In the last 17 years, the NCPA has staged more than a hundred repertoire, winning wide acclaim from experts and audiences all over the world. The upcoming tour will feature three performances that are part of the theatre’s 2024/25 season. The NCPA’s production of Un Ballo in Maschera will commence the new season, marking the first time an Asian theatre has been invited to stage a world-renowned opera.

Since its establishment, the NCPA has curated over a hundred productions. The NCPA strives to meet international standards by collaborating with world-renowned artists and adhering to international practices in a market-oriented manner. In 2012, the Peking Opera Red Cliff ignited a craze in three European countries. In 2015, the dance drama Marco Polo, commissioned by the NCPA, made its debut at the Milan Expo in Italy. That same year, the opera Rickshaw Boy toured Italy. In 2018, the opera The Dawns Here Are Quiet was staged at Russia’s top arts centre. Through several large-scale international tours, NCPA productions has graced the stages of leading theaters and concert halls, receiving acclaim from audiences worldwide.

This time, the NCPA production of Un Ballo in Maschera will make its debut at the Royal Opera House Muscat, further expanding the overseas tour scale of NCPA productions. The theatre, founded in 2011 by Sultan Qaboos bin Said, has hosted top operas from over 30 countries in the Arab world and five continents, as well as virtuoso performances by renowned orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, American Ballet Theatre, and St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. Each year, the theatre stages six large-scale operas, carefully selected under high standards for planning and innovation. In the upcoming 2024/25 season, Maestro Valery Gergiev will lead the Mariinsky Orchestra in presenting the opera Simon Boccanegra, and top singers, including Plácido Domingo, will also perform. It is within this star-studded lineup that the NCPA production of Un Ballo in Maschera will kick off the new season.

The opera Un Ballo in Maschera is the third Verdi opera to be produced by the NCPA after La Traviata and Rigoletto. It has been put on the stage for five times so far. Visually spectacular, the humanistic landscape of Stockholm, Sweden of the 18^th century is presented in the opera. Beautiful scenes, including the royal palace, the witch’s cavern and the masquerade, are intertwined with the complicated plot and magnificent, melodious music, with an unparalleled artistic feast to be offered to the Omani audience. During the tour, the opera will be conducted by conductor Giampaolo Bisanti with famous director Hugo De Ana as the director, set designer and costume designer. To star in the opera are well-known Chinese and foreign artists including Piotr Beczała, Elena Stikhina, LIAO Changyong, Agnieszka Rehlis and Enkelada Kamani. The singers who gave a wonderful performance in the latest round this May, including MA Guoyi, MEI Jie, GUAN Zhijing MAO Weizhao and CAO Ruidong, will also join the cast and work with the Orchestra of Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, China NCPA Orchestra and Jinan Song & Dance Theatre to present this brilliant masterwork.

In 2020, the NCPA initiated the establishment of the World Association for Performing Arts (WAPA) as a platform to regularly hold the Beijing Forum for Performing Arts, Beijing Forum for Symphonic Music, and Taihu International Stage Art Forum. These three forums have become important bridges for exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign performing arts organizations. The current tour destination, Royal Opera House Muscat, is one of the most important art institution in Oman and even the entire Middle East. It is also a member of WAPA, maintaining a solid partnership with the NCPA. The two organizations have been in close communication and interaction with each other since 2018, and they signed a strategic cooperation agreement in 2019. Over the past five years, Umberto Fanni, General Manager of ROHM, has attended the Beijing Forum for Performing Arts several times and taken an active part in various events organized by WAPA. The year 2023 marks the 45^th anniversary of the establishment of China-Oman diplomatic relations and the 10^th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. In September of that year, Lakmé, an opera produced by the two organizations in cooperation with the Arena di Verona Foundation and Los Angeles Opera, premiered at the NCPA, receiving an enthusiastic response and pushing the friendship among WAPA members to a new height.

The upcoming Oman tour of the opera Un Ballo in Maschera is not only a significant milestone in the strategic cooperation between both parties, but also sets a good example for the members of the WAPA in terms of exchange tours. With the expansion of the tour, the NCPA aims to deepen its contacts with art institutions in the Middle East, enhancing the influence of the WAPA. The NCPA will also actively evaluate and select co-productions, promoting exchanges and mutual learning between China and Middle Eastern countries through the bridge of culture. During the tour, the NCPA will engage in exchanges with renowned Omani art organizations and hold talks with the local team of stage technicians to strengthen and expand the friendships among WAPA members. This will improve the stage adaptability and technical level of its self-produced plays.

There is a long history of friendly exchanges between China and Oman. ZHENG He, a voyager in the Ming Dynasty, visited Oman four times with his ship fleet. On May 25^th, 1978, the two countries formally established diplomatic relations with each other, starting to constantly deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields. As a trendsetter of elegant culture and art in China, the NCPA is responsible for both inheritance and innovation. During the tour, the NCPA’s special programme, “A Musical Night from China” Concert, will be grandly staged on October 4^th at the theatre.

“A Musical Night from China” Concert will be presented passionately by the China NCPA Orchestra and Orchestra of Teatro Lirico di Cagliari under the leadership of LÜ Jia, Music & Artistic Director of the NCPA. Mengla Huang, a violin soloist honoured as “Paganini of the East”, will also be invited to the concert. The artists from China will give an exquisite performance to make Oriental music clearly audible in Oman so that the Omani people learn about China in melody.