Sydney Opera House - history in pictures

1. Jorn Utzon

Work began on the Sydney Opera House back in the 50s, when Danish architect Jorn Utzon won first prize in the competition to design the building. He was instrumental in the iconic design of the building, and had a long relationship with it until his death.

2. Construction begins

December 1963 saw the construction begin to take shape, with those familiar arches and shapes becoming a permanent fixture on the Sydney skyline.

3. Almost finished

Ten years after construction began on the Sydney Opera House, the work reaches its final stages in June 1969.

4. First performance - Sergei Prokofiev

The honour of the first public performance in the Sydney Opera House fell to the Australian Opera and Prokofiev, with a rapturously received rendition of his epic War and Peace on September 23rd 1973.

5. Dame Edna Everage

Dame Edna Everage models a hat at Ascot, based on the inimitable design of the Sydney Opera House, showing just how much of a fixture of popular culture it became early on.

6. Millennium celebrations

When the Millennium celebrations kicked off in Australia, there was nowhere better than Sydney Harbour to view the fireworks, with the Opera House is bathed in light.

7. Backstage fun

Antoine Wagner Pasquier, Nick Byrne and Emma Sholl share a laugh before a performance of Wagner's Gotterdammerung by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House in September 2000.

8. Gianluigi Gelmetti

February 2002 saw Italian opera director Gianluigi Gelmetti appointed the new Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, resident at the Sydney Opera House.

9. Jon Lord

Jon Lord was a special guest at the Sydney Opera House when the Sydney Symphonic Orchestra performed his 'Concerto for Group and Orchestra'.

10. The Opera House is graffiti'd

On 18th March 2003, two anti-war protestors were arrested after they scaled the opera house and painted a slogan in red paint which remained clearly visible as Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced the country's decision to commit to a US-led invasion of Iraq.

11. Madama Butterfly

The 2003 production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

12. A royal visit

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip take in the magnificent view of the iconic Sydney Opera House in 2006.

13. Nabucco

Bass-baritone Daniel Sumegi and Baritone Michael Lewis perform Guiseppe Verdi's Nabucco at the Sydney Opera House.

14. A papal visit

Pope Benedict XVI visits Australia in 2008, and of course pops past the Opera House.

15. La Boheme

Miriam Gordon-Stewart, Welsh tenor Rhys Meirion, Jud Arthur, baritone Jared Holt and Warwick Fyfe perform Puccini's La Boheme.

16. Salome

A performance of Richard Strauss' Salome at the Sydney Opera House.

17. A World Heritage Site

Sydney Opera House was added to the World Heritage List in June 2007, with UNESCO describing it as "a great architectural work of the 20th century. It represents multiple strands of creativity, both in architectural form and structural design, a great urban sculpture carefully set in a remarkable waterscape and a world famous iconic building."