Dubai: The final countdown to yet another grand launch in Dubai has begun. Tickets for the inaugural performance at the much-awaited Dubai Opera may have been sold out within three hours of their going on sale in April itself, but that hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of those who can’t make it for the first-day-first-show on August 31.
As King of Opera and legendary Spanish tenor Placido Domingo sets a tall precedent that evening, the UAE’s most happening cultural hub in Downtown is expected to run to full capacity when the line-up of other spectacular performances unfolds.
“The truth is this is the first venue of its kind and when we put together the inaugural season we didn’t know exactly how popular it would be across the GCC. The response on day one of tickets sales was absolutely overwhelming with bookings being taken from more than 20 countries, from Saudi Arabia to the UK, from Germany to Japan,” says Jasper Hope, CEO of Dubai Opera, who is well on his way to ensure weekends in Dubai will never be the same again.
Confirmed calendar
Consider the Opera’s confirmed calendar of events. Domingo’s opening show will immediately be followed by French composer Georges Bizet’s three-act The Pearl Fishers on September 1 and 3 and the Italian Opera Without Words on September 5.
Up next will be The Russian State Ballet & Orchestra of Siberia and the The Vienna Concert Verein Orchestra with the illusionist show Impossible wrapping up the month from September 26 to 30.
Similarly, October will bring such names as renowned Catalan tenor José Carreras, Emirati singer Hussain Al Jassmi, Italian violinist Fabio Biondi, Spain’s foremost Flamenco superstar, Sara Baras, Grammy Award sitarist Anoushka Shankar and Swiss ballet sensation Bejart Ballet Lausanne on stage in separate shows. While Les Misèrables runs from November 10 to 24, The Nutcracker on Ice and Slava’s Snowshow will give opera fans something to look forward to through November and December.
The icing on the cake comes early next year when West Side Story has its hyped GCC premiere at Dubai Opera from February 14 to 18, tickets for which went on sale on July 13. With 36 performers and 80 participants, Joey McKneely’s staging will be taking to the road bringing with it Jerome Robbins’ original choreography.
Dubai Opera in numbers
5,798 square metres in area
1,901 concert capacity
1,875 theatre capacity
184 box seating in 31 boxes
5,000 kg weight of the chandelier
2,900 LEDs in the chandelier
600 lighting fixtures
21 dressing rooms
