Saturday, October 2, 2010

Brisbane Open House Program - Part 4

The last stop for me today was at the Concert Hall at QPAC for a session about the Klais Grand Organ.  It was built in Bonn and shipped out in huge containers - the largest pipe is 32 feet!  The smallest is thinner than a pencil and only a few inches long.  Replacing the organ would cost at least $3.25M.  We heard a Phantom of the Opera piece, Ave Maria and Bach's Toccata (or WAS it?? apparently there is some contention about whether he wrote it, whether it was in D and whether it was for the organ anyway - who knew?)
 The seats in the Hall were replaced a couple of years ago - for $1M.  We also got to the see the LED lights and 14 side panels were raised to change the acoustics.