50 films celebrating 50 iconic years
Iconic artists, unforgettable performances, works that changed the way audiences saw the culture: Across its 50 year history, the Sydney Opera House has played host to an incredible diversity of talent, from musicians, choreographers and dancers to actors, playwrights, filmmakers, contemporary artists and visionary thinkers who challenged and shaped the cultural landscape. To mark our first half century, we’re digging deep into the archive to bring audiences 50 rare and often unseen performances over 50 days, and special livestreamed events from our Birthday Festival – free and exclusive to Stream.
Each day we’ll take a peek into the archive to reveal a piece of history, going all the way back to 1973 to the very first opera ever performed on our stage, a spectacular rendition of Prokofiev’s adaptation of War and Peace, going all the way up to the present day.
Program
Also on this page
This program is proudly supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW’s Blockbusters Funding initiative
Watch on demand
Celebrate the Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary with 50 consecutive days of rare and unseen recordings from the archive, spanning opera, classical, dance, theatre, contemporary music, documentaries and and livestreams from our Birthday Festival.
Other information
Frequently asked questions
Stream is Sydney Opera House’s online streaming platform showcasing world-class performing and digital arts, highlights from the Opera House’s incredible multi-genre archive, livestreams of new performances, presentations by local and international performing arts companies, plus original content created exclusively for the platform.
Turn your living room into a theatre or stream world-class performing arts from the back of the bus anytime, anywhere. Download the Stream app for mobile, tablet and TV from the App Store or Google Play now, or watch on your preferred browser.
It's free to sign up to Stream, which gains you access to a wide range of on-demand video content. A large proportion of Stream's content is free to view with the exception of premium rentals which are available to rent. Prices for rentals vary depending on the content.
Stream is available to watch worldwide, however some releases are exclusively available to Australian and New Zealand audiences.
Stream is managed by our platform partner Vimeo, so you will need to create a seperate account on the streaming platform.
Yes - teachers and educators can create an account and stream to a TV (using Cchromecast, Smartboard etc). Each account only works for in-classroom streaming from one device. The minimum age to sign-up for an account is 15 years old.
You can review the privacy policy for Stream here.
Technology & sign-up
Follow the below easy steps to sign-up for free to Stream
- Visit stream.sydneyoperahouse.com
-
In the top right hand corner, select ‘Create Account’
-
Input your details in the form and tick the box if you’d like to be first in-the-know when new Stream releases are announced.
-
Begin watching the best from the Sydney Opera House stages and beyond!
If you have any problems, please visit the Vimeo Help Centre.
You can watch Stream on any internet-connected device via a web browser, simply visit stream.sydneyoperahouse.com, create a free account and start streaming.
If you’re having trouble with your password, consider the following possibilities:
- Did you sign up with a typo in your email address, or an address different than the one you’re using to sign in? Try to find the confirmation email from when you signed up to verify the address you should be using.
- Punctuation makes a difference. If you signed up with email.email@gmail.com, but are trying to sign in with emailemail@gmail.com, our system will not consider those the same addresses.
- The end of your email address matters. For example, @gmail.com and @googlemail.com may be the same to Google, but our system will see them as different email addresses.
With those possibilities in mind, here are the ways to log in on the web. If you don’t have a password, or your password isn’t working, here is how to set/reset it:
- Click Sign in in the top right corner of the page and enter your email address.
- Click Next.
- Underneath the password field, select Reset your password.
- Enter your email address on that page and select Reset Password.
- If you are an active customer, you will be emailed a link to set a new password. Check your email inbox for that link.
Note: If you do not receive an email to reset your password, it's likely that you are using an incorrect email address. Please try any other addresses you own. Check all of your email inboxes for a 'Start watching' email from VHX (search for 'Start watching VHX ').
If a password is not required:
- Click Sign in in the top right corner of the page.
- Enter your email address. If you are an active customer, you will be immediately emailed a link that will sign you in, once clicked. Open your email inbox and click the sign-in link.
- You will then be signed in to watch your video content.
Note: If you do not receive an email to sign-in, it's likely that you are using an incorrect email address. Please try any other addresses you may have signed up with. Check all of your email inboxes for a 'Start watching' email from VHX (search for 'Start watching VHX '). Be sure to search your spam folder.
For optimal viewing, we recommend using one of the supported browsers listed here.
Make sure you're on a fast, reliable internet connection. When a video plays in lower than expected quality, it’s likely because your Internet speed (bandwidth) or computer processing speed cannot support higher quality playback.
- If you can, try switching to a different internet or data connection.
- Manually switch the quality of the video playback to a lower quality.
- Try browsing in an Incognito or private browsing window. This will disable your extensions and clear your cache and cookies, which often improves performance.
- If you have any internet filtering devices for your home (such as Disney Circle or Net Nanny), please turn these off as they can interfere with video playback or connectivity. Once done, close and reopen your browser and try visiting our website again.
