caracalla dance theatre: “kan ya ma kan” at the royal opera house muscat

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Muscat, Oman, Royal Opera House Muscat

Tuesday, May 28:  This afternoon my friend Kathy invites me at the last-minute to go to The Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) to see an amazing show put on by a Lebanese company, Caracalla Dance Theatre.  The show, called Kan Ya Ma Kan, (Once Upon a Time) is filled with music, energetic dancing, and colorful exotic costumes.  Sadly, no one is ever allowed to take photos of performances at the Royal Opera House, so I’m unable to show the dazzling and exotic costumes and sets that made this performance so stunning.

Kathy had originally planned to go with someone else who cancelled on her.  I had made no plans to attend any more shows at the Royal Opera House before I left Oman, so it was a lovely surprise and an amazing farewell to the Arab world.

Royal Opera House Muscat

Kan Ya Man Kan is a trilogy that features old Arab tales and folklore, told through dance — choreographed by Alissar Caracalla — and some narration, combined with European music performed by the Armenian State Opera and Ballet Theatre Symphony Orchestra (Times of Oman: Arabian tales to be told at ROHM).  According to the program, the orchestra was conducted by Maestro Mohamad Reza Aligholi and blended with the melodies of oriental instruments.

The Royal Opera House from the garden

The first part used Russian composer Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s music Sheherazade and focused on King Shahryar.  Based on One Thousand and One Nights, this orchestral work combines two features typical of Russian music and of Rimsky-Korsakov in particular: dazzling, colorful orchestration and an interest in the East (Wikipedia: Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)).

It then moved to Maurice Ravel’s music Bolero. The story was about a cunning wizard in an oriental market.  This is my favorite part of the performance with its traditional Arab souq as a backdrop and exotic costumes in jewel tones of purple, royal blue, fuchsia, turquoise and pink.  The costumes were stunningly made in mixtures of silks, chiffons, satins and velvets in mixed patterns, giving them a gypsy-like and bohemian feel.  The dancing in this part was so amazingly choreographed that I just sat in awe of the colorful extravaganza.

Plumeria (aka Frangipani) in front of the Royal Opera House Muscat

The third and final part used traditional Arabic Heritage music and explored the cultures of the Arab world, including a tribute to Oman.  The guest star singer for this part was Hoda Haddad, sister of the famous and widely respected Lebanese singer Nouhad Wadi Haddad, known as Fairuz.  During Ms. Haddad’s songs, flashes of Oman’s famous landmarks (Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Al Alam Palace, Nakhal Fort, and many others) appeared on the screen behind, bringing enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Royal Opera House Muscat

This production was adapted from the original, which premiered last summer in Lebanon, to fit the ROHM and was inspired by the building itself, explained Ivan. “This is like the first opening because the show changed. It’s inspired by the architecture of the opera house. It’s tailor-made for Oman,” said Ivan (Times of Oman: Arabian tales to be told at ROHM).

Royal Opera House from the gardens

According to Times of Oman, Caracalla Dance Theatre is based on the concept of fusing Eastern and Western traditions. Its founder, Abdel-Halim Caracalla, studied under the American dance legend Martha Graham, so the choreography is more international, as are some of the music choices. The music, however, has been adapted to include traditional Arab instruments like the oud, kanun, Arab percussion, and ney (Times of Oman: Arabian tales to be told at ROHM).

Royal Opera House Muscat

According to the performance details on the ROHM website:  Ivan and Alissar maintain the cultural message of the Caracalla Theatre by transforming the Arab Heritage into an international art form with its dominant presence in the world of dance theatre.

Alissar is the founder of Studio Caracalla “L’Art de la Danse” and of the “Orientalist Dance Company”. She brings an innovative spirit to the unique Caracalla technique, to become the flame of present and future of the Arabic culture with her creative style in choreography, to amalgam the expression of the east and west in a unique dance style based on the Martha Graham technique.

Inside Royal Opera House Muscat

This outstanding performance includes the guest participation of leading acting and singing stars of Lebanon including Hoda Haddad, Joseph Azar, Rifaat Torbey, Gabriel Yammine, Simon Obeid, and Toni Aad (ROHM: Performance Details).

leaving the Royal Opera House after the performance

Much of the performance harkened back to the days of Sultans and harems, and some of the sets made me think of Topkapı Palace, a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years (1465-1856) of their 624-year reign (Wikipedia: Topkapı Palace).

