A new concert hall in Hamburg
washingtonpost.com
A new concert hall in Hamburg
1–10 of 27 posts
Re: A new concert hall in Hamburg
#2pretty amazing architecture for a music hall!
Re: A new concert hall in Hamburg
#3Beside being absolutely hideous on the outside, there is no way that hall has good acoustics.
Having seats to the side and behind the stage means you will have bad merging and resolution of parts. Orchestral seating is specifically designed for an audience sitting in front. For example, when attending a performance of Shostakovich'a Cello Concerto, the cello was very difficult to hear, as were several other orchestral parts, causing "holes" in the score. It was an atrocious experience.
Toyota is pretty much a charlatan. Walt Disney Hall has one of the most atrocious acoustics of any hall I've been to. They actually had to invest quite a bit of time and money trying to "fix" (unsuccessfully) the sound after the initial opening. This is why performances there require microphones and reproduction using speakers, in the hall!
I actually had the opportunity to play (piano) on stage and have a friend go seat by seat, evaluating the sound from each position. Needless to say, all the expensive seats had, by far, the worst acoustics. Best sound was from row H, way off-center.
I've heard from orchestral musicians performing there that they couldn't hear themselves, or their fellow performers properly either, making performing challenging. At some point, I recall the hall receiving the distinction of "worst hall" from performing musicians.
On top of this charade of "good acoustics", which I am shocked that Germans fell for Toyota's BS, this hall is terribly ugly and unappealing.
How sad.
Re: A new concert hall in Hamburg
#4Beside being absolutely hideous on the outside, there is no way that hall has good acoustics. Having seats to the side and behind the stage means you will have bad merging and resolution of parts. Orchestral seating is specifically designed for an audience sitting in front. For example, when attending a performance of Shostakovich'a Cello Concerto, the cello was very difficult to hear, as were several other orchestra…
Have you been to the remodeled Orchestra Hall of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra? We aren't happy with it, though they've been tweaking it and appear to have produced some improvement, over the intervening years.
I heard recently that Milwaukee is up for something similar: Extending the back of the building.
These projects aren't new construction; nonetheless, they -- in the Chicago case, certainly -- are sacrificing acoustics to the various drives for (extensive, structural) remodeling.
Re: A new concert hall in Hamburg
#5Beside being absolutely hideous on the outside, there is no way that hall has good acoustics. Having seats to the side and behind the stage means you will have bad merging and resolution of parts. Orchestral seating is specifically designed for an audience sitting in front. For example, when attending a performance of Shostakovich'a Cello Concerto, the cello was very difficult to hear, as were several other orchestra…
"Beside being absolutely hideous on the outside, there is no way that hall has good acoustics."
The architects are the Swiss practice Herzog and de Meuron. While your criticisms of the acoustics may be totally valid, it's a feature of the building that the shape of the hall is unrelated to the exterior envelope. So HdeM's exterior style is orthogonal (in principle) to the acoustic question.
It's unfortunate (for architects) that that the ideal concert hall is a wood-panelled shoebox shape. A bit of experimentation (Scharoun, Gehry) is inevitable but if it's a travesty like you say, that's very bad.
Re: A new concert hall in Hamburg
#6Beside being absolutely hideous on the outside, there is no way that hall has good acoustics. Having seats to the side and behind the stage means you will have bad merging and resolution of parts. Orchestral seating is specifically designed for an audience sitting in front. For example, when attending a performance of Shostakovich'a Cello Concerto, the cello was very difficult to hear, as were several other orchestra…
Thoughts on Bing Concert Hall @ Stanford?
https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&safe=off&rlz=1C5CH...
Re: A new concert hall in Hamburg
#7Beside being absolutely hideous on the outside, there is no way that hall has good acoustics. Having seats to the side and behind the stage means you will have bad merging and resolution of parts. Orchestral seating is specifically designed for an audience sitting in front. For example, when attending a performance of Shostakovich'a Cello Concerto, the cello was very difficult to hear, as were several other orchestra…
I did not get to experience the acoustics , but i tend to agree with you about the exterior. The building is rather unappealing box in a colorless surrounding.
Re: A new concert hall in Hamburg
#8Note: If you have the Washington Post app installed, there's an Augmented Reality feature that puts acoustic tiles on your ceiling.
Re: A new concert hall in Hamburg
#9Beside being absolutely hideous on the outside, there is no way that hall has good acoustics. Having seats to the side and behind the stage means you will have bad merging and resolution of parts. Orchestral seating is specifically designed for an audience sitting in front. For example, when attending a performance of Shostakovich'a Cello Concerto, the cello was very difficult to hear, as were several other orchestra…
I did not get to experience the acoustics , but i tend to agree with you about the exterior. The building is rather unappealing box in a colorless surrounding.
Looking at the images of this "unappealing box" and the "colorless surrounding" in form of the hamburg harbour and the old warehouse city I have to assume you are trying to be the "devil's advocate" you proclaim to be in your profile. By the way, what is the difference between a devil's advocate and a troll?
Re: A new concert hall in Hamburg
#10Contrary to what the article states, the acoustic design of the hall have been widely criticized by audio/acoustics experts. In fact, after the premiere concert many (experts and casual visitors alike) have even described the acoustics to be a major disappointment.