OPERA debuted in Riyadh at the weekend with a classic Arabian love story, as bands from Beirut to New Orleans performed at the kingdom’s first jazz festival.

Long known for its ultra-conservative mores, the kingdom has embarked on a wide-ranging programme of social reforms that includes boosting sports and entertainment and allowing women to drive from June.

Music lovers had their first taste of jazz when a three-day festival opened on Thursday at the Riyadh Intercontinental hotel, showcasing performers such as regional darling Chady Nashef of Lebanon.

The opera “Antar and Abla” – a legendary story of love between an Arab warrior and his cousin – also drew crowds on Friday and yesterday in Riyadh’s Princess Noura University.

Such events would have been unimaginable a few years ago, when the much-feared religious police wielded authority to shut down concerts as they curbed any mixing of genders.

Since the appointment in June of 32-year-old Prince Mohammed bin Salman as heir to the throne, Saudi Arabia has launched an image overhaul, lifting bans on entertainment, including cinemas and public music festivals, and scaling back restrictions on women.

The reforms are largely motivated by economics and are part of a strategy to diversify the economy away from oil and create jobs for young Saudis. – AFP, February 25, 2018.