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Author: Kevin
Date: 2005-12-09 21:01
From your own experience, and not by reputation...what are your favorite concert halls from around both the US and around the world? Take into consideration accoustics (probably most important), visible appeal, comfort, sentiment, who performs there, etc etc...
Kilbourn Hall of the Eastman School in Rochester NY and Town Hall in mid town New York City are my own favorites.
Isaac Stern (Carnegie) would be on my list if its appearence wasn't so boring. Avery Fisher in Lincoln Center too if its accoustics weren't so notoriously lacking.
Jordan Hall seemed like a wonderful place when I toured NEC, but I've yet to hear a live performance there.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2005-12-09 21:58
The Hollywood Bowl and its supplemental string section.
I quite liked the Estates Theater in Prague. Box Seats for Marriage of Figaro, $30. Gorgeous theater, quite nice acoustics.
Disney Hall for its acoustics so clear that you can hear every cough an audience member makes, even during the climax of the fourth movement of Fantastique. The all-around-the-orchestra seating is quite cool. I really want to go hear the pipe organ.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Bnewbs
Date: 2005-12-09 22:55
All around Orchestra hall in Minneapolis is tops my list. I really don't like the exterior, but the hall itself is nice visually. For a full orchestra the acustics are almost unbeatable, quite seats are comfortable (I am 6'3, and the width and leg room is fine), and I have never paid more than $40 a seat and heard some very good music.
The Semper Oper Dresden is just stunning visually, both inside and out. The acoustics aren't great, but not that bad either.
Bass hall in fort worth is a good combination of all of the above, although I have not heard a top shelf orchestra play there. Madison's Overture Hall is in the same boat with Bass (nice hall, could use a better orchestra).
For a smaller Hall Seiji Ozawa hall at Tanglewood has some pretty impressive acustics, looks kind of like a warehouse or barn though.
Ben
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Author: Joel K.
Date: 2005-12-09 23:09
I concur with the comment regarding Disney Hall. If you cough from the audience during a quiet passage, Congratulations! - you have just played a solo in a major concert hall. Everybody hears it! A friend of mine and I talked with Barry Socher who is a first violinist in the LA Phil and he loves the hall because he can hear everything. I heard the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and Cleveland Orchestra from the side stage seats and it was awesome.
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2005-12-10 01:12
<tangent>Barry Socher is the man! Don't know him, but I love the Armadillo Quartet. Also, when I saw Video Games Live at the Bowl, the jumbotron kept showing him rather than the concertmaster, we suspect because he looks more "classical music."</tangent>
When I saw Fantastique at Disney Hall, the orchestra had to pause an extra bit between movements for the coughing to die down. (it's the official time to cough, according to one of my music history professors) It's also bleedingly obvious when KUSC plays live recordings of the LA Phil from there. I tuned in toward the end of Rite of Spring once and thought I was listening to a postmodernist collage piece with all the background noise.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2005-12-10 01:12
I forgot....there's also Ravinia in Chicago. Accoustics are good (if I remember right) for an outdoor space. Seats are hard (b/c of it being outdoors) but are good quality. And the scenery and atmosphere on a late, cool summer afternoon is gorgeous!!
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Author: clarinetinwi
Date: 2005-12-10 01:15
After seeing Phantom of the Opera at the Overture Center (MADISON, WI!), it definately tops my list (appearance and sound). The lobby is breathtaking! There are also some additional, smaller theaters as well as an art museum.
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Author: Mofiddler
Date: 2005-12-10 04:25
My favorite concert hall is Carnegie Hall. I was only there once, but it was sure a thrill.
In Philadelphia, I can tell you that the new Kimmel Hall is a major disappointment acoustically. We had seats to the Philly Orchestra when they performed in the old Academy of Music and though the seats were horrible (nosebleed section), you could tell that an oboe was an oboe and a clarinet was a clarinet. In the new Kimmel everything sounds mushy and you can't differentiate one instrument from another. (But the seats are more comfortable
I used to play in the community orchestra in Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA and their 'new' (1980's) 'Foy' Hall was merciless in its clarity. But for seeing professional string quartets there, it was wonderful. You could almost count how many bow hairs were on the strings at a given time.
Maureen
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2005-12-10 04:29
The two best halls I've been to were the Metropolitan opera and the Lorens church in Rotterdam.
The acoustics in the Lorens church are the best I've heard, a HUGE reverb, and the organ sounded amazing (it is also a great organ). Really, the sound there was like nothing I've heard before.
The Metropolitan opera was also a great hall. I somehow got a couple of $300 tickets for free, and sat where according to the person who gave me the tickets, the queen of England would sit if she came. The acoustics were also amazing, and I could even see the bass clarinet player from where I was sitting!
