Editing Sydney Opera House (section)

==Performance firsts==
[[File:First_Performance_Concert_Hall_Sydney_Opera_House.jpg|thumb|right|Ticket for the first performance at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, September 1973]]
During the construction phase, lunchtime performances were often arranged for the workers, with American vocalist [[Paul Robeson]] the first artist to perform, in 1960.

Various performances were presented prior to the official opening:
* The first solo piano recital was in the Concert Hall on 10 April 1973, played by [[Romola Costantino]] to an invited audience.<ref>{{cite web |author=Bentley, Paul |url=http://www.twf.org.au/search/sohstory3.html |title=The Wolanski Foundation |publisher=Twf.org.au |access-date=23 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127144413/http://twf.org.au/search/sohstory3.html |archive-date=27 January 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* The first performance of an opera was [[Larry Sitsky]]'s ''[[The Fall of the House of Usher (1965 opera)|The Fall of the House of Usher]]'' (1965), to a libretto by [[Mary Durack]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.suzukimusicwa.com.au/rexhobcroft.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121230222722/http://www.suzukimusicwa.com.au/rexhobcroft.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 December 2012 |title=Suzuki Talent Education Association of Australia (WA) Inc |publisher=Suzukimusicwa.com.au |access-date=23 September 2013 }}</ref> in a double-bill with ''Dalgerie'' by [[James Penberthy]], conducted by [[Rex Hobcroft]]; it took place on 25 July 1973.<ref name="GriffelBlock1999">{{cite book|first1=Margaret Ross|last1=Griffel|author1-link=Margaret Ross Griffel|first2=Adrienne Fried|last2=Block|title=Operas in English: A Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxIKAQAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-0-313-25310-2}}</ref>
* The first opera to be performed in what was then known as the Opera Theatre was [[Sergei Prokofiev]]'s ''[[War and Peace (opera)|War and Peace]]'', on 28 September 1973, conducted by the [[Opera Australia|Australian Opera]]'s Music Director, [[Edward Downes]]. (It had been intended that [[Peter Sculthorpe]]'s work ''[[Rites of Passage (Sculthorpe)|Rites of Passage]]'' would have this honour, but it was not ready on time. ''Rites of Passage'' was premiered almost exactly a year later, on 27 September 1974.){{citation needed|date=December 2019}}
* The first public concert in the Concert Hall took place on 5 September 1973. It was an all-[[Richard Wagner|Wagner]] orchestral concert performed by the [[Sydney Symphony Orchestra]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 October 2013 |title=Timeline: 40 years of the Sydney Opera House |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-20/40-years-of-the-sydney-opera-house/5025816 |access-date=23 May 2022}}</ref> conducted by [[Charles Mackerras]] and with [[Birgit Nilsson]] as the soprano soloist. The first music played was the Prelude to ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]''. The concert closed with the Immolation Scene from ''[[Götterdämmerung]]''.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

After the opening:
* The first violin and piano recital was given by [[Wanda Wiłkomirska]], with pianist [[Geoffrey Parsons (pianist)|Geoffrey Parsons]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sigridharris.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/interview-with-a-famous-violinist-wanda-wilkomirska/ |title=Interview with Wanda Wilkomirska |publisher=Sigridharris.wordpress.com |date=25 November 2007 |access-date=23 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108092908/http://sigridharris.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/interview-with-a-famous-violinist-wanda-wilkomirska/ |archive-date=8 November 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>