#sydney-opera-house — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

Mainland Monochrome @[email protected] · 2026-04-04 · 11:53 UTC

Continuing with the #Pinhole images:

#Sydney #SydneyOperaHouse #SydneyHarbour #CircularQuay #Pinhole #PinholePhotography #PinholeSieve #Ikoflex #Delta3200 #MediumFormat #Film #Photography #BlackAndWhite #BWPhotography #BlackAndWhitePhotography

Prints: https://prints.mainmono.co.uk/featured/opera-house-and-chains-mainland-monochrome.html

#pinhole #sydney #sydneyoperahouse #sydneyharbour #circularquay #pinholephotography

allrite rites @[email protected] · 2026-03-22 · 12:26 UTC

An organ recital with Anna Lapwood

Before we start, let’s just make this clear: This has nothing to do with anatomical dissections. The organs involved in this concert might be bigger than a muscle vehicle owned by someone said to have a small organ, but they refer to different things. Are we clear about this? This concert is totally G rated.

Forgive me, but this organism didn’t know who Anna Lapwood was before he booked his ticket to this concert. Oh, he knew she was an organist because he is organised and read the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s guide when he was searching for concerts to subscribe to so he could book his precious film music concerts targets. There were a couple of film music pieces in her concert list, so that would do to fill up another spot. Anyway, the organ is an interesting instrument in itself, right?

It turns out that Anna Lapwood is a big star on the socials.

A damn fine pipe organist, musician and communicator.

And a huge fan of film music.

When I received an email from the orchestra telling me that four of the other pieces listed were dumped and replaced with a suite from Lord of the Rings I was suddenly really looking forward to this concert. Film music. Pipe organ. Wow!

And it was sold out too. Except for the empty seat next to me. Sorry whoever booked that. You missed out.

This wasn’t quite my first pipe organ concert. I once had the pleasure of hearing a short, but very impressive, performance at the Melbourne Town Hall prior to an orchestral concert of film music by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra a decade or two ago.

I also have a little bit of family history with the pipe organ. One of my uncles rebuilt a small organ in the basement of his previous home in Adelaide and served as a consultant for the instrument on the set of the Australian movie Sweet Country.

I don’t think he appreciates film music though.

For a star of the socials there seemed to be quite a few in the audience approaching my uncle’s advanced age. There were plenty on the other side of the spectrum too. Even the rear stalls were filled with an excited crowd. The only empty spot was the stage, for most of the action takes place high above.

A magnificent pipe organ towers over the concert hall with pipes of shining chrome, the organist’s keyboard located on a small balcony overlooking the stage. The organ is believed to be the world’s largest mechanical tracker-action organ, meaning that the keys and the valves allowing the air to flow into the 10,244 individual pipes are mechanically linked rather than by triggering an electrical motor. However, more recently electric motors have been added to allow for the organ to be remotely controlled.

Lapwood runs out on to the empty orchestral stage in a dazzling coat that sparkles with the amazing lighting from above. She is full of energy and excitement at performing and is greeted with enthusiasm by the crowd. Then she bounds up three flights of steps and out to the balcony of the organ to begin the concert with Hans Zimmer’s Chevaliers de Sangreal from The Da Vinci Code, telling us how she transcribed the music when she was eight years old.

Prior to each piece, Lapwood not only describes the music itself and what it is about, but also what it means to her, personalising it, dedicating it to someone in the audience or elsewhere. She is plays her own arrangements, for most music is not written for a solo organ. But it is a versatile instrument with an incredible range, capable of gentle flute tones to a thunderous cacophony that even an entire orchestra cannot match.

The concert continues with Rachel Portman’s Flight and Olivia Belli’s Limina Luminis, the latter presented as describing the perspective of an astronaut from before their launch to the view of Earth from space. Both are concert pieces rather than film music, but would easily belong in the cinema.

Then we come to a suite of music from Lord of the Rings, excerpts from an organ symphony adaptation that Lapwood is writing. She attempts to describe the nature of the music and the sequence of events portrayed by the 9 individual pieces in under the 5 minutes she took in Melbourne, asking the audience to time her.

Instead we get the 6 minute extended edition.

Now, the Art of the Score are hosting a Lord of the Rings concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra later this year and good luck achieving better than that.

The translation of the Howard Shore’s multi-instrumental score to the organ is absolutely incredible. I especially love the Hobbit’s themes, but there is opportunity to explore the full dynamic and tonal range of the pipe organ in the suite. At certain points Lapwood sings in Elvish with a beautiful clear voice, demonstrating her many talents.

