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In a landmark cultural event, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra tonight performed to thousands of people around the Sydney Harbour foreshore and across the world when its sold-out concert Greatest Hits from Vienna inside the Sydney Opera House was projected live onto the sails of the iconic building.

 

As it performed inside the Concert Hall, the SSO became the first professional orchestral ensemble to feature in live real-time video projections on the sails. The spectacle on the sails was broadcast across the globe in a live web-stream at visions.vienna.info and on the Sydney Symphony Orchestra YouTube channel.

 

Presented by the Vienna Tourist Board, Visions of Vienna was a multimedia event celebrating the rich artistic heritage of Vienna.

 

Accompanying the projections of the Orchestra were images inspired by the art of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, as well as the pages of the original score of On the Beautiful Blue Danube waltz by J STRAUSS II and impressions of Vienna – often referred as the “World Capital of Music”.

 

Sydney Symphony Orchestra Managing Director Rory Jeffes said the “awe-inspiring” real-time projections presented the Orchestra to the world like never before and celebrated Vienna’s musical history. “It was just extraordinary to see the towering figures of our players on the sails of Sydney Opera House as they played inside the Concert Hall,” Mr Jeffes said. “We were immensely proud to share this experience with the world through the live-stream on YouTube.”

 

Vienna Tourist Board Managing Director Norbert Kettner said: “In Vienna, we are very aware of our enormous musical heritage and constantly develop new forms of presenting and celebrating it. With this world premiere of Visions of Vienna, we managed to find a completely new and highly innovative way of doing so.”