Classical Music at the House
Your guide to classical music performances at the Sydney Opera House
Grand orchestras, celebrated conductors and first-class international soloists – join us for classical music beneath the sails. Featuring intimate recitals and colossal orchestras, our concerts calendar exhibits the best of symphonic, chamber and contemporary classical music.
Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade
16 - 18 Feb 2023
Simone Young conducts the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in a captivating concert of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, inspired by the tales of Arabian Nights. In 1888, the ‘Russian master of orchestration’ composed this symphonic suite representing the 1001 nights Scheherazade spent with the Persian king – where she told a captivating story each night to save herself from decapitation. The violin represents Scheherazade spinning her tales, while the orchestra brings to life the compelling worlds she describes.
Jordi Savall with Hespèrion XXI
28 Feb 2023
Jordi Savall is an archaeologist of music. The Spanish viola gambist is one of the great personalities of culture, and undoubtedly one of the world's leading experts on early and renaissance music. With a repertoire encompassing the early Renaissance and the Baroque – including works by Alberti, Ferrabosco, Bach, and more – Savall with ensemble Hespèrion XXI bring to life the international musical heritage of times gone by.
Vieux Farka Touré
2 Mar 2023
Malian singer-guitarist Vieux Farka Touré – ’the Hendrix of the Sahara’ – makes his Sydney Opera House debut with two genre-crossing shows, including songs from his recent album Les Racines. The studio album saw Vieux literally returning to his roots and the Desert Blues style inherited from his father, who famously bridged the traditions of West African song and Afro-American blues guitar.
Kronos Quartet
14 Mar 2023
Founded the same year as the Sydney Opera House was completed, Kronos Quartet are celebrating their 50th-anniversary with an unforgettable performance in the renovated Concert Hall. The quartet combines the spirit of exploration with a commitment to reimagining the string quartet experience. Their KRONOS Five Decades Tour exhibits a startling range of works, including Reich, Crumb and some unexpected new music.
The Gesualdo Six
2 Apr 2023
Experience the sound of the Tudors with one of the UK’s finest all-male ensembles in a concert of Renaissance masterpieces. Educated in the English cathedral tradition, the vocal group will perform a glorious repertoire from the Golden Age of Church Music, including the intricately woven creations of Thomas Tallis and the beautiful vocal compositions of Thomas Tomkins.
Inside/Out at the House
London Symphony Orchestra
1 - 3 May 2023
The London Symphony Orchestra will make its third visit to the Sydney Opera House in May, as the first international orchestra to perform in the newly renovated Concert Hall. Headlining our extraordinary seven-day festival, Inside/Out at the House, Music Director Sir Simon Rattle will lead the 114-strong orchestra in his interpretations of Debussy, Bruckner, Mahler, and more.
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Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony
Indulge in the intoxicating richness of Russian Romanticism with these performances of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5, with its passionate melodies and beautiful orchestration.
Folk and Fantasy
Take an unexpected journey - contemporary chamber music for woodwinds, strings and pianos, with innovative fusions of well-known favourite composers and novel styles.
The Splendour of the Baroque
Baroque music overflows with its precise, crystalline beauty, and when performed by a chamber ensemble each instrument has space to sing.