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Wolanski Foundation support for
Sydney Opera House
The Wolanski Foundation
has renewed its relationship with the Sydney Opera House
Trust by providing funds to support activities relating to the history of the House, including maintenance of
the Dennis Wolanski
Archive of the Sydney Opera House, provision of access to related material
and the Opera House digital strategy. For further details see
the
Sydney Opera House website.
The following images and links highlight
major groups of material retained by the Sydney Opera House or transferred
as distributed collections from the Dennis Wolanski Library to other repositories.
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Dennis
Wolanski OAM, 1917-1992
Photograph by Gary Ede, 1986. Dennis Wolanski emerged from the devastating experience of
the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II to achieve business success in
Australia. His business success created room for him to pursue
artistic endeavours as a sculptor and contributor to the Sculptors’
Society during its formative years. Philanthropic interests were
channelled into a number of causes, notably the Dennis Wolanski
Library and Archives of the Performing Arts, which provided services
at the Sydney Opera House between 1973 and 1997. More details
soon. |
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Sydney Opera House
records and archives
Photograph by Fairfax of the Opera Australia cast in Prokofiev’s War
and Peace, the first public performance in the Opera Theatre, 28
September 1973. The photograph was purchased for The Building of the
Century Exhibition in 1988 and retained by the Trust following the
closure of Dennis Wolanski Library in 1997. Other material relating
to the War and Peace production and the history of the Sydney Opera House in
general were transferred to other organisations. More details
soon. |
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Dame Nellie Melba,
1861-1931
Photograph circa 1916 by Dover Street Studios London of Melba as Juliet in
Romeo and Juliet. The large framed photograph is one of a number
of collections and items relating
to the Australia singer that were transferred from the Dennis Wolanski Library
to the Victorian Arts Centre's Performing Arts Collection and other
organisations. Melba’s tours of Australia during the first
three decades of the 20th century under the auspices of JC
Williamson laid the ground for a permanent national opera company in
Australia and the building of the Sydney Opera House. More
details soon, |
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Sir Eugene Goossens,
1893-1962
Photograph of Eugene Goossens (right) driving a train in the United States, part of a
collection of material donated to the Dennis Wolanski Library by Goossens'
daughter Sidonnie and retained by the Sydney Opera House Trust following
the closure of the Library in 1997. Goossens galvanised support for the building
of a performing arts centre in Sydney after World War II. More details soon. |
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Annette Kellerman
1887-1975
Still photograph from footage taken by Jimmy Sullivan of Annette
Kellerman performing an underwater ballet, part of the Kellerman
collection transferred from the Dennis Wolanski Library in 1997 to
the State Library of NSW (paper documentation) and the Powerhouse
Museum (costumes and other artefacts). Before Kellerman gained an
international reputation as a long distance swimmer, vaudeville
entertainer and film star, she learned to swim in Cavill’s floating
baths at Farm Cove, near the Sydney Opera House. The Kellerman
collection was initially displayed in Splish Splash, an exhibition
coordinated by Barbara Firth and designed by Bill Passmore at the
Opera House in 1977. Barbara Firth later assisted Emily Gibson to
write the biography of Kellerman, The Original Million Dollar
Mermaid, published in 2005. More details soon. |
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Dame Joan Sutherland
1926-2010
Photograph of Joan Sutherland as Lucia in the Sutherland Williamson
International Grand Opera Company production of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
in 1965. The photograph, from the International Exhibition of Photography’s
Photography in the Performing Arts collection, is one of several
hundred images displayed in
the Sydney Opera House Exhibition Hall from 27 October to 4 November 1973.
They are now housed in the the Seaborn Broughton and Walford Archives and
Performing Arts Collection. Joan Sutherland returned to
Australia in 1974 and was a prized member of Opera Australia until
her retirement in 1990. More details soon. |
Further information on items retained by the
Sydney Opera House or transferred to other organisations.
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