MUSCAT The Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) will unveil its new pipe organ with a concert on December 3.

The pipe organ has earned its moniker as the ‘King of Instruments’. The ROHM pipe organ has more than 4,500 pipes, some nearly 10m long, and is the first to be installed in an opera house in the Gulf region, according to a press release.

The concert will feature the Budapest Symphony Orchestra (MAV) and 5 pipe organ soloists, including Jean Guillou, Isabelle Demers, Ian Hockley and Zuzana Ferjencikova.  Oman will be represented by soloist Rashid Salim Bin Salim Al Rashidy, a keyboard student at the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra who has achieved Grade 8 passes in organ playing and piano playing with distinctions.

The programme includes Bach’s iconic Toccata & Fugue in D minor, as well as works by Puccini, Prokofiev, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Tschaik-ovsky and Handel.

A symposium will also be held with local cultural and academic partners to provide an opportunity for invitees to share their thoughts on the history of the instrument. Four international experts will explain and demonstrate the history and function of the pipe organ.  Professor Schmitt and professor Schnorr will focus on the heritage and demonstrate music pieces. Philipp Klais, builder of the ROHM pipe organ, will give insights on how it was built especially for Oman.

Kaets will demonstrate one of the most popular uses of the organ, showing a part of the Charlie Chaplin silent movie ‘Goldrush’. ROHM acoustic designer Nicholas Edwards will make a special appearance and give an introduction to the organ’s acoustic design.

“The pipe organ was at the heart of the Opera House design and we wanted the introduction to this instrument to be suitably grand. ROHM’s pipe organ was built by the famous pipe organ builder Orgelbau Klais based in Bonn, Germany,” said Christina Scheppelmann, CEO of the ROHM.

Muscat/OM, Royal Opera House

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