The New York City Opera National Company, appearing at the University for the fourth successive year, will present a full-scale production of Mozart's most popular opera, The Marriage of Figaro, at 8 p.m. tomorrow in Eisenhower Auditorium.

It is fitting that the company chose to perform a Mozart opera during its 1991 tour because this year marks the 200th anniversary of the composer's death.

As in last year's production of La Boheme at Eisenhower, the company will sing the opera in its original Italian with English supertitles projected onto a screen above the stage.

Kenneth Foster, the director of the Center for the Performing Arts, said although some people were skeptical at first, the supertitles have become one of the major attractions of the opera and have popularized the art form.

"I think what's kept people away from opera is the fact that it's sung in a language other than English," Foster said.

Matthew Lau, who plays the role of Figaro, also sees opera becoming more popular as a result of the supertitles, and he noticed the attentiveness of the audience during Tuesday night's performance at Bloomsburg University.

"People seemed much less interested in the pomp and reputation of opera and much more interested in the story we had to tell," he said.

Following 205 years of Figaros, Lau said his age is the one thing he brings to the role that others before him had not. In the past, most people who portrayed Figaro were much older.

"I think it's really important that Figaro be young and agile," he said.

Lau has played the part of Figaro several times, and he said he is constantly learning and improving the role each time he performs it. "It's a lot of work . . . a lifetime worth of discovering," he said.

Lau began his musical career as a violist. He played professionally, and took up singing only as a hobby. It was not until about 10 years ago that he chose to combine the two and pursue a serious singing career, he said.

During his schooling, Lau was trained in the Italian, French and German languages. Because he already speaks Italian, he said the challenge in performing the opera is learning to correlate the words with the music.

The New York City Opera National Company was founded in 1979 as the touring branch of the New York City Opera. The company tours throughout the United States and Canada, presenting veteran performers as well as America's best new performers.

The company's current tour is its tenth and most extensive to date, with 63 performances in 56 cities and a budget of $1.6 million.

The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Joseph LoSchiavo, features 27 singers and a 28-piece orchestra, conducted by William Robertson.

Bruce Trinkley, an associate professor of music at the University, will give a lecture at 7 p.m. tomorrow in Eisenhower's Greenroom as part of the "Artisic Viewpoints" lecture series.

Trinkley will discuss opera in general and the meaning of The Marriage of Figaro. In addition, he will talk about the three men who contributed to the opera: Beaumarchais, the playwright; Lorenzo da Ponte, who wrote the libretto; and Mozart, who composed the music.

Tomorrow's performance is sponsored in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.