19 November 2009
MUSCAT -- Muscat will soon have the honour of being the only country in the region to host its own opera house, along the likes of the Royal Opera House, London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.
The Royal Opera House, a daring and visionary project initiated by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, is expected to bring together multiple strands of creativity and innovation in both architectural form and structural design.
"The opera house will be a cultural landmark in the GCC as this will be the first one in the region," says Hamid bin Abdulla Al Ghazali, project director, Royal Opera House, The Royal Estates-Royal Court Affairs.
The Opera House that has been under construction since April 2007 at Shatti Al Qurum is scheduled to be unveiled in 2010, Ghazali told the Times of Oman.
Leading opera houses have already begun vying for a tie-up. "The Royal Opera House has attracted keen interest in opera circles. Even before its completion, we have been flooded with international inquiries for a tie-up with the world's leading opera houses and cultural centres," says Ghazali.
Ghazali adds: "The Royal Opera House is being built based on contemporary Omani architecture, and can accommodate nearly 1,100 people."
The Royal Court Affairs of Oman had invited bids from international design consultants for the project in 2003. After several stages, WATG was short listed and invited to lead the team for completing and supervision services, while TPC-UK took over the design of stage engineering, theatre equipment, sound and light.
"The design," says Hamid, "is a blend of traditional Omani architecture with a contemporary touch. The prominent external facade will be cladded with Omani desert rose stone, while the interior decor will be unique with a touch of traditional Arabic design ... the stage will be extremely flexible, able to accommodate symphony concerts, recitals, chamber music, as well as fully staged productions of opera, dance, musicals and other aspects of more popular entertainment."
The three-tier auditorium will be fully-equipped to provide an ideal acoustic and theatrical environment for all musical performances. And, the interesting feature? The stage will be fully convertible based on theatre or concert needs. Another unique feature of the theatre stage will be a 32-metre high fly tower which will facilitate theatrical wizardry during performances.
The artistically-designed monument will serve as a world-class performing arts centre with excellent acoustic effect so that the fine nuances of jazz or strains of classical tracks or plays can be at the highest fidelity.
Built on 80,000sqm -- out of which 50 per cent will be used for landscaping with elegant gardens -- the work on the Royal Opera House is on in full steam with an average of 1,200 workers sweating it out to meet the deadline, Ghazali says.
Easing congestion
The cultural icon will incorporate another fascinating element a commercial souq will be a part of the edifice. The souq, divided into three segments, will have five-star restaurants, coffee shops, high-end boutiques, lifestyle retail outlets and art exhibition gallery.
In order to ease out parking woes, the double storey car-park facility will have 550 slots. A new road network incorporating the country's first three-lane boulevard is also under construction. The new boulevard running between the Foreign Affairs Ministry roundabout and the Intercontinental intersection is aimed to reduce traffic congestion and offer easy access to and from the theatre to Sultan Qaboos Highway.
A grand opening of the Royal Opera House is in the planning process.
The programme will comprise a gamut of operatic, theatrical, musical and cultural events spanning over several days.
MUSCAT -- Muscat will soon have the honour of being the only country in the region to host its own opera house, along the likes of the Royal Opera House, London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.
The Royal Opera House, a daring and visionary project initiated by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, is expected to bring together multiple strands of creativity and innovation in both architectural form and structural design.
"The opera house will be a cultural landmark in the GCC as this will be the first one in the region," says Hamid bin Abdulla Al Ghazali, project director, Royal Opera House, The Royal Estates-Royal Court Affairs.
The Opera House that has been under construction since April 2007 at Shatti Al Qurum is scheduled to be unveiled in 2010, Ghazali told the Times of Oman.
Leading opera houses have already begun vying for a tie-up. "The Royal Opera House has attracted keen interest in opera circles. Even before its completion, we have been flooded with international inquiries for a tie-up with the world's leading opera houses and cultural centres," says Ghazali.
Ghazali adds: "The Royal Opera House is being built based on contemporary Omani architecture, and can accommodate nearly 1,100 people."
The Royal Court Affairs of Oman had invited bids from international design consultants for the project in 2003. After several stages, WATG was short listed and invited to lead the team for completing and supervision services, while TPC-UK took over the design of stage engineering, theatre equipment, sound and light.
"The design," says Hamid, "is a blend of traditional Omani architecture with a contemporary touch. The prominent external facade will be cladded with Omani desert rose stone, while the interior decor will be unique with a touch of traditional Arabic design ... the stage will be extremely flexible, able to accommodate symphony concerts, recitals, chamber music, as well as fully staged productions of opera, dance, musicals and other aspects of more popular entertainment."
The three-tier auditorium will be fully-equipped to provide an ideal acoustic and theatrical environment for all musical performances. And, the interesting feature? The stage will be fully convertible based on theatre or concert needs. Another unique feature of the theatre stage will be a 32-metre high fly tower which will facilitate theatrical wizardry during performances.
The artistically-designed monument will serve as a world-class performing arts centre with excellent acoustic effect so that the fine nuances of jazz or strains of classical tracks or plays can be at the highest fidelity.
Built on 80,000sqm -- out of which 50 per cent will be used for landscaping with elegant gardens -- the work on the Royal Opera House is on in full steam with an average of 1,200 workers sweating it out to meet the deadline, Ghazali says.
Easing congestion
The cultural icon will incorporate another fascinating element a commercial souq will be a part of the edifice. The souq, divided into three segments, will have five-star restaurants, coffee shops, high-end boutiques, lifestyle retail outlets and art exhibition gallery.
In order to ease out parking woes, the double storey car-park facility will have 550 slots. A new road network incorporating the country's first three-lane boulevard is also under construction. The new boulevard running between the Foreign Affairs Ministry roundabout and the Intercontinental intersection is aimed to reduce traffic congestion and offer easy access to and from the theatre to Sultan Qaboos Highway.
A grand opening of the Royal Opera House is in the planning process.
The programme will comprise a gamut of operatic, theatrical, musical and cultural events spanning over several days.
By Aftab H. Kola
© Times of Oman 2009
