The Opera House

Reviewed By  Nan van Dissel       April 21, 2022

 

Author  Peter FitzSimons

Distributor:      Hachette Australia
ISBN:                 9780733641336
Publisher:         Hachette Australia
Release Date:   April 2022  

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The Sydney Opera House which is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List alongside the Taj Mahal, the ancient Pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China is considered one of the most outstanding places on Earth.

This multi-venue performing arts centre, located on the banks of Sydney Harbour at Bennelong Point, is widely regarded as one of the world’s most famous and distinctive buildings, and a masterpiece of 20th century architecture. However, had it not been for men with a vision, Australia’s first architectural work of genius may never have come to fruition.

Although over the years many books have been written about the trials and tribulations surrounding the conception and construction of the Sydney Opera House, Peter Fitzsimons in his thoroughly researched, comprehensive book ‘The Opera House’, gives the reader a different and unique insight into the social and political history surrounding this iconic landmark.

All the questions which the reader may have, plus some which she/he may not have even considered, surrounding this icon of architecture, the author has answered. Why was the Director of the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music Eugene Goossen, a strong early advocate for an opera house, almost written out of its history? How is Graham Thorne, the first kidnap victim in Australia, related to this magnificent architectural achievement? Why was Jorn Utzon, the designer and initial architect not even mentioned at its final opening, fourteen years after he’d won the design competition?

Fitzsimons, with great humour, also gives the reader an insight into the views of not only the politicians of the day, but also the good folk of Sydney; many who considered the design ‘insane and (one which) would disfigure the point’; ‘the joke of the century’.