The performance made me wonder what happened to the exotic and sensual Arabian world of old, which today, at least in Oman and other Gulf countries, has been turned into a cloistered world of white dishdashas and black abayas.

nine jewels of india present panchtatva at the royal opera house

Monday, September 17:  Tonight I go to the Royal Opera House to see a concert of classical Indian music: Nine Jewels of India present Panchtatva.

the Royal Opera House Muscat

I drive directly from work because the university is about a half-hour closer to Muscat than my house is.  I am wearing a dress I bought this summer in the U.S.  It’s nothing special, not at all formal, just a casual summer dress.  It has short bell sleeves and the hem hits right at the top of my knee.  I have seen people dressed in all kinds of things at the Opera House before, including jeans, so I figure this dress will be okay.  For work, since we cannot wear skirts above the knee, I have on a pair of leggings, but for the Opera House, I plan to remove the leggings.  However, when I tell one of my colleagues I’m heading to the Opera House this evening, he says, “You can’t wear that!! You know there is a dress code now at the Opera House!”

I don’t know anything about this, so he grabs the September 12 edition of Muscat Daily. According to the Muscat Daily article, “The Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) has asked all its patrons, both nationals and expatriates, attending events during the season to arrive on time and in formal dress.”  Apparently ROHM reserves to the right to refuse entry to those who don’t meet the dress code.  No refunds or exchanges would be granted if patrons are prevented from entering.

“Our dress code is formal or business.  For Omanis, this means dishdasha and mussar for men and formal attire for women.  For non-Omanis, this means suits or dinner jackets for men and conservative dresses for women.  We have a strict no jeans, no tennis shoes and no t-shirt policy.  Please note that local culture requires conservative dress, which means no exposed shoulders or short dresses above the knee.”

Me with my goofy casual summer dress, slightly above the knees, and an Indian woman dressed properly in Indian costume  ~ I NEVER have the right thing to wear to the Opera House!! 😦

Uh-oh.  I am not about to drive in the opposite direction back to my house to change my clothes.  I figure I will try to go into the Opera House, and if they won’t allow me in, I’ll run out to my car and put on my leggings.  That should solve the issue.

Before I go to the Opera House, I drop by the Left Bank, which is nearby, for a light dinner.  I order their Chili Fried Prawns, Goat Cheese en Croute with Cranberries, and a glass of red wine.  I decide to sit outdoors despite the air being heavy with moisture, much like a steam room.  Thinking briefly that it is too miserable outside, I go inside to find I’m the only person inside and the air conditioning is icy cold!  I go back outside to sit, thinking it will be more like Greece, where I just visited for two weeks on my vacation.

Feeling soggy and eaten alive by mosquitoes at the Left Bank

Every night while I was in Greece, I ate on outdoor terraces in perfectly dry, breezy and cool weather.  I ate delicious Greek food and drank Greek wine.  Frankly, I am hoping to recapture that experience.  However, sitting on the porch at the Left Bank is absolute misery.  Not only is it steamy, making me feel like a damp rag, but mosquitoes are feasting away on my ankles.  I am scratching and sweating, sweating and scratching.  I gobble my food down and get the heck out of there fast.  At least I can get some relief at the Opera House.  That is, IF they allow me entry in my knee-length dress.

I find easy parking at the Opera House, pick up my tickets at the Will Call window, and go inside.  No one says anything to me, nor do they look at me askance as if I’m inappropriately dressed.   As most of tonight’s patrons are Indians, most women are dressed in typical Indian kurtas with leggings.  I do see one woman with a sleeveless dress that’s quite above her knee, so I figure if they let her in, they can’t throw me out.  Maybe they are not yet enforcing the dress code.

inside the beautiful Royal Opera House

Of course, since I never spend much money on tickets to performances, except for my favorite musicians, I am sitting on the highest tier, though a little more to the center than when I went to see the opera Carmen.  About 10 minutes before the show is due to begin at 7:30, the Omani ushers tell us we can all move to the first floor as there are many vacant seats.  We all move happily down to the bottom level, where there are still seats to spare even after we are all seated.

