Muscat – Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) has announced the season for 2022-2023.

The season will see more than 50 events, a total of 90 performances and cultural programmes including six operas, nine Arab concerts, three ballets, nine concerts, two jazz stars, four world music celebrations, three spectacular shows, one permanent and two temporary exhibitions, and a busy schedule of educational and outreach initiatives.

Tickets go on sale starting August 22.

The 2022-2023 season begins in spectacular fashion on September 23 with ROHM’s critically acclaimed production of ‘La Traviata’ returning to the opera house following its premiere in 2019, with direction from the doyenne of grand opera staging Marta Domingo.

‘ROHM is delighted to announce the return to the opera house of one of our most honoured patrons and one of the greatest artists of our time, Plácido Domingo. As with the premiere, Domingo will perform the role of Germont on the opening night of the opera and will conduct for the following two evenings,’ a press statement said.

Operas

From the opera buffa of Mozart to the continuation of ROHM’s collaboration with the Rossini Opera Festival (ROF), the season has an appealing range of operas to choose from. Engelbert Humperdinck’s full original opera ‘Hansël und Gretel’, one of the most performed operas in the world, reaches out to family audiences performed by the Deutsche Oper Berlin conducted by Donald Runnicles. (October 28 and 29).

The fourth in the series of farce presented by ROF, ROHM and the respected Rossini artists will stage ‘La Cambiale di Matrimonio’ on November 24 and 26. In January, ROHM will present Donizetti’s opera ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’, performed by Teatro Lirico di Cagliari and conducted by Jordi Bernacer.

The final two operas, in February and May, are of Mozart – the popular ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ and ‘Così fan Tutte’.

Arabic Music

Kadim al Sahir is enduringly and unfailingly popular with audiences for his charismatic and engaging style. With this in mind, he is scheduled to appear early in the season (October 13, 14 and 15).

‘The Arabic programme is designed to encapsulate the season’s core emphasis on tradition, innovation and talent: the Omani Women’s Day concert, featuring a surprise guest artist, an incredibly talented young star from Kuwait, carries on an ROHM tradition (October 17), while we celebrate a different perspective with ‘Oman Traditional Music’ to explore the rich heritage in Omani cultural expression in music (November 14).’

Ballet

The ballet genre is represented this season by three landmark presentations. The first sees Roberto Bolle, étoile at La Scala and ballet superstar, bringing ‘Roberto Bolle and Friends’ (December 15 and 16). Second, Cairo Opera brings a vibrant and colourful production of two stories, ‘El Leila el Kebira’ and ‘Zorba the Greek’ (February 24 and 25).

To round off the genre, Opera di Roma Ballet and the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sergey Smbatyan present the world acclaimed classic tale of ‘Giselle’, a much-loved ballet presented with choreography paying homage to Carla Fracci, the late director of Opera di Roma.