The Royal Opera House Muscat in the Shati Al-Qurm district of Muscat goes back to a decree issued by Sultan Qaboos in 2001. The firm Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo won the architectural competition in 2003, and construction began in 2007. Originally to be called the House of Musical Arts, it finally opened as the Royal Opera House, a name echoing Covent Garden. After a gala performance of Verdi's Rigoletto in September 2011, the first season opened in October with Puccini's Turandot conducted by Plácido Domingo. The building reflects contemporary Omani architecture, its facade clad in pink limestone. The red and gold auditorium is adaptable and seats up to 1,100; screens in the seatbacks show surtitles in Arabic and English. A Klais organ with 70 stops stands on the stage. There are also gardens and an arts centre.
The Sultan had the house fitted with stage technology that projects surtitles in several languages onto individual screens at every seat.
At a glance
- Type
- Opera house
- Location
- Maskat, Oman