ROHM lobby

The live concert is called Panchtatva which, according to the program, combines Indian classical music, both Hindustani and Carnatic classical styles, with original Sanskrit verses from the Vedas to create an enchanting and exquisite musical experience.  The music depicts the five elements of nature: space, wind, fire, water and earth, while the Verses link these different elements and highlight their eternal qualities.

one of the ushers at the Opera House, dressed in traditional costume

Indian legends come together to create this music:  Pandit Jasraj, the divine voice; Pandit Hariiprasad Chaurasia, master of the bansuri, or bamboo flute; and T.H. Vikku Vinayakram, the master of the percussion instrument, the ghatam.  In addition are maestros such as Niladri Kumar, the maverick sitar player of his generation; V. Selvaganesh, a khangira (hand-held drum) player; Yogesh Samsi, the powerful tabla player; Ramkumar Mishra, another wonderful tabla player; and Sridhar Parthasarrathy, a master of the mridangam (the oldest Carnatic classical percussion instrument).

Inside from my top-level seat. The performers sat on cushions on the stage with the big screen behind them, just as seen here before the performance.

I’m afraid I never quite figure out who or what the “Nine Jewels” are.  As seen in the paragraph above, only 8 names are listed.  On the stage are over 11 artists.  Possibly the 9th “jewel” is Durga Jasraj, the woman who conceived, developed, directed, as well as narrated, the event.  The other 2 people on the stage were probably Ankita Joshi and Debopriya Ranadive, accompanying artists for vocals and flute, respectively.

Each artist is introduced in turn by Durga Jasraj, and each one comes on stage wearing a white kurta and white pants.  They all sit spread across the stage on white cushions.  Behind the artists is a huge movie screen.  During the presentation of each element, the screen shows the element moving in nature.

In SPACE, we see a lovely film of galaxies and stars in slow motion.  During WIND, yellow and brown leaves drift in a breeze, green leaves dance on trees in a forest.  During FIRE, volcanoes explode, flames lick a black sky.  During WATER, we see bubbles, slow motion waves, rain, waves crashing.  During EARTH, we see giant blades of emerald-green grass, a canopy overhead of green leaves, huge flowers, oversized slow-motion butterflies and hummingbirds, seagulls soaring over the ocean.

The music matches the elements.  SPACE sounds ethereal, WIND moving and ephemeral, FIRE crackling and energetic, WATER soothing and fluid, and EARTH grounded and elemental.  Percussion instruments are primarily used during the FIRE section, while the “divine voice” of Pandit Jasraj is the primary “instrument” in the EARTH performance.

Apparently Pandit Jasraj originated a unique concept called Jasrangi, a sensuous fusion of the Yin and the Yang, the male and female principles. It’s a harmonious blend, wherein a male and female singer, each with individual accompaniments, sing different ragas in their own respective scales, interweaving them.  During the EARTH performance, Pandit Jasraj does this alternating duet with another man, as far as I can tell.  Pandit’s voice is soulful and sonorous, highly spiritual.  His voice travels easily over all four and a half octaves.  I’m quite impressed by what he can do with his voice.

the view from above

The music is very mellow and trance-like; as a matter of fact, listening to the music and watching the hypnotic film of the elements almost puts me in a trance!  I find myself dozing off a number of times.  The music is repetitive and soothing, much like a meditative state.

I have heard Indian classical music before, probably in famous movies that try to depict India as a place of spirituality.  It matches my experience of the atmosphere I encountered in the yoga capital of Rishikesh in India when I visited there in March 2011.  I believe I’ve also heard this type of Indian Classical music in movies such as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, and too many other Indian films to count.

Overall, it is a lovely performance, and as entranced as I have always been by the spiritual practices in India, I find myself transported into a kind of dream world.

the ceiling of the Royal Opera House

sunset views of the royal opera house & farewell treats at the left bank

Wednesday, June 13:  Mario and I have arranged to take each other to Muscat airport for our long summer holiday trips.  While he is gone to Canada (St. John’s and Toronto) and Cuba, I am keeping his car at my house, starting the engine every few days to keep the battery in good working condition.  He will do the same for me when I leave for my vacation after he returns.

