Journalists and onlookers stand during the intermission of a dress rehearsal of "The Barber of Seville" at the new Dubai Opera in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016. The city-state is opening the Dubai Opera on Wednesday night, in the shadow of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. The building resembles one of the many traditional wooden dhow shipping boats still plying the Dubai Creek. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Dubai: Opera is designed to bring out emotions in those who watch it, and on Wednesday evening in Downtown Dubai, the overriding sentiment was one of excitement as the city, and the country, welcomed its first opera house.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was one of the first visitors as the nearly 2,000 well-dressed attendees arrived at the first night of Dubai Opera, a dhow-shaped building jutting out next to Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

In a city of superlatives, it was no surprise the Opera’s CEO Jasper Hope called on Placido Domingo, one of the world’s top tenors, to inaugurate the building. More info

By By Natalie Long, tabloid! editor www.gulfnews.com

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