The Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) is

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

's premier venue for musical arts and culture. The opera house is located in Shati Al-Qurm district of

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

Sultan Qaboos Street The N5, also officially known as Sultan Qaboos Road () and formerly designated as Route 1 (), is a national road in the Sultanate of Oman, connecting Muscat, the capital city in the Sultanate and a hub for commercial activity, to the many coasta ...

. Built on the royal orders of Sultan Qaboos of Oman, the Royal Opera House reflects unique contemporary Omani architecture, and has a capacity to accommodate maximum of 1,100 people. The opera house complex consists of a concert theatre, auditorium, formal landscaped gardens, cultural market with retail, luxury restaurants and an art centre for musical, theatrical and operatic productions.

History

Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, who was the ruler of Oman during the opera construction, had been always a fan of classical music and arts. In 2001, the sultan ordered the building of an opera house. Initially called 'House of Musical Arts', the name 'Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM)' was finally chosen. This opera house, which was built by

Carillion Carillion plc was a British multinational construction and facilities management services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation in January 2018. Carillion was created in July 1999, following a ...

Alawi, became the first in the world equipped with

Radio Marconi Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to ...

's multimedia interactive display seatback system, Mode23. It was officially opened on October 12, 2011, with a production of the opera ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

'', conducted by Spanish tenor

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

Prominent guests

The opera house had an impressive first season, with performances by

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

, and soprano

Renée Fleming Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nom ...

. There have also been music performances by cellist Yo Yo Ma and the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

, the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...

in a production of ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', The

Paul Taylor Dance Company Paul Taylor Dance Company is a modern dance company, formed by dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor (1930—2018). The modern dance company is based in New York, New York and was founded in 1954. Taylor originally performed in the companies of M ...

, the performance of ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'' by the

Mariinsky Ballet The Mariinsky Ballet () is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's ...

, and trumpeter

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

with New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. There have been some Arab artists performing at the opera house as well such as

Majida El Roumi Majida El Roumi Baradhy (; born 13 December 1956) is a Lebanese-Egyptian soprano singer and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. Early life Majida El Roumi Al Baradhy was born on 13 December 1956 in Kfarshima. Her father, Halim El Roumi, ...

as well as a tribute in honour of legendary Arab singer Um Kalthoum. In March 2013, Indian violin icon L. Subramaniam performed at the opera house and described it as the only orchestra in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

composed entirely of musicians from the region.

Gallery

File:ROHM Main Lobby by Khalid AlBusaidi.jpg, ROHM's main lobby File:Pipe-Organ by Khalid AlBusaidi.jpg, ROHM's pipe organ File:Don Quixote - by Khalid AlBusaidi.jpg, Cuban National Ballet rehearsing on the ROHM's stage File:La Traviata by Khalid AlBusaidi.jpg, '' La traviata'', opera by

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

, October 2013 File:Turandot by Khalid AlBusaidi.jpg, ''Turandot'', opera by

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

at the stage of the Royal Opera House Muscat File:Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra by Khalid AlBusaidi.jpg, Pipe organ concert with the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra

References

External links

Royal Opera House Muscat official website
{{authority control 2011 establishments in Oman Theatres completed in 2011 Music venues completed in 2011 Opera houses in Oman Buildings and structures in Muscat, Oman Culture in Muscat, Oman Tourist attractions in Muscat, Oman