Oil has fuelled the opera boom, but Western expertise has helped. Jasper Hope, formerly of the Royal Albert Hall in London and now chief executive of Dubai Opera, has introduced a spin-off from the bbc Proms. Umberto Fanni, the well-connected director of the rohm, has attracted prestigious artists to Oman. Plácido Domingo has sung there; a new production of “Rigoletto” by Franco Zeffirelli, a legendary director, is due to open in Muscat next year.
石油推動了歌劇的繁榮，但西方的專業知識也有所幫助。賈斯珀•霍普曾在倫敦皇家阿爾伯特音樂廳工作，現任迪拜歌劇院首席執行官。烏姆貝托•范尼是羅姆畫廊人脈廣泛的總監，他吸引了許多知名藝術家來到阿曼。普拉西多·多明戈曾在那里演唱過；傳奇導演佛朗哥·澤菲雷利的新作《里戈萊托》將于明年在馬斯喀特上演。
Still, adapting a mannered—and often bawdy—European art form to local tastes is a challenge. “The risk is that you disorientate audiences,” says Farid Rahi, ceo of Opera Lebanon (itself founded in 2015). “You need a very simple theatrical language.” Sex and religion cause particular problems.“When we staged ‘La Traviata’ [Verdi’s opera about a Parisian courtesan], we had water instead of wine,” Mr Fanni recalls. The production in Muscat emphasised the heroine’s “dignified journey to death rather than her libertine lifestyle.”
盡管如此，要讓一種歐洲藝術形式適應當地的品味仍然是一項挑戰。“風險在于你會讓觀眾迷失方向，”黎巴嫩歌劇院(成立于2015年)的首席執行官法里德•拉希如此表示。“你需要一種非常簡單的戲劇語言。”性和宗教造成了特殊的問題。“當我們上演威爾第的歌劇《茶花女》時，我們喝的是水而不是酒，”范尼先生回憶道。在馬斯喀特的制作強調了女主人公“有尊嚴的死亡之旅，而不是她放蕩的生活方式。”
As well as European classics, the ROHM offers works from the Middle East, such as “Antar and Abla”, an Arabic opera commissioned by Opera Lebanon. Mr Fanni’s ultimate aim is to replace the imported shows that have hitherto dominated the repertoire with in-house productions. The Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa provided the chorus and musicians for “Lakmé”, but the ROHM made the sets. Mr Fanni hopes soon to mix Omani musicians with the foreign players who occupy the orchestra pit now.
除了歐洲經典作品，馬斯喀特皇家歌劇院還演繹來自中東的作品，比如黎巴嫩歌劇院委托創作的阿拉伯歌劇《安塔和阿布拉的冒險》。范尼的最終目標是用國內制作的節目取代迄今主導曲目的進口節目。熱那亞的卡洛·費利斯為《拉克美》提供了合唱和音樂家，但由馬斯喀特皇家歌劇院制作布景。范尼先生希望不久就能把阿曼音樂家和現在占據樂池的外國樂手結合起來。
The complexion of the audience is also changing—slowly. When the ROHM was inaugurated during the Arab spring, protesters decried the project’s profligacy. Local interest in opera has risen; but even now, only around 15% of punters are Omani.
觀眾的群體也在慢慢改變。當馬斯喀特皇家歌劇院在“阿拉伯之春”期間落成時，抗議者譴責該項目的揮霍無度。當地對歌劇的興趣上升了；但即使是現在，也只有15%左右的觀眾是阿曼人。
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