Tonight is the night I take him to the airport.  But first, in our usual fashion, we stop to take some pictures of the Royal Opera House, which has a pink glow to it from the setting sun. One thing Mario & I definitely share is a love of photography, although I see him and his camera as many steps above me!

the Royal Opera House with a pink glow

the front of the opera house

We then head to the Left Bank, a restaurant/bar/lounge located beneath the currently-being-renovated Mumtaz Mahal restaurant.  We sit out on the patio, surprised by the huge portable air conditioners that blow over the patrons, keeping the temperature moderately warm rather than sultry and sweltering.

We share a bottle of Merlot in our second farewell dinner of the week… 🙂

We order some of the best appetizers I’ve had in a long time: chili-crusted prawns, duck spring rolls and warm goat cheese wrapped in pastry and smothered in cranberries. All of this we top off with a bottle of Merlot. “Delicious” is a word that doesn’t do this array of snacks justice.  They are simply heavenly.

heavenly appetizers at the Left Bank

artistic and tasty goat cheese

Mario and I have a good time, but as always when you must catch a flight or have an important appointment, there is that feeling of something hanging over your head.  It’s difficult to relax fully when you know you have a big disruption ahead.  I really don’t know if Mario feels this way, but I do.

mario relaxing and waiting for his flight

at the Left Bank

yummy!!

I drop my dear friend at the airport, giving him a big hug.  I’ll miss him for the next five weeks, as I’m stuck here teaching summer school.  Many of my colleagues have already departed, or will do so soon, so I have no choice but to soldier on.  Hopefully the next 6 weeks will not drag on too interminably!

weekly photo challenge: today

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postaweek2012, weekly photo challenge

Saturday, June 2:  The Weekly Photo Challenge for this week is Today! This week’s theme is a bit different (but you like that, don’t you?) – it’s about TODAY. This day. The day you’re reading and reacting to this post. No rules or guidance on what to post other than the photo must be taken today! Don’t cheat, don’t go into your photo archives on your computer, don’t link to an old post. Get your camera out, right now, and snap a picture to share with everyone!

Today, I went to the U.S. Embassy to get more pages for my passport (See my previous post Six Word Saturday).  Afterwards, I had lunch at Hot Pot & Grills at the Bareet Al Shatti Mall, then I walked next door, in the 46 degree Celsius heat (115 F), to the Royal Opera House.  I’ve been wanting to get some good daytime pictures of the gorgeous Royal Opera House, but alas, I’ve been there only at night.  I’ve passed by it many times while I’ve been in Muscat, but I’ve never taken the time to stop and take pictures of the building and gardens in sunlight.  So here is today: a lunch of shrimp tempura and the Royal Opera House and its gardens.

shrimp tempura at Hot Pot & Grills ~ served with French Fries (not exactly authentic Japanese!)

Hot Pot & Grills at Bareet Al Shatti Mall

Royal Opera House Muscat

flower in the garden at the Royal Opera House

Looking up at the Royal Opera House

omar khairat at the royal opera house

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Egypt, Muscat, Oman, Omar Khairat, Royal Opera House

Wednesday, February 15:  How can I talk about Omar Khairat without talking about Egypt?  And about Ahmed? And about love? Music is like gossamer, weaving itself clandestinely into our lives, wrapping itself around our experiences. A song, a chord, a musical interlude, even a symphony become inextricably intertwined with a memory.  And that is that.  There is no fighting it.  It is just there, forever.  A song and a memory, bound in matrimony, till death do us part.

the royal opera house in muscat, february 15, 2012

Tonight, here is Omar Khairat, in Muscat, Oman.  At the Royal Opera House.  And here I am, listening, enraptured, and transported back to my first memory of him.  And of someone named Ahmed.  And of Egypt.

