Staged in alternation with its valiant but flawed Semele, British Youth Opera's production of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen is an almost unqualified success.

In fact, the only real problem is the perennial one that comes with staging opera in a concert venue: the orchestra is often a notch too loud for the singers. As Alexander Ingram draws such a confident and idiomatic performance from the Southbank Sinfonia, solid and punchy right from the start of each act, that's less of a drawback than it might be; the fact remains, though, that BYO ideally needs to find itself a decent theatre to call home.

However, any dramatic problems thrown up by the venue - the lack of proper wings or a raked stage - are neatly dispensed with by Nicky Shaw's multi-level designs, and in a production that moves ingeniously between the animal and human worlds, telling this story of the beauty and cruelty of nature with disarming wit and clarity. The animals are full of character without being twee, and the parallels drawn between the animals and their human counterparts - often sung by the same performers - are well drawn without seeming forced.

If a major purpose of BYO is to be a spotting ground for new talent, there's plenty on display. The performance central to the production's success is that of Lucy Crowe, whose firm, bright soprano, expressive face and scene-grabbing presence makes you root for the Vixen whether she's callously slaughtering chickens or playing out a nervous and uncommonly convincing love scene with Malin Christensson's Fox.

Yet David Stout's resonant, magnetic Forester is a match for her, and there are strong performances too from Kevin Kyle, doubling as the Schoolmaster and Mosquito, James Robinson's grumpy Badger and even grumpier Priest, Edmund Connolly's Harasta, and Jennifer Johnston as the Dog. BYO may be a training company, but when everything clicks together like this, you wouldn't know it.