OPERA HOUSE
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
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History of Opera House :
Sydney Opera House must be one of the most recognisable images of the modern world - up there with the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building - and one of the most photographed. Not only is it recognisable, it has come to represent 'Australia'. Although only having been open since 1973, it is as representative of Australia as the pyramids are of Egypt and the Colosseum Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
It was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on October 20, 1973, and the televised opening included fireworks and a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. This completely abstract landmark building, which does not reflect what we generally imagine an opera house to look like, architecturally put the continent of Australia on the world map. The ability to create abstract art only developed after the invention of photography in the late 19th century, when painters first began to experiment with an abstract, cubist interpretation of reality.
Sydney Opera House is one of the most distinctive and famous 20th-century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world. Situated on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, with parkland to its south and close to the huge Sydney Harbour Bridge, the building and its surroundings have come to be an icon of Australia. To some, the sail-shaped, sectioned shells seem to show the many sailboats usually seen in the harbor.
Construction :
Thousands of tourists visit the impressive building every week just to experience it. The opera house covers 1.8 hectares of land. It is 183 meters (600 ft) tall and about 120 meters (388 ft) wide at its widest point. It is supported on 580 concrete piers sunk up to 25 meters below sea level. Its power supply would meet the needs of a town of 25,000 people, and the power is distributed by 645 kilometers of electrical cable. The roofs are made of 1,056,000 self-cleaning, glazed white granite tiles from Sweden.
Within Opera House :
Sydney Opera House has some 1,000 rooms, including five theaters, five rehearsal studios, two main halls, four restaurants, six bars and several souvenir shops. Its interior is made of pink granite and wood.The five performance rooms in the opera house are: the Concert Hall, with 2,679 seats and the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ, the largest mechanical tracker action organ in the world, with over 10,000 pipes; the Opera Theatre, with 1,547 seats; the Drama Theatre, with 544 seats; the Playhouse, which has 398 seats; and the Studio Theatre, with 364 seats.In addition to many touring theater, ballet and musical productions, Sydney Opera House is the home of Opera Australia, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
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