THIS Autumn, Opera North will be exploring the unspoken, the hidden and the mysterious as they perform four compelling operas, each with a secret at its heart.

An illicit affair is the starting point for Richard Strauss’s comic masterpiece Der Rosenkavalier (The Rose-Bearer), currently running at Leeds Grand Theatre. As she faces up to the relentless passage of time, a 30-something aristocrat sets up a meeting between her toyboy lover, the 17-year-old Octavian, and a beautiful younger woman – with inevitably heartbreaking results. Der Rosenkavalier is the perfect choice for those who enjoy rom-coms, with a beguiling love story, comic twists and turns, sumptuous stage design and breathtakingly beautiful music.

A double-bill of short operas by Puccini delivers two short, sharp bursts of dramatic tension and emotional power, at under an hour each. The evening begins with the dramatc intensity of Il tabarro (The Cloak), a dark and brooding thriller set on the banks of the Seine, which charts the terrible consequences when a husband discovers that his wife is having a secret affair.

Il tabarro is paired with Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica), Puccini’s personal favourite among his operas, which tells the story of a young woman, kept in a convent against her will, whose illegitimate child has been kept secret to preserve a powerful family’s reputation. Only after another harrowing secret has been revealed is she finally set free. This is vintage Puccini – think Tosca and Madame Butterfly, packed up small.

Completing the Season of Secrets is a brand new production of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd, which returns to Opera North after an absence of over 20 years. One of the greatest 20th century British operas, it is a haunting, deeply atmospheric and psychologically powerful work, performed by an all-male cast and a large-scale chorus. An aging captain in the navy reflects on events he has kept hidden for most of his life, centred around a handsome young sailor named Billy Budd, who joined the crew of the HMS Indomitable. Radiating goodness, Billy attracts both the secret desires and the implacable hatred of the ship’s feared Master-At-Arms, Claggart.

As these hidden truths are revealed to often devastating effect on stage, Opera North will be celebrating its Season of Secrets by sharing a host of trade secrets, operatic know-how and backstage photos. People will be able to visit Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Playbuzz to discover, amongst other things, how many hours are spent perfecting each note before an opera even reaches the stage, how to make a wig look fantastic night after night, and the best way of achieving a truly convincing stage death.

All four operas in Opera North’s Season of Secrets will launch at the Grand Theatre in Leeds before touring to Newcastle Theatre Royal, The Lowry at Salford Quays and Theatre Royal Nottingham. The Puccini operas and Billy Budd will also travel to Edinburgh Festival Theatre in December.

For Opera North's shows, tickets start from just £16.50, there are £10 tickets for under 30s and students, and over 10,000 tickets each season are priced at under £30.

For dates visit operanorth.co.uk