Sir Simon Rattle conducts London Symphony Orchestra Inside/Out at the House

Nearly 60 years ago, the London Symphony Orchestra was the first visiting orchestra to rehearse in the Sydney Opera House. It was 1966, the building was unfinished, the acoustic was – no surprise – ‘terrible’. Now, in 2023, the London Symphony Orchestra will make its third visit to this iconic building as the first international orchestra to perform in the newly renovated Concert Hall.

The LSO’s return to the Sydney Opera House on its final tour with outgoing music director Sir Simon Rattle will be a highlight in our 50th anniversary celebrations, headlining our extraordinary 7-day festival Inside/Out at the House. Back in 1966, the LSO was the ‘best orchestra yet to be heard in Australia’ – ‘a true ensemble … amazingly accurate and brilliant’. And nothing’s changed. If anything, the LSO has gone from strength to strength.  

Sir Simon’s LSO legacy ranges from the ravishing colour and transparency that he brings to French music, to the energy, insight and sheer love that emerges in his interpretations of Bruckner and Mahler. And it will all be on show in three programs: Mahler’s Seventh Symphony; American John Adams and two 20th-century French masterpieces in a scintillating combination; and in a Sydney exclusive: Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony and a fascinating and beautiful new work by Daniel Kidane.

Sir Simon says it feels ‘almost like science fiction, the idea of even getting on a plane, let alone coming to the other side of the world’. In the shadow of a global pandemic, the thought of travelling to hear an orchestra or of an orchestra travelling to perform for us has seemed impossible. But it’s happening!

Join us for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear the LSO and Sir Simon Rattle perform — inside or outside the House.