"Unsung" Concert Halls

279 Views 4 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Montarsolo, 7 d ago

orquesta tipica

Discussion Starter · 12 d ago

This is not about concerts per se, but about the structures that provide us the clarity and intimacy to the sound, allowing the full, rich reverberation that we so desire.

What are some "unsung" concert halls you know of with excellent accoustics, that perhaps not many people are familiar with?

I'm quite proud of my home town Omaha's venue for their orchestra, the Omaha Symphony. The "Holland Center for Performing Arts" opened October 2005. It seats 2,000. The architects went to the Musikvereinssaal in Vienna and other places and decided the "shoebox" design was the best way to go. It is said to have excellent accoustics, which I wouldn't dispute.

No recordings have ever been made here, to my knowledge.

Hall Amber Entertainment Musical instrument accessory Performing arts center

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eljr

· #2 · 12 d ago (Edited)

I am glad you have good sound there, sincerely, but if I had to sit in that uninviting space to enjoy it I'd likely stay home.

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BBSVK

· #3 · 12 d ago

@orquesta tipica
maybe this thread would interest you as well Good acoustic for opera - what exactly it is and how to...

I have recently noticed, I am greatly sensitive to the acoustic of the room, so, @eljr , there are worse things than an ugly room, believe me.

If somebody ever visits Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, there are 2 low profile places where I enjoyed the acoustic immensely.

The "Studio" at the basement of the Slovak National Theatre. It is set up for a spoken theatre rather than music, but I have seen an opera there, addapted to a chamber version, with 3 instruments only, plus singing. Awsome !
The Garden of the Albrecht house , an outdoor space for the summer performances. Stay tuned for a summer festival called Hortus artis.

Can somebody explain to me, what the "shoebox design" is ? The shoeboxes I know are rectangular, but I assume it's not what people mean when they discuss acoustic.

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mbhaub

· #4 · 11 d ago

BBSVK said:
@orquesta tipica
Can somebody explain to me, what the "shoebox design" is ? The shoeboxes I know are rectangular, but I assume it's not what people mean when they discuss acoustic.

That's exactly what they are talking about. One of the great halls in the world, Vienna's Musikverein is the model and hard to beat. Despite all the mathematics and computers and technology of the 20th c, those old designers in a pre-tech era figured out how to make a hall sound great. It's not just the dimensions, but the material, too. Despite attempts at different shapes, acousticians finally realized that the shoebox is a great way to start. The Philharmonie wanted to break the mould, but it was (and still is) a troublesome place. Royal Albert Hall is horrible for live music and it's about as far from the shoebox as you can get. There are a number of recent designs that went back to the shoebox with great results, such as they have in Seattle and Dallas. I play regularly in the Mesa Arts Center and it follows that model. Boston has one of the great halls anywhere and the Harvard professor who designed it started out with the shoebox but applied a lot of math and physics to improve it even more. The results were incredible.

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Montarsolo

· #5 · 7 d ago (Edited)

In the Netherland in the village of 'Rhenen' you have a beautiful church (the Cunerakerk -Cunerachurch), with a rich history. But what makes the church special is the beautiful acoustics. It usually doesn't sound very good in old churches (too much reverberation). But this church sounds like an excellent concert hall. Concerts are organized there with first class musicians.

For example, I was at this concert a few months ago. Members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Liza Ferschtman (for those who don't know her. In the Netherlands you first have Liza and second Janine Jansen).

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