Danish singer-songwriter Agnes Obel has spent years out of the spotlight and has returned with a world tour to bring her back into the forefront of her legions of fans. After such a long time off, it was fitting that Obel chose the Sydney Opera House as the venue for her show in the Harbour City to reacquaint her with her Australian fans. Even late on a dreary Sunday night, the venue was absolutely packed to the brim and teeming with anticipation for Obel’s set. 

The German-based singer started the show off with a raw rendition of “Red Virgin Soil”, which felt atmospheric and powerful in its execution before moving into the poignant “Fuel to Fire”, as she entranced the audience with her skilful musicianship and carefully curated sound. Each song slowly built atmosphere and warmth within the room as she layered sounds on top of each other with an ethereality that just worked perfectly in the venue and gave the show a great deal of atmosphere. 

Starting at a piano, Obel gracefully moved around the stage, showing command of various instruments and synthesisers which felt like a true testament to her musicality. Alongside her were her percussionist Julian Sartorius, cellist Marie-Claire Schlameus and synth player Hinako Omori who Obel made a point to say were also incredible musicians in their own right and they certainly showed it in this gig with incredible command and mastery of their instruments and the soundscape. Against the backdrop of the music were beautiful visuals, which were a nice touch and complemented the music well. 

Obel interspersed her newer work with some of her older work, with the newer songs feeling a lot more vocally driven than some of her earlier work, which provided a nice contrast for the audience throughout the 90 minute set. With that said, for the newer songs, It was a little hard to pick up her diction at times as her words got lost in the Opera House Concert Hall but this didn’t seem to matter much for the audience, who revelled more in the atmosphere and musicality than anything else. The biggest cheers of the night came when Obel returned for an encore, performing the pulsating “Riverside”, which really had a sense of power and poignance to it before closing with “The Curse” to end a fairly concise but engaging set with a well-deserved standing ovation from all in attendance. 

Overall, this was a beautiful show which showed off the breadth of Obel’s incredible musicality as well as the evolution in her discography and her writing. While her diction was slightly lost in some of her newer tracks, which meant that it was a little harder for audiences to connect at times, this was still a very well considered and well put together show and a wonderful celebration of Obel’s music. 

Rating: ★★★★1/2

Agnes Obel – Sydney Opera House Concert Hall – 27 September 2026

Photo credit: Alex Bruel Flagstad