The Opera House

With special guest:

• Peter FitzSimons
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

As well as being a 20^th century marvel in its soaring design it remains a source of marvel that the Opera House was even conceived in the parochial, conservative backwater that was 1950s New South Wales.

One thing that was typical then and remains so is the Australian love for a gamble so it was a brainwave of the NSW government to think of financing the construction by way of a lottery. All of a sudden there were more than enough funds to do the work of construction.

But the bigger gamble was to construct a building like no other that would be on display at the heart of the city with techniques that had not been invented based on the imaginings and sparse drawings of a Danish architect who had never taken a building design through to completion.

In his new book The Opera House Peter FitzSimons takes us on an incredible journey. It took Peter 12 years to track down all the stories which include sexual intrigue, kidnap and murder, bullying and breakdowns. Friendships were made and irrevocably broken in the course of the 15 years of construction before the glorious opening on a beautiful Sydney day in October 1973.

The building is now a symbol, an icon in the original sense of the word. It stands alongside other significant buildings like the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower and as the building approaches its 50^th birthday it continues to inspire. As American architect Louis Kahn says “The sun did not know how beautiful its light was until it was reflected off this building.”

And yet Joern Utzon the genius who won the original competition and poured his heart and soul into the building never got to see the finished product because after being pressured to leave Australia in a hurry he never returned. However the everyday people from all walks of life can come and enjoy everything from plays, speeches, concerts, special events even operas. The building was never intended just for the upper crust of society.

Let us say that Australia’s greatest storyteller, Peter FitzSimons has plenty of material to work with in this brilliant story.

Peter FitzSimons

Peter FitzSimons is Australia’s bestselling non-fiction writer and for the past 35 years has also been a journalist and columnist with the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD and the SUN-HERALD.

Peter is the author of a number of highly successful books, including BREAKER MORANT and THE INCREDIBLE LIFE OF HUBERT WILKINS both of which featured in previous Dads on the Air programs. Peter’s passion is to tell Australian stories, our own stories: of great men and women, of stirring events in our history and in his latest book the biography of Australia’s greatest building, THE OPERA HOUSE.

Song selection by our guest: Tangled Up in Blue by Bob Dylan

Note: This program is an encore presentation of the one aired on 5 May 2022.

Podcast (mp3)