The potential legacy of Cork's year as European Capital of Culture lies in its own hands, according to Belfast-born conductor Kevin Mallon.

Although Opera 2005 has been in official existence for 18 months now, its inaugural performance at the Opera House next week presents the challenge: can the city support an enduring opera company, or is all that talk about local enthusiasts unharnessing the carriages and pulling visiting divas to the theatre by man-power alone just so much old nonsense?

Stealing a few minutes from rehearsals for the English-language version of Figaro's Wedding, which runs from February 16th to the 20th, Mallon, a specialist in baroque music and now working chiefly in Canada (and recording for Naxos) says that this production is secure, but the support of both community and business sectors will be needed if the company is to continue.

"It's a very ambitious project for a small city like Cork, and while we've done fairly well with a grant of €140,000 from the 2005 organisation and with major sponsors such as the Bank of Ireland, Ernest and Young and Thomas Crosbie Holdings, the future of the company will depend on continued backing."

The immediate prospect is so enticing that reluctance to fund it would put Cork's cultural pretensions to everlasting shame. Even as singers Ricardo Simonetti, Sandra Oman, Katherine Haataja and David Murphy mark their roles in the ballroom of Jury's hotel, and even as Director Michael Hunt, artistic director of Co-Opera and of the Theatre Royal in Waterford, makes arrangements for the arrival of Ann-Helen Moen (who sings the countess with Ewan Taylor as Figaro) the merry enchantment of Mozart effortlessly survives rehearsal conditions.

There is more to come: the Mozart Requiem with Majella Cullagh on February 18th interrupts the run of what Mallon describes as a "cutting-edge" Figaro, and the company presents Bizet's Carmen in July and Rossini's The Barber of Seville in November.

In the meantime, Mallon is building an orchestra, and a chorus, from local professional musicians - another potential legacy.