We then break for a twenty minute interval, before returning with some John Williams and Dual of the Fates from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. With its battle between different sections of the orchestra and overall drama, Dual of the Fates works well with the organ. Following on is another movie set mostly in space, though not in a galaxy far, far away, and that is Interstellar, with the Cornfield Chase. Hans Zimmer heavily utilised the pipe organ in his score to Interstellar and perhaps the minimalist nature of his music is better suited to the instrument that John Williams’ classical orchestral complexity. It would be interesting to explore this further.

Luduvico Einaudi’s Experience is another minimalistic piece and it sounds wonderful, as is Lapwood’s story about performing with the composer. Eugene Gigout’s Toccata from his 10 Pieces for Organ is the oldest and most classical of the music performed tonight and it does stand out. I appreciate it for it complexity and skill, but like it the least out of all I hear tonight.

The last item on program for the night is a suite from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End by Hans Zimmer. Lapwood describes it as her favourite music, the one that gives her energy, and that can certainly be heard here. I too would have picked At World’s End from that series. It is a wonderful arrangement for the organ, encompassing the playful music of Jack Sparrow, the diegetic organ playing of Davy Jones and the longing of One Day. She gets the audience to sing along the words to Hoist the Colours at the beginning, then somehow plays four separate melodies simultaneously with each hand, feet and thumbs in Drink Up Me Hearties.

But of course that’s not all. Lapwood offers the audience a choice of Test Drive from John Powell’s score to How To Train Your Dragon or No Time For Caution from Interstellar. We get both and it is perfect way to end.

Lapwood then returns to the stage for a standing ovation. And she tells us that, though many come to concert halls and recitals expecting to hear the great classical composers, it is film music that resonates most with her. I cannot help but agree with her. It is music that goes beyond decoration and technique, instead incorporating fantasy and reality. Listening to her play Lord of the Rings I am not just on a quest in Middle Earth, I’m driving through the South Island of New Zealand on our first holiday there, the music on the car CD player. Or I’m 39,000 feet in the air watching Interstellar on a flight back from Japan. Those are my stories. Others have theirs. It was a privilege to hear Anna Lapwood’s tonight, both in her words and her music.

I really enjoyed An Organ Recital With Anna Lapwood. It was a very different way to listen to the music that I love and a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hang around and purchase a signed CD, but I will definitely be adding her performances to my collection. Organic is supposed to be good for you!

When I reach home my 17 year old kid tells me that he is familiar with Anna Lapwood online and in an amazing coincidence, I switch on the television and Sweet Country is showing on the ABC! I can’t see a pipe organ in it, maybe that’s a task for another day. I shall certainly be paying more attention now.

#AnnaLapwood #Concert #HansZimmer #HowardShore #Interstellar #JohnWilliams #LordOfTheRings #Organ #PipeOrgan #PiratesOfTheCaribbean #RachelPortman #StarWars #SydneyOperaHouse

#annalapwood #concert #hanszimmer #howardshore #interstellar #johnwilliams

Douglas E. Welch @[email protected] · 2026-03-12 · 20:48 UTC

Sydney Opera House at Dusk, Sydney, NSW, Australia

https://welchwrite.com/blog/2026/03/12/opera-house-5-2/

Follow My Photos on Pixelfed: https://pixelfed.social/p/douglaswelch/937811067318214838

#naturephotography #travelphotography #landscape #photography #sydney #australia #sunset #wallart #interiordesign #homedecor #sydneyoperahouse #sydneyharborbridge #harbor #cityscape #goldenhour #australianlandscape #modernart #ocean #architecture #wanderlust #outdoorart

#naturephotography #travelphotography #landscape #photography #sydney #australia

Douglas E. Welch @[email protected] · 2026-03-10 · 22:33 UTC

Sydney Sunset, Sydney, NSW, Australia [Prints and Products Available]

With the skyline, Opera House, and Harbor Bridge

https://welchwrite.com/blog/2026/03/10/sydney-harbor-2/
Prints Available at http://DouglasEWelch.com/shop/875

#naturephotography #travelphotography #landscape #photography #sydney #australia #sunset #wallart #interiordesign #homedecor #sydneyoperahouse #sydneyharborbridge #harbor #cityscape #goldenhour #australianlandscape #modernart #ocean #architecture #wanderlust #outdoorart #prints #products

