Module 5 - Section 4 选项类Summary - Exercise 19

原文

One of the most damaging acts after Utzon's departure was to dramatically change the brief he had been given. The major hall, which under the original brief was to be dual-purpose, both a concert hall for symphony orchestra and an opera theatre, was changed to accommodate only the former. At the same time, the number of seats in it was increased. Opera was shunted off to the minor hall, which was originally intended for drama only, because in the mid-1960s fewer people in Sydney attended the opera than attended symphony orchestra performances. Even though it was an opera house, the government decided, with no forward thinking at all, to put greater emphasis on the concert hall, to the detriment of opera.

The problems with the interiors of the Sydney Opera House are notorious. No grand opera, such as Verdi's Aida, can be properly staged in the concert hall (the major hall) because it has no staging gear. Nor can such operas be staged in the opera theatre itself (the minor hall), because it's too small, Moreover the minor hall can accommodate ballet, but the dancers are put at risk, Performers are forced to runoff into wings that barely exist, and as a result injuries have been common. Similarly, the inadequate dimensions of the orchestra pit have led to musicians suffering hearing loss.

Many people believed that the sound in the concert hall remained inferior, despite many ad hoc fix-ups, including, early on, the installation of 18 huge acrylic ceiling rings designed to reflect sound back onto the stage so that the orchestra could hear itself perform.