Expo 2020 Dubai’s Al Wasl Opera and Welsh National Opera to premiere in December

Tickets for Expo 2020 Dubai’s Al Wasl Opera, a cultural milestone that celebrates thousands of years of UAE history, its achievements to date and its aspirations for the future, are now on sale directly from Dubai Opera, where the show will be performed, for its premiere run from 16-19 December.

Produced in collaboration with Welsh National Opera (WNO), the performance features more than 100 artists and musicians, as well as a production team of 70 professionals, to combine the best global operatic talent, celebrating Expo 2020’s theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.

Composed by Mohammed Fairouz, co-authored and written by Maha Gargash, directed by Sir David Pountney and conducted by Justin Brown, Al Wasl translates as ‘the connection’ in English, and is the old name for Dubai. The connection here implies international cooperation, with Al Wasl Opera showing how we must work together to channel Sustainability, one of Expo’s three subthemes.

Najeeb Mohammed Al Ali, Executive Director, Expo 2020 Dubai Commissioner General Office, said: “Expo 2020 Dubai is offering a landmark opera that supports the UAE’s thriving arts scene, and also reflects our country’s values of tolerance and cooperation, as well as our global sense of responsibility to each other and our planet.”

Mohammed Fairouz, Composer, Al Wasl Opera, said: “Celebrating Expo 2020’s vision of collaboration, Al Wasl Opera brings together many people from a variety of artistic backgrounds in order to create one art form – and there’s nothing more universal than opera and theatre. If people can laugh and cry together, then anything is possible between them.”

Sir David Pountney, Director, Al Wasl Opera, said: “The story of Al Wasl begins in the desert, and we created a rather original way of depicting this desert in a metaphorical way. In the middle act, we are in the present, where there is a strong reference to the creation of the Burj Khalifa, and we move on into the future in the final act, where we are in pure fantasyland about what the future may or may not look like, depending on whether we make a commitment to a sustainable tomorrow.”

Al Wasl Opera will be presented in English, with a runtime of 120 minutes, including one intermission. Tickets start from AED300 and are available from the Dubai Opera website.