I first heard about the famous Egyptian composer and pianist on a November day in 2009, a Sunday afternoon in fact, while sitting in my bedroom in my house in Virginia.  The air was crisp and blue outside my window.  The leaves had fallen off the trees and the branches were spindly tangles outside.  I was chatting online with Ahmed, an Egyptian I met on Facebook.  He had just been the night before to the Cairo Opera House to see Omar Khairat.  I had never heard of this “famous” Egyptian.  So Ahmed sent me link after link, and I listened to Khairat’s music.  We chatted between the musical pieces. Ahmed sent me pictures of himself and his friends, all spiffed up at the Opera House.  Pictures of them with Omar Khairat.

It was a lovely Sunday afternoon.  Too lovely, really. I fell a bit in love with Ahmed on that day. And with Omar Khairat.

But wait.  How did I meet Ahmed online?  A strange thing really.  I had spent a month in Egypt in July, 2007, “studying” Arabic at Al Azhar University.  Actually I wasn’t doing much studying, but was just having the adventure of my life in Egypt.  I fell in love with the dusty Cairo streets, the chaotic and incessant honking traffic, the Cairo Hash House Harriers, the hills and the corniche of Muquttum, the pyramids of Giza, Ma’adi, the Grand Cafe on the Nile, the felucca at sunset on the Nile.  I fell in love with camels and the Khan al Khalili Bazaar and the Egyptian people.  I also fell briefly in love with an Egyptian brain surgeon, but that is another story. (I am writing a blog now about my time in Egypt, trying to reconstruct that amazing time in my life, but I haven’t written much.  It’s a work-in-progress, but if you’d like to see what I have so far, it’s here: catbird in cairo.)

Later, much later, on Facebook, I joined a group called the “I LOVE EGYPT” group, and suddenly I had 35+ new Egyptian friends, all young men, most looking for a ticket to America.

Ahmed and me in Cairo, February 2010

Somehow Ahmed was different.  We had rapport, chemistry; he was funny and smart and we just clicked.  If you can really fall in love with someone online, then I guess that’s what I did.  In December, I got a job offer to teach English in Korea, and I decided with the money Korea would pay for my one-way flight, I could stop in Egypt for only a little more money out of my pocket.  I did just that, met Ahmed, and stupidly, fell even more in love with him on just a four-day visit.

me in Cairo, February 2010. A happy time for me… 🙂

After I got to Korea, I was heartbroken to leave him, and then continued to be heartbroken over and over again in my first months there, as Ahmed told me lie after lie after lie.  Finally, after too much suffering, I deleted him from Facebook and told him whatever we had was over.  He already knew that it was over, of course, from his end.  For me to cut it off was something necessary for my own sanity.  I never heard from him again.  Ultimately, I believe he wanted something from me too, possibly a ticket to America, an escape from Egypt.  Just like all the other Egyptian men who added me on Facebook that fall.

Oh well.  Still.  The memory of all that, the “falling in love” (if you can call it that), the experience of Ahmed and our time in Egypt, all come back to me as I listen to Omar Khairat tonight at the Royal Opera House.  I am swept away, back to my love story with a country that I dream of going back to one day.

inside the opera house for Omar Khairat

The concert is billed as “Omar Khairat: Soundscapes of Egyptian Music.”  It begins with Egyptian Overture and then goes through to The Sorceress & The Magical Perfumes, which comes from a Canadian ballet of the same title composed by Khairat in 1989.  It’s a lovely panorama of music that sounds Egyptian, yet doesn’t.  It comes from a universal heart, and touches mine.

At intermission, I get to walk around the opera house and admire the opulent interior.  At this time, I’m finally able to buy the program, which tells me more about the concert. Now I am enlightened.

before driving to muscat in my flat, wearing a totally disappointing outfit… 😦

Intermission is also time for people-watching, and I do just that. I watch the Omani women dressed in their ornate abayas and their gorgeous long dresses, their long black hair either bundled in huge ponytails or buns under their headscarves, or loose down their backs. Their dark and seductive eyes are made even more mysterious by black mascara and eyeliner. I have to say I’m envious of their beauty and their youth.  The Omani men, dressed in their spotless white dishdashas, look regal and, well, perfectly Arab. One Western boy is dressed in the dishdasha and musyr for the occasion.  The Westerners are dressed in uninspired suits or dresses.   As for me, for my second time at the Opera House, I am distressed that I don’t have the appropriate thing to wear.  I finally threw together a black knit top with a long skirt, but it’s disappointing and makes me feel frumpy. 😦  It doesn’t help that I gained about 7 pounds while my sons were here!  I pledge that before I come here again, I will find something cute and appropriate to wear!!

