London, Muscat- The Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) has announced its program for the 2017-2018 season, which will include opera, concerts, ballet, jazz, education and social media shows.
A statement issued by the house said after marking its sixth anniversary on October 12, 2017, the Royal Opera House Muscat will commence its seventh season with a wide range of top quality productions in many different fields.
The new Season will open on September 14 with Giuseppe Verdi’s grand masterpiece, Aida, set in ancient Egypt and brilliantly performed by world-class artists in an excellent production by Teatro Regio Torino.
The upcoming season will also include two dramatic romantic shows that take us into the deeper realms of human passion: the world-famous stage director Franco Zeffirelli and performed by Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Ruggero Leoncavallo’s late nineteen-century opera, Pagliacci; and The opera’s presentation of Norma, Vincenzo Bellini’s magnificent belcanto masterpiece, will be a very special event as the opera is coproduced by the Royal Opera House Muscat and Opéra de Rouen.
This represents another important milestone as ROHM continues its historic journey along a transformational path in becoming a theater that creates its own productions, as well as hosting productions from abroad.
ROHM has been keen to pay tribute to the truly legendary Luciano Pavarotti on the tenth anniversary of his death through a gala concert as well as an exhibition of treasured Pavarotti memorabilia – running from December 14, 2017 to January 6, 2018. The gala concert features four amazing singers who are in demand on the world’s best stages – Fiorenza Cedolins, Sumi Jo, Marcello Giordani and Francesco Meli. This is sure to be an unforgettable, soul-soaring concert.
Among the starts who will stage the opera house is Sir Cliff Richard, the rock legend who has sold more than 250 million records worldwide over the past five decades. The fabulous 2017-18 schedule also features Dianne Reeves, a living jazz legend who has won more than five Grammy Awards and has been hailed by The New York Times as “the most admired jazz diva since Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday”.
Among the many highlights in ROHM’s 2017-2018 series of nine Omani and Arab performances, concerts will feature contemporary legends like Sami Yusuf, named by The Guardian as “the biggest British star in the Middle East”.
Other Arab superstars include the singer, oud player and composer, Lotfi Bushnak, who will perform with the acclaimed Egyptian singer, Mohammed Tharwat. On the same program, Egyptian singer Medhat Saleh will perform his popular romantic songs, as well as songs from the legendary Abdel Halim Hafez such as Ahwak, At Taubah and others.
Singer and composer Majid El Mohandes, currently one of the greatest names in the Arab music industry, will perform songs from his hit albums, such as Ouzkourini and Waheshni Moot.
An evening of traditional Arab songs features Ali Al Haggar, specializing in Maqam and traditional rhythms and Jahida Wehbe, a very famous Lebanese singer.
Finally, to open its ballet shows this season, ROHM has chosen “Swan Lake”, and for the first time, avant-garde ballet with a new take on Cinderella.