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Among the works performed at the official opening concert at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 29 September 1973 was the celebrated aria from Act Two of Wagner’s opera Tannhauser (1845). ‘Dich, teure Halle’ was sung by Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson.
Curator’s notes
Some wags took the name of the aria – ‘Dich, teure Halle’, whose literal translation is ‘O Dear Hall of Song’ – to mean the cost of the Opera House, which at A$102 million (in 1973 figures) was the most expensive building of its kind in the world.
Birgit Nilsson was making her first (and last) appearances in Australia and her superlative performance remains one of the most spine-tingling moments in Australian music.