Some halls are great for one thing, but horrible for another. For example we had a clarinet festival and the huge closing concert was at the best hall in the country. When Giora Feidman played solo it sounded great, when they played a new concerto for three clarinets and string orchestra it still sounded great (since it was played by Giora Feidman, Eddie Daniels and Philippe Cuper it had to be!) but at the end when Eddie Daniels played jazz (with piano, bass, drums), and eventhough it was much better than anything I've heard from Daniels on any of his CDs, it became one of the worst halls I've heard.
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Author: Phat Cat
Date: 2005-12-10 08:11
Severance Hall, Cleveland. Certainly didn't hurt that it was populated by Cleveland Orchestra w/ Szell, Marcellus, et al.
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Author: larryb
Date: 2005-12-10 11:49
Bohemian Hall in Astoria, NY: <www.bohemianhall.com>
Great accoustics in the garden - the elevated N train rings with particular clarity.
Best pitchers of Pilsner Urquell.
Post Edited (2005-12-11 11:44)
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-12-10 12:01
Juilliard's Morse Recital Hall is great. Would be hard to give a bad performance there.
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Author: clarinet87
Date: 2005-12-11 01:17
My favorite halls:
The Carpenter Center (home of the Richmond Symphony)
The Landmark Theater
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Author: bass9396
Date: 2005-12-11 01:43
Symphony Hall in Atlanta - I found it a nice place to play and rehearse in.
Twichell Auditorium - on the campus of Converse College. The hall is tiny but sounds great and is very attractive. Loved playing there.
Carnegie Hall - loved playing there as well.......obviously the acoustics are crazy from stage level it was a nice challenge to make everything come out in the right style there.
Medinah Temple, Chicago - sounds great.....not as dry as you would think.....very cool rehearsal room below stage.
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Author: vin
Date: 2005-12-11 22:50
My favorite that are Carnegie (someone above referred to Carnegie as having a" boring" appearance- I was under the impression that a great hall means it sounds good; one goes to an orchestra concert, presumably, for the music...), Jordan Hall in Boston, Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA; Severance Hall Cleveland; Gewandhaus in Leipzig. My top two are Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Orchestra Hall in Detroit....yes, Detroit.
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Author: Gobboboy
Date: 2005-12-11 23:46
as for Britain, it has to be Symphony Hall in Birmingham - it is simply state of the art.
anyone been there??
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Author: Kevin
Date: 2005-12-12 00:28
Vin - yes, a" great" hall most likely means that it sounds good. However, "favorite" halls may be a world away in definition than the "greats". When it comes to how one particular hall strucks somebody in a personal way, the hall's vibes (part of which includes appearance) also hold a huge role.
But then of course, some may consider the interior of Stern at Carnegie to have a beautiful appearance! And of course, many may consider Carnegie to have the best vibes of anywhere, with the level of talent and history that has appeared there over the years and on a daily basis.
So it still all boils down to the "personal" factors.
And P.S. - I would hold up Kilbourn Hall accoustically to Carnegie, no doubt about it. It's only less famous because it's smaller (a recital hall, not orchestra) and located in Rochester instead of NYC.
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Author: Firebird
Date: 2005-12-12 00:52
What about the Esplanade here in S'pore?
The UCC hall at National University of S'pore is apparently a 'dead' hall despite its size. You can hardly hear any rebeveration.
Chan
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Author: MikeH
Date: 2005-12-12 01:38
The Metropolitan Opera in New York. By any standard, excellent, and for such a large space, astounding. I have to take their word for it that there is no electronic enhancement but sometimes I wonder. However, when a boy soprano is on stage it is quite apparent that there is no amplification. Our seats are in the middle of the balcony and the voices come up at you in the most marvelous way. I have sat in orchestra seats so close to Levine that I could hear him humming along but the overall sound close to the stage is not as good as it is in the balcony because close to the stage the sound of the orchestra goes over one's head. Of course close to the stage the voices are awesome but you get a more complete satisfying sound upstairs.
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Author: vin
Date: 2005-12-12 05:28
I have heard from several people who have played at the Met that they do in fact use sound "enhancement." Does anyone actually know for a fact either way? Regardless, they do sound great!
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2005-12-12 10:36
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, UK.
The 'flying saucer' has to be seen to be believed - a whole section of ceiling that can be moved around to 'tune' the hall. Think it was Tchaik 4 I heard there, Gobboboy, years ago now.
The Turner Sims in Southampton has a quite remarkably pleasant acoustic also, and is probably the nicest place I've actually played ;-D
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2005-12-12 13:06
Symphony Hall, Boston -- Warm, rich sound; easy to hear other players.
