TOKYO, JAPAN - Sony Corp. plans to use its latest high-definition video technology to show operas staged in England in cinemas in Japan, the electronics giant said Wednesday.

Sony will in November bring to a handful of Japanese cinemas Bizet's "Carmen" and Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" as recorded at the Royal Opera House in London along with performances from the annual Glyndebourne festival.

The opera screenings, which will come with Japanese subtitles, "are not only aimed at enthusiasts of the genre but can bring delight to all audiences," the company said in a statement.

The technology "can bring to the big screen throughout the country events that in real life only take place in specific places for a limited time," it said.

The operas are the latest from Sony's "Livespire" service launched in May, which uses high-definition technology to bring artistic and sporting events to movie theatres.

Sony inaugurated Livespire with cinema screenings of a Japanese musical comedy, "Riding the Metro," and a dance performance, "Frogs."

Sony plans to screen five or six works each year through Livespire.

But the reach so far is limited as only around 100 of Japan's 3,000 cinemas are equipped to screen high-definition videos, according to industry figures.

Japan is a major market for Western classical music, with orchestras and opera troupes regularly playing to sold-out audiences during tours of the Asian economic power. --AFP