For two glorious hours on Sunday, the Wanamaker Grand Court came back to life

The Wanamaker Eagle never looked better, bathed in golden, theatrical lighting.

A thousand or so lucky souls filled the Grand Court.

And the Wanamaker Organ was back in action.

All the elements were familiar Sunday afternoon for the first public event in the former Wanamaker Center City store since the historic space was vacated by Macy’s in March. But, like a pleasantly distorted dream, the context had changed.

Shoe racks and jewelry cases were gone, and in their place bleachers, chairs, and temporary enclosures had created an atmospheric and discrete — if still grand — performance space.

This was the first in a series of planned performances in the Wanamaker Building through the end of the year. Details are still falling into place, but music, dance, cabaret, holiday parties — yes, the Wanamaker Light Show — and more are being planned under the punny pop-up title “Pipe Up!”

Sunday’s tickets “sold out” — they were free — within an hour after being offered, and the crowd seemed buoyantly engaged in being part of the building’s evolution. In speeches, politicians and civic leaders kept hitting on the leitmotif of John Wanamaker’s original vision of the place as an intersection of art and commerce, and a cake had been constructed in the image of the Wanamaker Organ, the handiwork of Philadelphia’s Party Girl Bake Club.

The main point of all this, and the next few months of concerts, is to assert the idea that the Wanamaker Grand Court should continue in its role as an exceedingly rare instance of a big, public gathering space that is also home to an astonishing musical instrument.

The building’s new owner, developer TF Cornerstone, has said and done a number of encouraging things since taking over and announcing an ambitious renovation of the entire building. But no one yet knows exactly what the musical future is of a space that, for as long as anyone can remember, had offered free, twice-daily organ recitals.

If we needed reminding of that musical asset, organist Peter Richard Conte obliged near the end of Sunday’s concert with his transcendent arrangement of music from Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. It’s a remarkable 10 minutes, and not only because this is a musical experience that can be had only in Philadelphia (more about that below).

The entire “Pipe Up!” series is happening courtesy of the biggest organ fan of all, philanthropist Frederick R. Haas, whose Wyncote Foundation gave $1 million for Opera Philadelphia to organize and produce it. The variety-show format on Sunday indicated the breadth of arts groups that will be participating.

There’s something of an improvisatory feel to the initiative, and some of the performances worked better than others.

BalletX’s wit and athleticism could be only partially sensed, since the dancers mostly worked below the sight lines of many in the crowd. Live music, too, would have been more apt for the occasion than recorded.

Soprano Lindsey Reynolds with pianist Grant Loehnig sparkled in “Je veux vivre” from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. But with the absence of sound-absorbing merchandise like clothes and other materials, there was enough of a delayed reverberation that, sometimes, Reynolds sounded like she was in a duet with herself.

Others took advantage of the site. Opera Philadelphia general director and president Anthony Roth Costanzo put his countertenor cap on for the occasion, perching himself in front of the organ case for “Or la tromba” from Handel’s Rinaldo. The hall’s acoustic was flattering to Opera Philadelphia’s chorus in an excerpt from the David Hertzberg opera The Wake World.

But the room belongs to the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, which on this day had both greater firepower and more finely scaled nuance than ever. Conte’s Der Rosenkavalier arrangement builds from the quiet opening of the “Final Trio” to an excruciating climax — music of magic, transformation, and, finally, triumph. That’s not a bad message for a beloved Philadelphia space heading into its next chapter.

Bearded Ladies Cabaret performs ‘The Layaway,’ part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, in the Wanamaker Building’s Greek Hall, 13th and Chestnut Streets, on Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 28. Information on the entire Pipe Up! series: operaphila.org/pipeup. Information on Fringe Festival events: phillyfringe.org.