the program: Omar Khairat

Omar Khairat was born in 1948 to an artistic family in Cairo and is considered one of the most successful and influential Egyptian composers of all time.  After he received his degrees in piano and musical theory, he began composing music for the Egyptian cinema, television and theater.  He also wrote music for the ballet.  His music was influenced by Arabic and European classical music, Egyptian and African traditional music, as well as jazz, pop and blues.

What makes his music different, and so universal, is his way of combining Western and Eastern musical instruments.  It is beautiful and moving, and at several times during the concert, I am brought to tears.

the stage is set for Omar Khairat and the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra

The principal conductor is Nayer Nagui, from Alexandria, Cairo, born in 1970. He is a handsome and energetic conductor, great fun to watch.  He conducts the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra (ROSO), which was established in September 1985, under the direction of HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said, whose interest in music and culture contributed to the formation of the orchestra.  The orchestra’s women are dressed in gauzy scarlet headscarves and matching pants with gold brocade at the ankles, along with emerald-green silk tunics.  The men are dressed in tuxedos, except for the lively drummer at the back who wears a white shirt and who often claps his hands in the air, inviting the audience to clap along to the music.

the ceiling in the royal opera house

Omar Khairat plays the piano and in his group are the more traditional Egyptian instruments: the conga, doff, drums, Okordion, Oud & Qanon, Req and Tabla.  The Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra includes trombones, violins, violas, cellos, double basses, flute, oboe, bassoon, harp, horn, trumpet and trombone.

The second half of the concert opens with the lovely Arabian Rhapsody.  I am swept off my feet by the Three Pieces for Orchestra & Piano. The final three pieces are stunning: Al Bakheel (The Miser), Enta El Masry (You are the Egyptian) and 100 Sana Cinema (100 Years of Cinema).

Sitting next to me is a young couple named Tony and Wafaa.  Tony is Irish and teaches at one of the private universities in Muscat.  His wife Wafaa is Algerian, very pretty and pregnant (due in May!).  They plan to stay in Muscat indefinitely as life is good here, and easy.  I agree.

Riyadh and Haitham ~ Riyadh writes the Omani Cuisine blog… 🙂

Before the concert begins, while I am standing in the lobby taking pictures, two young Omani men approach me and one says “I read your blog!”  I say, “Oh my gosh, how did you recognize me?”  He says, “I’ve seen your pictures enough on your blog to know who you are.  Are your sons still here visiting?”  I tell him no, sadly, they went home on February 3; I just haven’t had time to catch up on my blogging about their visit.  He introduces himself as Riyadh and his friend is Haitham.  I take pictures of both of them; I’m thrilled to meet one of my readers, as I always am!  He says, “You should read my blog sometime: Omani Cuisine.  I say, “I have read it!! You write that blog?  I read it to get restaurant ideas and it’s featured on my blogroll, on the right side of my blog!”  I’m so happy to meet a fellow blogger!

arches to the heart

Riyadh asks me if I read Andy in Oman and I say yes, of course I do!  He says, “You should go back to one of the blogs he wrote when he was teaching in Ibri, I think it’s called “Arablish” or something. It’s so hilarious!”  I look it up when I get home and find it: Konglish”, “Chinglish”, “Spanglish”-ARABLISH?!” Riyadh is right…It is HILARIOUS and oh so true!! I LOVE IT!  Andy is an institution on the Oman blogger scene, and inspires me always!

Life in Oman is always full of surprises.  On my way back to Nizwa, late at night, around 11:00, I pass by numerous groups of Omanis parked along the side of the highway, having picnics on the gravel ground.  This is a common sight in Oman, whole Omani families, or groups of Omani men, sitting on blankets alongside their cars, alongside a major highway.  Now I’ve come to think of it as normal, but as I think about life in America, I can’t help but laugh out loud as I try to picture groups of Americans parking alongside interstate highways, blankets spread on the ground, picnicking to their hearts’ content.

