South Bank revamp
Tue, Mar 12 2013, 5:10PM
Is anyone else as sceptical as I am that no matter what titivations might be carried out to the South Bank's infrastructure, short of building a completely new major concert hall, London will STILL lack a world class venue to compete with Amsterdam, Vienna and even dare I say it Birmingham?
Wed, Mar 13 2013, 12:48PM
#2
RE: South Bank revamp
To be fair, we in the country, outside of London, have been pretty spoilt when it comes to new concert halls of decent quality - in no particular chronological order, during the last thirty years or so, we've had Bridgewater Hall (Manchester) Hoddinott Hall (Cardiff) The Sage (Gateshead), The Royal Concert Hall (Glasgow) The Royal Hall (Nottingham) and, in my view the finest of them all, Symphony Hall (Birmingham). And within the last few months a new small hall named The Elgar Hall has been unveiled at the University of Birmingham
Maybe it's just about time London had a replacement for the RFH, rather than (yet) another re-hash of the place.
Wed, Mar 13 2013, 1:02PM
#3
RE: South Bank revamp
It's always sad, hearing music in great concert halls abroad, to think that London is the classical music capital and yet doesn't have a decent large-scale hall.
One thing in the Southbank Centre's favour though is the integrity of the design. I have to say, I find it very hard to like Symphony Hall in Birmingham, which feels like a cross-channel ferry inside and is dating very, very badly. The plastic suspended ceilings in the completely atmosphere-less foyers are the tip of a poor-design iceberg.
I'm growing increasingly fond of the RFH and think it has a particular concert-night atmosphere - if a troubled acoustic - that some of the admittedly finer halls I've been to (including the staggering new halls in Copenhagen, Helsinki and Aarhus) unfortunately don't have.
Wed, Mar 13 2013, 1:45PM
#4
RE: South Bank revamp
I agree entirely with you Andrew, re the concert-night atmosphere of the RFH, but in spite of your reservations on those grounds, of Symphony Hall in Birmingham, I think the bottom line must be a hall's acoustics, and the listening experience. On that criterion I believe SH competes very well on a global basis.
And I think we have to remember that Symphony Hall was always going to be but one hall in what is essentially an International Convention Centre. Indeed it was only after the finance and other planning considerations were firmly in place that it was revealed that in fact what was originally labelled Hall 2, was going to be called Symphony Hall. Which is why on the ICC 'directories' in the mall, there is no mention of Hall 2.
Thu, Mar 14 2013, 2:15AM
#5
RE: South Bank revamp
Is anyone else as sceptical as I am that no matter what titivations might be carried out to the South Bank's infrastructure, short of building a completely new major concert hall, London will STILL lack a world class venue to compete with Amsterdam, Vienna and even dare I say it Birmingham?
We rebuilt the Globe theatre. Why not a reconstruction of the Queen's Hall?
Thu, Mar 14 2013, 6:39PM
#6
RE: South Bank revamp
RUREPF yes fair point on acoustics - that's the bottom line - but I'd argue in a wider sense that Symphony Hall ISN'T a great piece of architecture. The new hall in Copenhagen, though, is.
The side effect is that creatively curious people step inside these incredible buildings and get into live orchestral music. Result!
Thu, Mar 14 2013, 7:07PM
#7
RE: South Bank revamp
We rebuilt the Globe theatre. Why not a reconstruction of the Queen's Hall?
I've had this dream/hope for years too! By all accounts the acoustics were superb. It's the hall itself that counts: the exterior could be different, and probably would have to be to keep out traffic noise, but the same idea has been done before. In the end, whilst foyers may be important, they pale into insignificance beside the hall itself. It remains a scandal that London still does not have one decent 'full-size' concert hall. So much money spent on half-baked 'improvements' too!
Chris
Fri, Mar 15 2013, 1:53AM
#8
RE: South Bank revamp
It's also odd how all these acoustic experts seem unable to produce halls as good as the ones built pre-computers. Why even bother paying their enormous fees?
Fri, Mar 15 2013, 4:11AM
#9
RE: South Bank revamp
Just visit some major Asian cities to see by yourself some magnificent Music Temples money (and some unusual care for the Arts) can create. We may have to learn from them as well (they apparently did from us).
Parla
Good to see that the London Conservative party in coalition with the London Lib-Dems are spending more money on London.