Musikverein, Vienna -- ditto
Philharmonie, Berlin -- clarity of sound, great food and beer backstage.
Grady Gammage, Tempe, AZ -- just a beautiful place to make music!
Carnegie Hall, NYC -- of course; the standard by which all the others are judged.
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, UK -- exciting ambience for music.
Philharmonic Hall, St. Petersburg, Russia -- beautiful ambience, great acoustics, wonderful audience!
And my nomination for the worst hall: Beethovenhalle, Bonn -- sounds like scratching a blackboard!
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Author: Shorthand
Date: 2005-12-12 13:55
I do find it odd that the whole variable acoustics thing didn't catch on. I know its hard (expensive) to build large moving structures, especially if they move often, but different ensembles need very different acoustics.
Honestly, variable acoustics could be as simple as getting some 2" wood blinds, felting one side of them, and mounting them behind a screen.
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Author: rbell96
Date: 2005-12-12 14:10
I have to agree, Symphony Hall in Birmingham is a fantastic place to play in. Its acoustic is amazing.
I am slightly biased studying in Birmingham though!
Rob
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Author: GoatTnder
Date: 2005-12-12 15:31
Of course, my absolute favorite I've been to is Carnegie Hall. I was even fortunate enough to play there with my universities Wind Orchestra. The place sounds amazing from pretty much anywhere you sit.
I love the outdoor atmosphere of the Hollywood Bowl in summer. It's warm and dark, but the stage seems very welcoming with the bright lights and round shape. The orchestra there is top notch, and I wish it didn't have to be amplified, but such is life.
The Disney concert hall is too amazing acoustically to describe. And it's absolutely fascinating to look at. I bought my tickets student rush for Beethoven's 4th this past October. I was in the very last row of the balcony. And, I could literally feel the string basses in the boards at my feet.
Finally, the Performing Arts Center main auditorium in San Luis Obispo holds a special place for me simply because I really grew up musically there. It's a beautiful concert hall with superb acoustics. The room is shaped like a tear drop, with the stage where the point would be. And it's set up vertically with three balconies so the sound can really grow in there.
Andres Cabrera
South Bay Wind Ensemble
sbwe@sbmusic.org
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Author: Jhall
Date: 2005-12-12 16:04
Although I haven't performed there, Overture Center in Madison, WI, is where I most enjoy hearing concerts.
The Grand Opera House in Oshkosh, WI, has perfect acoustics. The audience is close enough that it feels as if one is playing in his living room for a group of friends. The Opera House has been totally rebuilt and looks like it did 80 years ago. There's lots of polished brass to accent the plush seating. Sousa's band performed there at least two times.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2005-12-12 20:56
the favorite halls I've performed in are
Symphony hall Birmingham (my first proper dates were there with the CBSO while in my final year at the Conservatoire)
Royal Albert Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Ulster Hall, Belfast
St. Martins in the Fields
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-12-12 21:18
Carnegie Hall, as long as you're down in the Parquet or in a box around on the side. The Dress Circle is not good -- you're slotted in with the balcony only a few feet over your head. The balcony is OK, but the sound is distant and the lack of footroom is medieval. The glory of the hall is obvious when you're about halfway back, even all the way on the side. I went to Zankel Hall last week and theought it was excellent.
Strangely, there were a few great seats in the original, awful Philharmonic Hall -- in the balcony, which ran around the side of the hall and was almost above the stage. The sound in the balcony now is mediocre, and the seats look straight across, so you get a crick in your neck straining to see.
The Albany Savings Bank hall is fully as good as its famous reputation. I went to several rehearsals and concerts there, and the sound was unobtrusively perfect.
The reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe Theater in the Folger Library in Washington is the best public space I've been in.
And the best space of all was my parents' living room -- 2 stories, a plate-glass wall with a full-grown tree in front of it, and a combination of cinder block and wood elsewhere. We had many string quartet sessions there, and everything was perfect yet flattering.
Ken Shaw
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Author: bob49t
Date: 2005-12-12 22:28
AND..... if I can but in to this predominantly US conversation........
The Caird Hall in Dundee.
State of the Shoe Box. RT
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Author: Grant
Date: 2005-12-13 00:37
I can.t compare it to any other large concert halls but Benaroya hall in Seattle is my favorite right now. I have been to Vienna Boys Choir (third balcony) Eroica Trio (first row center, I could have touched the cellist) and sat in the first balcony while the Seattle Symphony augmented by who knows how many extra musicians and the Theater Organ played the loudest un-amplified musical sound that ever shook my seat. I also sat in the back of the first floor for the Marine Band. I could hear fine from any of the seats.
Peace on Earth and May You always have a reed that PLAYS.
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