I love life in Oman!

“carmen” at the royal opera house

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Oman, Royal Opera House Muscat, Travel

Wednesday, December 21:  Tonight I go with my colleagues, Christian, Stephanie and Spencer, to see the opera Carmen at the Royal Opera House in Muscat. It’s an unusual thing that we all happen to be Americans.  Usually, we have a mixture of multiple ethnicities whatever we do in Oman.  We leave Nizwa at 5:00, which should be plenty of time to get to the 8:00 performance.  Christian drives us in his brand new Volkswagen Jetta and on the way we rock out in the car to Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean.”

Billy Jean is not my lover
She’s just a girl who
says that I am the one
But the kid is not my son…

We need to make a stop at Muscat City Center because Stephanie wants to exchange a comforter she bought and buy a new one.  While she looks for a new one, Christian, Spencer and I look around for things with which to decorate our flats, especially Christian, who just got an amazing new flat that he’s keen to deck out.  After we finish our browsing and shopping, we run to the food court and buy some food to eat in the car…McDonald’s and Subway are our fast-food chains of choice.  By the time we finally get on the road and head toward the opera house, it is 7:35!  Christian is driving like a maniac and we’re cheering him on, because we have heard if you don’t arrive exactly on time, they will close the doors.  They don’t allow latecomers in.

making a mad dash for the Royal Opera House

We make it with just five minutes to spare and find our tickets on Level 3, Row C.  I’m in seat 38.  Sad to say, we find that our 13 Omani rial seats are horrible!  We are on the very top tier on the far right of the opera house and if we sit straight back in our seats, we can only see the left quarter of the stage.  If we want to see 3/4 of the stage, we must lean forward over the seats of the people in front of us, and if we want to see the ENTIRE stage, we must practically get up out of our seats and dangle precariously over their heads.  Well maybe that’s a slight exaggeration.  Whenever we do lean forward, which is almost constantly, we are right in the path of a continuous cold stream of air from the air conditioning. We freeze throughout the entire four-hour performance.  Well, four hours total, including three 25-minute intermissions.

inside the gorgeous Royal Opera House

The great thing is that there are little video screens on the seat backs in front of us where we can follow the opera in any language we choose.  Of course I choose English as my French is pathetic.  It’s great to be able to understand all the words in the opera.

The Royal Opera House is Oman’s classy venue for musical arts and culture. It was officially opened on October 12th, 2011, with a production of the opera Turandot, conducted by Spanish tenor Placido Domingo. The opera house is located in Shati Al-Qurm in Muscat. Built on the royal orders of Sultan Qaboos, the Royal Opera House reflects contemporary Omani architecture, and can accommodate 1,100 people. From the opera house website, “the vision of the Opera House is to serve as a centre of excellence in global cultural engagement. We strive to enrich lives through diverse artistic, cultural, and educational programs.” (Royal Opera House Muscat)

Carmen is the French comic opera by Georges Bizet. The opera premiered at the Opera-Comique of Paris on 3 March 1875, but its opening run was denounced by the majority of critics. The story, revolving around the fiery-tempered gypsy named Carmen, is set in Seville, Spain around 1820.  Flirtatious and free with her love, she woos the inexperienced soldier Don José, who falls so madly in love with her that he rejects the lover his mother picks for him, rebels against his superior, and joins a gang of smugglers.  When Carmen betrays him for the bullfighter Escamillo, he stabs and kills her in a fit of passionate desperation.

the Seville facade that acts as a curtain ~ the view from our nosebleed seats

The director and Oscar-winning set and costume designer is Gianni Quaranta. He won an Oscar for the set design of the 1986 film, Room With a View.  He did an amazing job with the sets in the four acts, especially the first act which has a real fountain in a village square set in romantic Seville. In the scene the villagers and Carmen herself actually wade in the fountain and splash water on each other. The scene in the third act, where the gang of smugglers is operating under cover of nightfall, is dark and depressing, with its monstrous rock formations and dreary colors.  This is my least favorite scene, but the rest are phenomenal.

