unfolds and the rich and pompous get their comeuppance.

Die Fledermaus runs for two-and-a-half hours and is sung in English in a witty new translation by Andrew Miller.

Tickets cost £22.50 to £13.50. Call: 01273 709709. Presented in association with the Theatre Royal Brighton.