One marriage, two widows and a gently comic start to the new Scottish Opera season. In these uncertain times there is some light relief to be had from the company’s first two offerings of the autumn, although it does get a bit tragic later in the month with a new production of La Traviata.

Smetana’s The Two Widows is already a guaranteed hit having wowed the crowds and critics at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. The Czech composer’s work is a wonderfully paced and deeply touching story about two widowed cousins, Karolina and Anezka, who deal with the death of their husbands in completely different ways.

The sociable and bubbly Karolina is determined to live life to the full and not allow her personal tragedy to get in the way of having a good time. Anezka, on the other hand, seems determined to make an Olympic sport out of mourning.

Based on a French farce by Jean Pierre Felicien Mallefille, at heart it’s a tale that could make a plot from a Carry On film appear subdued as the two cousins engage in a game of hidden passion and transferred desire with the love interest Ladislav, sung by David Pomeroy, who really ought to know better than to fall for two members of the same family. It all ends well, in marriage of course, and Scottish Opera’s production has the feel of an extended jamboree.

Designed and directed by Tobias Hoheisel and Imogen Kogge, the production is as gorgeous as the storyline is delightful, with a lavish set that unfolds in a tumult of colour to reveal a castle in the bucolic Czech countryside. Musically it’s positively euphoric with big ensemble numbers and thrilling duets that find Kate Valentine in sensational voice as Karolina and Jane Irwin understated but perfectly cast as the resolutely lachrymose Anezka.

Cimarosa’s The Secret Marriage, meanwhile, marks the Scottish Opera debut of young conductor Garry Walker. His baton will steer this Italian comic opera — the only work by the 18th-century Italian composer that is still performed regularly by the leading national companies — as it bumbles along in a giddy brew of deceit, rivalry, fickle affection and covert marriage.

The deliciously comic Geronimo has two daughters, Elisetta and Carolina, whom he, like all somewhat naive fathers, is convinced are sitting at home polishing their purity rings. A suitable match with an Englishman, Count Robinson is arranged for Elisetta — only the count falls for Carolina who is already secretly married. It’s a classic love triangle that goes right in the end. Soprano Rebecca Bottone, last seen in Scottish Opera’s production of Seraglio, sings Carolina and Renate Arends sings Elisetta.

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of 2008
• Hitler and the Downfall mash-ups
• Britney Spears: The Circus