Saudi opera opens
OperaFrom the press release:
Last night, inside the newly renovated main hall of the King Fahad Culture Centre, Riyadh, the Saudi Theater and Performing Arts Commission officially premiered Zarqa Al Yamama – the first-ever Grand Opera produced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia…
The performance on Thursday 25th April also represented a milestone moment for world culture as the first Grand Opera to feature international and local artists performing a libretto exclusively in Arabic, written by the award-winning Saudi poet Saleh Zamanan and adapted into an original musical score by Australian composer Lee Bradshaw, under the creative direction of Ivan Vukcevic.
The titular role of Zarqa was performed by world-acclaimed mezzo soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, alongside a principle cast of leading international artists including Amelia Wawrzon, Serena Farnocchia, Paride Cataldo, Aleksandar Stefanoski and George von Bergen. Of the nine main roles, three were performed by Saudi-born singers, including tenor Khayran Al Zahrani, with sopranos Sawsan Albahiti and Reemaz Oqbi as bridesmaids, representing a major step in the development of the Kingdom’s national music programme.
Led by conductor Pablo González, the two-act opera was performed by the Dresdner Sinfoniker and featured vocal accompaniments by the Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno. The transformative staging and special effects were devised by internationally renowned stage director Daniele Finzi Pasca.
In an interview with Hugh Morris for VAN magazine, Connolly retreated from past criticisms of the Saudi regime. She now says: ‘ I would say that the current regime has changed vastly, the climate has changed vastly. And I think it’s important to recognize that thisy [opera] wouldn’t be happening without the changes that are happening now in Saudi Arabia. So I would say, things that happened, you know, in other countries—including our own UK—in the past have been appalling. And you just think, well, those decisions were then. Now, the landscape is incredibly different.’
More here.
Connolly smelled that Saudi cash!
Dame Sarah deserves every penny!
So?
Should he have not done ?
Have you a suggestion or Job to offer him ?
Never gonna be programmed there: “Fidelio.”
Not just “Fidelio”.
You can add “Death in Venice”, “Lulu”, “Billy Budd”, “Król Roger”, “Iphigénie en Tauride”, “Un ballo in maschera”, “I Lombardi alla prima Crociata” – not to mention “Harvey Milk” to the list of unlikely inclusions in the repertoire of the Saudi Theater and Performing Arts Commission.
This farcical attempt at Western cultural acceptability by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in stark contrast to neighbouring Oman.
In 2011, the Bedouin equivalent of Bavarian König Ludwig II, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said built an impressive opera house in Muscat to satisfy his genuine love of Classical music and opera in particular.
(Interestingly, the person responsible for the musical and artistic success of this admirable Royal Opera House Muscat project was the vastly experienced Christina Scheppelmann, soon to take the helm at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie.)
Similar to the egregious Gianni Infantino, Dame Sarah Connolly is either willfully delusional or shamefully complicit in the spurious attempt to affect Western values and mores emanating from the murderous regime of Mohammed bin Salman.
On the other hand, one could imagine MBS enjoying Act I of “Turandot” tremendously.
“Now the landscape is incredibly different…” Kashioggi’s family would think otherwise. Connolly needs to have her royal title revoked.
Oddly, as of this evening, she’s done the internet equivalent of sticking ones head in the Saudi sand:
Deleted her twitter account.
How can they sing through a Burka?
Dame Sarah Connolly’s involvement in this is a great disappointment.
typical British understatement
“Principle cast”? Not just a spelling error there.
“The landscape is incredibly different”. Really. I don’t think Dame Sarah bothered to consider this in much detail. The only thing that is different is the amount of cash being pumped into arts and sports promotions which has seduced so many. The infrastructure and people running the country remains the same …
It’s incredible how certain leftists and feminists change when they smell cash!
Sarah, nothing’s changed , darling! You have just colluded with a regime and are helping them to whitewash their atrocities! You can now retire with your big cash and not have to worry about criticism!
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/saudi-arabia-human-rights-raif-badawi-king-salman
Connolly, you hypocrite! Read this!
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/saudi-arabia-human-rights-raif-badawi-king-salman
As a woman, how could you take a job in Saudi Arabia when this is the harsh reality?
Manahel al-Otaibi is a young woman who has just received an 11 year sentence under “anti-terror laws” due to her “her choice of clothing and support for women’s rights”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/may/01/manahel-al-otaibi-saudi-arabia-womens-rights-activist-sentenced-11-years-prison-anti-terrorism-court