This is what it must feel like to be Placido Domingo. Take a look at this view of the Dubai Opera, taken from the stage, and released just days before the venue opens to the public.

It’s the first offical photo (here’s some video) to be released from inside the project, showing many of the concert hall’s 2,000 seats, and shows the view Domingo will have when he performs the Opera’s inaugural concert on August 31.

That concert sold out in under three hours when tickets were released to the public in April.

Performers have started to arrive at the venue, organisers tell tabloid!.

Culture fans can look forward to a programme of opera, theatre, ballet, concerts, art exhibitions, orchestra, film, sports events and seasonal programmes.

(Here’s a look at the programme.)

Highlights following the opening night include operas The Pearl Fishersand The Barber of Seville, ballets Coppelia and Giselle, the final tour by tenor Jose Carreras, a concert by sitarist Anoushka Shankar, and Broadway shows Les Miserables and West Side Story.

Tickets are online only, at dubaiopera.com.

The doors officially open at 6pm and the concert by Domingo, famously one of the Three Tenors, begins at 8pm, with concertgoers being encouraged to don black tie for the occasion — but skip the hats and big hair, please.

Source: gulfnews.com