A gift to the nation from Sultan Qaboos, himself an avid fan of classical music and the arts, Muscat’s imposing and ornate Royal Opera House opened in 2011. Performances planned for the coming season include Verdi’s Falstaff and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, and the Opera House also plays host to both traditional and contemporary music and dance from Oman and the wider Arab world, along with international acts from across the spectrum of the arts.