- If you have any other devices to try, sometimes that makes a difference.
Chromecast
- Make sure your device and Chromecast are on the same Wi-Fi network.
- Make sure you have a fast and stable internet connection with a download speed of at least 500kbps.
- Unplug Chromecast and plug back in.
- Restart your wireless router or modem.
- Note: At this time, we do not support Chromecast devices that some TVs have built-in. While it may work, our player is not developed to support this and we cannot troubleshoot any issues that may arise.
Each Stream rental gives you access for a finite amount of time. This is indicated in the rental description where you watch the video.
To note:
- Videos within a free subscription or rental are not downloadable via the computer.
- Not all videos available for purchase will be available to download. If you do not see a download video button via desktop, they are likely disabled.
When viewing via a desktop browser, the download options are available below the player on the video's page.
- When on the Browse or Product page, click into the video you want to download.
- Scroll down on the video page.
- Click the Video Downloads dropdown below the player.
- Select the video resolution you wish to download from the dropdown.
- It will save to your computer and you can watch from there or transfer it to other external devices.
- Create a free Stream account here.
To be first in the know when new Stream releases are announced, be sure to tick the box to confirm you’re interested in receiving ‘newsletters and product updates from Stream - Sydney Opera House’. - To watch on a TV or an Apple phone or tablet, download the Stream app from the Apple Store. To watch on an Android phone or tablet, download the app from Google Play.
- Open the Stream app and tap ‘Sign In’.
- Start watching on any device!
At this time, the Stream app only supports English.
If you have an Android or Apple TV, you can download the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Apple TV
Currently, a 4th generation Apple TV or higher is required to download the Stream (tvOS) app. Note, this should not be confused with the Apple TV+ app, which is Apple's own app for their original content.
Android TV
Not all Android TVs support the Android app. However, in general, the following TVs should support the app:
AirTV, Nvidia, Hisense, Philips, Sharp, Skyworth, Sony, and Xiaomi.
Other TVs
If you have a Samsung TV, it may not be possible to log in or play the content from the built-in internet browser as these browsers are not currently supported. To try watching on a TV’s browser:
- On your TV, open the internet browser and visit stream.sydneyoperahouse.com.
- From here you can either create a free account or sign in to start watching.
If these steps don't work, then it's likely your TV will not be compatible. In this case, you can try connecting your computer or mobile device to your TV using a HDMI cord or casting via Chromecast or Airplay with Apple devices.
You don’t need a smart TV to use the Stream app, you can use a set-top box.
If you are having issues using the iOS or Android Stream app, the following steps clear up most issues:
- Log out of the app, restart your device, and log back into the app.
If that doesn't resolve the issue:
- Exit the app, turn your device’s Wi-Fi off then on, and open the app again.
- Check if there is an update for the app (via the iTunes App Store or Google Play Store).
If updating your app doesn't resolve the issue:
- Try uninstalling the app and downloading it again.
- Also, make sure your device's OS version is compatible with our app:
- For iOS, the OS version must be 12.0 or higher.
- For Android, it must be 5.0 or higher.
Search the Help Center to find answers or, if you're still having trouble, contact us (https://stream.sydneyoperahouse.com/contact/support).
If you have a free Stream account and want to watch on your Android device, make sure your device is running Android 5.0 or higher. Then follow these steps:
- Download the Stream Android app on your tablet or phone.
- Open the app and tap Sign In.
- Enter your details and tap ‘Email me a sign in link’.
- You will then be sent a sign-in email to your email inbox. You can open this email on your Android device or on a separate device.
- Click the Sign In link within that email and the app will refresh and log you in to watch. NOTE: If you have trouble with the link on the same device, try clicking the link in your email on a separate device to log in.
If you've downloaded the Stream Android app, you can Chromecast directly from the player in the app to a Chromecast device connected to the same network as your Android device.
Note: At this time, we do not support Chromecast devices that some TVs have built-in. While it may work, our player is not developed to support this and we cannot troubleshoot any issues that may arise. Only external Chromecast devices are officially supported.
- Launch the Stream Android app and open a video. Tap the screen so that the player controls appear. If you see the Chromecast icon in the lower right of the screen, you will be able to Chromecast the video.
- Tap the desired destination in the menu that appears. This will start the Chromecasting.
- Once you are successfully Chromecasting, the video will appear on the connected TV screen. On your Android device, you will see the player and video control options. To fast forward, rewind, or pause the video, use the player controls within the app. You can also click on a spot in the progress bar to fast forward or rewind.
- Note: When Chromecasting, you will not be able to use the player controls that appear on your Android device's lock screen. You need to unlock your phone and use the controls within the app.
- To disconnect from Chromecast, tap the Chromecast icon within the player, and then tap the Stop Casting option that appears in the window that pops up.