Stephanie and me in our high-altitude seats

The conductor, Patrick Fournillier, is a boisterous and lively performer himself, gesturing wildly and even jumping about as he conducts the orchestra.

Julia Gertseva from Leningrad, a mezzo-soprano, is lovely as the tempestuous red-headed Carmen.   I love Carmen’s voice and her flowing flamenco dresses in their feisty reds, purples and pinks.  One of them in purples and reds is so beautiful I find myself lusting after it, trying to think of where on earth I can find something like it for myself.

at intermission I run into Lazina and Megan ~ Diana takes the picture

I really don’t remember if I’ve even seen an opera before, and so it’s amazing to see this performance and to recognize tunes that I’ve heard over the years in different guises.  For instance, I’ve heard the rich and fluid “Habanera” before, but I never knew it came from Carmen, nor did I know what the words meant.  Having the little translation screen in front of me helps me to follow the story and to appreciate the meaning of the songs, and thus the deeper messages throughout the opera.  I love the words of this song which talk about the elusiveness of love.  No matter how much you seek it, it may never come and when it comes, sometimes you are not prepared for it, or ready to accept it.

christian, stephanie, me and spencer at the decadent Royal Opera House

Some of the words from “Habanera” are below:

Love is a rebellious bird
that nobody can tame,
and you call him quite in vain
if it suits him not to come.

All around you, swift, so swift,
it comes, it goes, and then returns …
you think you hold it fast, it flees
you think you’re free, it holds you fast.

This song captures the elusiveness of love, as well as the uncontrollable nature of the emotion.  We call all relate, in our own experiences, to this personification of love with its capricious whims and sometimes heartless nature.

Carmen is a complex character, passionate and flirtatious and tempestuous.  As a gypsy woman she lives by her own code and belongs nowhere.  She follows her heart wherever it leads her, which makes her fickle and destructive in the eyes of many.  But I love how she embraces all that life throws at her.  She’s strongly independent and throws herself, heart and soul, into whatever her passion is.  These things I love about her.

intermission

Tenor Giordani Marcello has the role of Don José and baritone Nicholas Cavalier plays the bullfighter Escamillo.  This “toreador” is so dashing, I can understand why Carmen falls for him over the pot-bellied Don José.  I love the song he sings that starts out “Toreador…” The tune is in the overture as well, and all I can think of is the similar-tuned song “Neither a borrower nor a lender be….To thine own self be true….” which are Shakespeare’s words included in a song I heard in the distant past. It’s possible that song was even a commercial, but I can’t remember for the life of me.  When I try to find this Toreador song later on YouTube, the song is different from the one the toreador Escamillo sings, so I don’t really know what it is called!  All I know is that on the way home, Stephanie and I keep singing “Neither a borrower nor a lender be…”!

Oman is such a small world: we run into Marcia and Linda Sue at intermission!

It’s a lovely performance and we enjoy it immensely, despite fighting off frostbite in our horrible seats.  I really believe when designing an opera house, or any entertainment venue, each seat should be checked for sight-lines, so that every seat has a full view of the stage.  People in the center seats told me they also had to lean forward to see over the balcony railing.  Why would the architect put balcony rails right in the sight-lines?

Oh well, you always get what you pay for!  I will be certain next time I go to the beautiful opera house to get a center seat and to pay MORE than 13 Omani Rials…:-)

some nice (& handsome) Omani men who work at the Opera House

The night ends in a royal way for me.  After leaving our seats at the far reaches of the opera house and making a stop in the ladies’ room before our long drive back to Nizwa, we end up being some of the last people out.  As I am taking pictures in the nearly-deserted lobby, a woman approaches and asks me, “Excuse me…Are you the Nizwa blogger?”  I am taken aback!  The woman introduces herself as June and tells me she teaches at a University in Sohar.  She says “I LOVE your blog.  I read it all the time and I tell everyone I know to read it!”  I am so flattered by this!!  I tell her she should contact me with her email address so we can keep in touch.  I personally LOVE writing my blog and I’m always pleased to find someone who actually reads it!  This really topped off my night at Muscat’s Royal Opera House!!

parting shot