Today in History—November 9: The Sydney Opera House’s First Show (Featuring Scaffolding)

The Australian spring day was windy, and it was most certainly more so if you were sitting on scaffolding a dozen feet in the air.

But on the plus side, it probably helped the song carry.

Not that the legendary concert singer Paul Robeson needed any help getting his voice to carry.

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The Sydney Opera House was still under construction, but on this day in 1960, the venue held its first, albeit unofficial, concert.

The building’s design was such a feat of engineering that no one knew if it could be done. And it had been dreamed up by a man who’d never visited Australia.

During the performance, workers stopped constructing the building’s podium to listen. They perched on the scaffolding, arms and legs dangling like children on a jungle gym at recess. Some smoked cigarettes; others quietly ate their bagged lunches.

Mostly, there was silence and stillness—except for the booming bass notes of Robeson’s voice as he sang “Ol’ Man River,” his trademark, and “Joe Hill,” a labor union anthem. A champion of the working class, Robeson had been invited by the builders’ union.

Robeson was famous for his bass-baritone voice—and his activism and civil rights work. He never claimed membership in the Communist Party, but his progressive views made him sympathetic to socialism.

A standout academic and athlete at Rutgers, he faced discrimination from his own teammates and the opposing teams that refused to play against a Black player. But he persevered, and he graduated as a two-time All-American. And valedictorian.

He went on to become the most-lauded African American singer in the world.

Then came the House Un-American Activities Committee—aka the anticommunist witch hunt that interrupted the lives of so many talented Americans. Robeson’s passport was revoked, restricting his ability to perform abroad.

He got creative instead: In 1952 he gave a concert that Canadians could hear by standing on the border in Blaine, Washington, and in 1957 he serenaded London via underwater transatlantic cable.

After nearly a decade his passport was restored. He used it to restart his singing career, with a blistering world tour that included this memorable stop in Sydney.