Concertgebouw turns 125
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2013/apr/11/concertgebouw-125th-anniversary-tom-service
If you’ve never been, put it on your to-do list.
Stood on the steps and drooled, never had the chance to go in. I’ve got a big bucket on my list for this one! I must put in a plug for two local halls. Music Hall in Cincinnati sounds quite nice and is said to be one of the better sounding rooms in the USA. Dayton’s Schuster Center, while not a world class acoustic experience, has a great Bryston powered sound system.
Yes, a superb hall; the best I’ve been to. Wonderful ambience & atmosphere.
Some years ago I had a week’s work in Amsterdam and took the opportunity to go to a concert there: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Excellent performance made superb by the acoustics which are enveloping without too much reverberation. I guess the shoe-box shape produces first reflections from the side walls that contribute to this. This is in contrast to most modern halls which do not have the front-to-back depth and sometimes sound ‘flat’.
I was so impressed with the concert (and hall) that I booked for another concert later that week: Bach solo keyboard works played on piano. Again this was superb; every note in the quietest passages was clear.
The large hall is of course superb, but so too is the smaller hall for intimate recitals.
If in Amsterdam it is always worth checking to see what’s on at the Bimhuis, obviously a different kind of venue, but superb in its own right. I saw Avashai Cohen there some years ago during a particularly exuberant concert (it was his birthday).
@dcastle
You are so fortunate in having all those great venues with one plane hop!
Makes the price of admission a bit high, but access is good.
BTW some of you might be interested in streaming what promises to be a good organ recital from Lincoln cathedral tomorrow evening (GMT).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rw23y