The complete refurbishment of the Concert Hall, the largest performance space in the World Heritage listed Sydney Opera House, lasted for two and a half years. Based on the success of the opening night concert, both the time and the renovation budget of some 150 million Australian dollars was well spent and the changes are substantial, even if some of them are less obvious at first sight. The shape of the hall, with its comfortable seats, remains the same. However, the stage has been lowered by a metre and, suspended high above it, 16 acoustic magenta “petals” (to match the colour of the seats) now reflect the sound in multiple ways and replace the old acrylic “doughnuts”. On the side of the stage, tastefully designed audio diffusing wood panels, resembling a myriad of waves, have been installed. The now multi-tiered stage can be altered for different purposes, and allows every performer to see and be heard without impediment.
Ever since its opening, almost fifty years ago, the Concert Hall was highly praised for its magnificent look but regularly criticised for the deficiencies of its acoustics. With the greatest care and the expert assistance of a German acoustic firm, emphasis was placed on improving the sound of the hall and the resulting sonic experience was highly rewarding. Even the softest orchestral passages were clearly audible, while powerful tuttis, without ever being distorted, were impressively ferocious. But most notably, the sound quality of any instrument or instrumental group gained considerably in clarity and shine.
The resident ensemble of the hall is the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the opening night of the renovated hall also marked the start of Simone Young's tenure as their new Chief Conductor, returning to her home city from her long spell at Staatsoper Hamburg, having previously been at Opera Australia. Mahler's Second Symphony was thus an excellent choice, its “Resurrection” nickname bearing symbolic meanings in many ways.
Connecting the iconic modern building with the Indigenous past of the land on which it was built, the concert began with a composition by William Barton, Of the Earth, orchestrated for large performing forces by the composer and Jessica Wells. For this performance, the orchestra of over one hundred musicians was extended not only by two solo singers and the massive Sydney Philharmonia Choir but also, by the Sydney Children’s Choir and the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir. Apart from singing, the members of the two children’s choirs also used rain sticks (long, hollow timber tubes containing small pebbles) and clapping sticks. Almost inevitably, against such huge vocal forces, the voices of the female soloists, Australian soprano, Nicole Car, and American mezzo, Michelle DeYoung, were hard to distinguish but the combination of the Mexican wave of the children, the bird calls and other pastoral sounds of nature, mixed with first hushed, then robust orchestral sounds with the addition of the occasional aleatoric section created a feast both for the ears and the eyes.
Young is a worldwide expert in late-Romantic Germanic repertoire. Having conducted and recorded Mahler’s Second many times, there are not many details in this mighty composition with which she would not be intimately familiar. Her conducting was as self-assured as generous in its multi-coloured details. The rhythmic clarity (for example in the recklessly wild opening of the first movement on the lower strings), the heart-warmingly beautiful woodwind solos in the same movement or the sonority of the splendid brass ensemble in the Finale all served as testimony to the faultless cooperation between conductor and orchestra. The off-stage ensembles in the final movement were excellently positioned, and the glorious voices of Car and DeYoung smoothly contributed to the memorable reopening of this beautiful hall, now with the addition of world-class acoustics.
