The opulent Royal Opera House in Muscat opens in October with Zeffirelli, Domingo, Fleming, Mariinsky, La Scala and the ABT in the opening season

The Royal Opera House Muscat will open its doors on October 14. The Royal initiative to build a magnificent opera house at Al Sarooj in Al Qurum area is one of innumerable pages of His Majesty's prosperous reign and reflects his farsightedness and care for musical and theatrical arts.

says the official blurb. Well the economic commitment is certainly extraordinary. At a time when European and American opera houses are cancelling new productions, and going dark for parts of the season, this new opera house may well give a few extra calendar dates for those singers and dancers who have seen their engagement dwindle.

For the opening, Franco Zeffirelli will direct a production of “Turandot”, with the Arena di Verona Orchestra, Chorus, and Ballet. Later, Gianni Quaranta will direct George Bizet's “Carmen”.

The American Ballet Theatre  will make its first trip to the region to perform “Don Quixote”, La Scala will bring “Giselle”, “Shim Chung – The Blindman's Daughter” is courtesy of the Universal Ballet of Korea; and “Swan Lake” is the Mariinsky Ballet's offering.

Concerts will feature Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming and Yo-Yo Ma.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.