#naturephotography #travelphotography #landscape #photography #sydney #australia

Khurram Wadee ✅ @[email protected] · 2026-02-24 · 09:12 UTC

#Planet Parade over #SydneyOperaHouse
#Astronomy #Picture of the Day

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260224.html

#APOD #Australia

#planet #sydneyoperahouse #astronomy #picture #apod #australia

Josh :everything_bagel: @[email protected] · 2026-01-30 · 01:39 UTC

There was also this amazing lamington. #SydneyOperaHouse #Australia

#sydneyoperahouse #australia

Josh :everything_bagel: @[email protected] · 2026-01-30 · 01:38 UTC

I still often think about this #SydneyOperaHouse-shaped pavlova we ate at the Sydney Opera House. #Australia

#sydneyoperahouse #australia

allrite rites @[email protected] · 2025-12-23 · 09:57 UTC

Now You See Me Live

Magic! Illusions! Danger!

We haven’t seen any of the Now You See Me movies, but B was excited to see the stage show featuring professional magicians and escape artists in action. So back to the Sydney Opera House for the second time this month, just a couple of days before Christmas, this time with Alex coming along too.

On the way in we are asked to take four playing cards from a bin.

What follows is about two hours of sleights of hand, illusions, escapology and mentalism, performed by American Adam Trent, Italian Andrew Basso, Frenchman Enzo Weyne, Canadian Gabriella Lester and Englishman Matthew Pomeroy. There’s card tricks, supposed teleportation, an escape from a water torture box and a live scorpion. There is also plenty of audience participation, so if that’s not your thing don’t sit in the front few rows.

For those of you who might watch, I have no wish to spoil the fun by describing the stunts. Many of them leaving you wondering how they were done, which I think accounts for some of the subdued applause during the show.

Aside from the escapology, which is obviously a largely physical skill on the part of the practitioner (primarily Basso, in this case), magic works by clever contraptions and distraction, along with the fact that our conscious thoughts are preceded by subconscious actions and assumptions. Does free will even exist? Perhaps not, and this is of use to those who would manipulate thought and observation.

Rather than appreciating the deception, I find myself more interested in how the tricks were performed. Of course, this will not be revealed here, so I am left a bit unmoved by the experience. Though I have never watched a professional magic show live before, the performances also feel far too familiar from having sat through too many of the America and Britain’s Got Talent shows that B likes to watch.

If that’s your thing then you will probably enjoy Now You See Me Live. B and Alex certainly did. The audience, many of whom gave a standing ovation seemed to as well. Guess I am a bit disillusioned by magic!

#escapology #illusion #magic #mentalism #NowYouSeeMe #show #SydneyOperaHouse

#escapology #illusion #magic #mentalism #nowyouseeme #show

allrite rites @[email protected] · 2025-12-06 · 06:05 UTC

Marvel Studios Infinity Saga Concert Experience – Sydney!

It’s been less than two months since I was in Melbourne at the Marvel Studios Infinity Saga Concert Experience, so what is different this time?

Well, for a start, it’s at the Sydney Opera House and being performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Benjamin Northey. Also, I had my wife B along with me, Alex staying home to study for exams next week. Tragic, eh, the parents watching superheroes with the kid being all serious and working!

Please see my Melbourne review for the structure of the concert, as this one followed the same pattern, except that conductor Northey gave a longer introduction. I think knowing what to expect helped me enjoy this concert even more than the first outing and allowed me to focus more on the orchestra than the film clips on the big screen.

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra were in fine form, really bringing the scores from the variety of composers to life. We had a great view of the string sections, with the ostinato of variations on Silvestri’s Avengers Theme keeping them busy, while Ramin Djawardi and Christophe Beck’s themes for Iron Man and Ant Man respectively gave the percussionists a huge workout. I noticed that the rock music drummer was kept in a clear plastic enclosure, probably for the safety of the musicians and audience. Drummers have a very wild reputation.

Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed Benjamin Northey’s dramatic conducting as you get the sense he really is channeling the music. So was I. This time I took pleasure in the variation of Patrick Doyle’s Thor and Pinar Toprak’s Captain Marvel, freed from the expectation of what they should sound like based on the soundtrack.

It was also fun sharing the experience with B and with the rest of the vocal audience, some of whom rose to give the orchestra a deserving standing ovation.

I certainly had a marvellous time!

#benjaminNorthey #concert #filmMusic #marvel #music #orchestra #sydneyOperaHouse #sydneySymphonyOrchestra