ROHM unveils Season 2019-2020

Staff Reporter -

Muscat, June 18 -

The Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) unveiled events of 2019-2020 season at the new stage of the House of Musical Arts on Monday. The presentation was given by HH Sayyid Kamil bin Fahd bin Mahmood al Said, Member of the ROHM Board of Directors, Umberto Fanni, Director-General and Artistic Director, Professor Issam El Mallah, Adviser to the Board for Arab Programming and Dr Nasser al Ta’ee, Director of the Cultural Centre and adviser to the board.

HH Sayyid Kamil said, “Last season, we achieved record-breaking ticket sales. Two events were sold out within the first 24 hours. We sold a total of 40,000 tickets for the entire season. Moreover 10,000 people attended our education and outreach events, and 46,000 visitors toured the ROHM. We were very proud to present three new co-productions, including a very special co-production of Lakmé which premiered at the Royal Opera House Muscat and involved eight world-class Opera Houses spanning the globe from Los Angeles to Sydney. ROHM’s Lakmé is an ongoing tour and will be performed next April 2020 at the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre in China. To celebrate the advent of this wonderful production, we created a unique fragrance in collaboration with Roja Dove named “Lakmé”, which was launched at the premier of Lakmé”.

He affirmed that the elegant architecture of the House of Musical Arts complements that of the Royal Opera House Muscat while the bridge that connects the two Houses signals the fact that the Royal Opera House Muscat has become a cultural hub in every sense. I’m glad to announce that the bridge is now open for all visitors daily from 6:00 am to 12:00 am. Moreover, several areas in and around the House of Musical Arts are now available for lease. The details will be available on the ROHM website.

“We also recognise that parking can be a challenge and hence have introduced three new features. We are providing 200 new parking slots at the House of Musical Arts.

ROHM has provided Mwasalat with an exclusive pick-up point in front of the ROHM. In partnership with PatronBase, ROHM will introduce mobile app for buying tickets, food vouchers, purchase of merchandise and tickets for valet parking.

HH Sayyid Kamil said, “A lot of these features will be up and running when our tickets go on sale on July 29, with the rest of the features to follow later in the year. ROHM App is expected to be launched during the last quarter of this year. For the first time ROHM will offer a 15 per cent discount for Early Bird purchase of tickets. Moreover a 50 per cent discount will be given on seats with restricted views including boxes, depending on the configuration of the auditorium. With the new season, the Royal Opera House Muscat will not be accepting cash anymore. Instead we ask you to pay with a credit or debit cards, by cheque, e-wallet or through our website and ROHM App”.

Umberto Fanni, Director General and Artistic Director, said, “Georges Bizet’s Carmen opens season 2019-2020 with the original grand sets from ROHM’s specially commissioned production. Carmen returns to the Royal Opera House Muscat with the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Colón Buenos Aires conducted by Antonello Allemandi and staged by Gianni Quaranta, with the participation of the great tenor José Cura in the role of Don José, mezzosoprano Elena Maximova appearing as Carmen, Anita Hartig as Micaëla and with a brilliant new choreography by the Antonio Gadès Company”.

The new season brings four additional operas: Sergey Banevich’s Kai and Gerda, the Russian romantic opera, performed by the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow; ROHM co-production with Opéra de Monte Carlo of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème staged by Jean-Louis Grinda with the participation of Celso Albelo as Rodolfo and Irina Lungu as Mimì and Stefano Finzi’s Orchestra and Chorus of Opera Monte Carlo.

Another exciting new ROHM production is Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte set in Oman with Albina Shagimuratova as the Queen of the Night, Antonio Poli as Tamino and Markus Werba as Papageno”.

To attract children and families, ROHM will have three operas: Maurice Ravel’s fanciful L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (The Child and the Spells) by Opéra de Lyon; Gaetano Donizetti’s comic opera L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love) by Teatro Sociale of Como As.Li.Co; and Gioacchino Rossini’s suspenseful farce, L’Inganno Felice (The Fortunate Deception) by the Rossini Opera Festival under the masterful direction of Graham Vick.

He added that ROHM’s 2019-2020 line up of shows from around the world include Indian musical Mughal-e-Azam, Argentinian dance Che Malambo inspired by the rhythm of galloping horses, and Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet that combines folk dance traditions with classical ballet and contemporary dance.

This season some of the greatest names in the world of Arab music will perform at ROHM. This includes the world premiere of Tarh el Bahr: The Sea Treasures, a new opera by Monir Elweseimy about the adventures of an Arab fisherman, with music played by the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra; the Cairo Ballet Company’s ballet featuring Zorba the Greek a balletic interpretation of Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel, and El Leila El Kebira (The Grand Night), a ballet featuring lively scenes from a carnival in celebration of the last night of the Prophet’s birthday.

Other performances include Inshaad and Praise by ensembles from Oman and across the region, Lebanese composer and oud player Marcel Khalife, Moroccan-Egyptian singer Samira Said, Arab sensation Ahlam, and Lebanese pianist and composer Marwan Khoury, Tunisian singer Yosra Mahnouch and Egyptian singer Marwa Nagi.

Dr Nasser al Ta’ee, Director of the Cultural Centre and Adviser to the Board said, “The Royal Opera House Muscat is a place of learning and enlightenment as well as inspiration and entertainment. We are presenting a rich calendar of new events that include: Tout Neuf, a show that engage children aged two to five in the discovery of the wonders of nature though its musical sounds intertwined with classical music; a series on Western and Arab chamber music with four concerts by young talented musicians on the new stage of the House of Musical Arts; and Al Mandoos Opera, a new series of illustrated talks that will reveal nuances of the story, the plot and the characters.”