The Sydney Town Hall has a rich musical history. Before the Sydney Opera House was opened in 1973, this sandstone architectural gem, recently superbly refurbished, was the handsome focal point of music-making in the city.
Its Grand Organ, now 120 years old, is one of the finest in the world. When it was installed, in 1890, it was the largest in the world and is still the largest ever built with tubular-pneumatic action.
For many years, the Town Hall was the performing venue of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The legendary Australian singers, Nellie Melba, Joan Sutherland, and Peter Dawson performed there, and its stage was graced by visiting artists of the stature of Victoria de los Angeles, Leontyne Price, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Nicolai Gedda, Igor Stravinsky, Otto Klemperer, Sir John Barbirolli, Alceo Galliera, Claudio Arrau, Yehudi and Hephzibah Menuhin, David Oistrakh, and Mstislav Rostropovich.
Sydney Sings Messiah 2010
The Sydney Choir is pleased that in recent years (2007, 2010 and 2012), we have been able to play a role in reviving the Town Hall’s musical activity, by presenting large-scale community performances of Handel’s Messiah. We hope that our 28 April performance of Verdi’s Requiem will contribute to this process.
John Bowan
Sydney Town Hall photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, taken by Greg O’Beirne, 30th January 2006.
Hello there. Not sure who will view this comment, but I would like to find a record perhaps of my Grandmother, who my Mother said, sang at the Town Hall. Her name was Gwendoline Attenborough. I don’t know how many times or when, other than perhaps around the Early 1900’s or so.