Rooting for the home team
I have to apologize for the sparser-than-usual blogging; I've had a busy week in Philadelphia, and the culminating concert at Curtis is tonight. I did, however, have a day off yesterday, which allowed me the great pleasure of hopping a train to New York to catch the Minnesota Orchestra concert at Avery Fisher Hall.
It's always interesting to hear an orchestra out of their usual context. In my 18 or so months with the Minnesota Orchestra I have heard them almost exclusively in Orchestra Hall, which has an incredibly live acoustic. It's a remarkably resonant space and one that our players are accustomed to - they've figured out how to sound their best on that particular stage. The way the Orchestra sounds in Orchestra Hall is what my ears have become used to as well, so it was a surprise to hear them in the very dry acoustic of Avery Fisher.
The players I spoke to after the concert noted that unlike in Orchestra Hall, where sound tends to "swim" a bit because it's so resonant, there was a clarity in Avery Fisher which was almost unnerving, because each player (particularly in the strings) could hear their own sound so well. I had a similar sense from sitting out in the hall; I could actually pick out the sound of individual players and could clearly hear the occasional "crunch" of bow hair attacking strings. For me, there was a greater intimacy to the sound, but I wonder if it's not where I was sitting, 15 rows in on the floor (I tend to sit somewhere in the tiers when listening in Orchestra Hall).
I'm hoping that Sam might have a word or two to share from his perspective as well. As for myself, it was a pleasure to root for my home team from the audience, particularly at the instantaneous standing ovation at the end of the Mahler.
ADDENDUM: A rather nice review from the New York Sun.
ADDENDUM 2: And yet another glowing review, this from the New York Times. Go team!
It's always interesting to hear an orchestra out of their usual context. In my 18 or so months with the Minnesota Orchestra I have heard them almost exclusively in Orchestra Hall, which has an incredibly live acoustic. It's a remarkably resonant space and one that our players are accustomed to - they've figured out how to sound their best on that particular stage. The way the Orchestra sounds in Orchestra Hall is what my ears have become used to as well, so it was a surprise to hear them in the very dry acoustic of Avery Fisher.
The players I spoke to after the concert noted that unlike in Orchestra Hall, where sound tends to "swim" a bit because it's so resonant, there was a clarity in Avery Fisher which was almost unnerving, because each player (particularly in the strings) could hear their own sound so well. I had a similar sense from sitting out in the hall; I could actually pick out the sound of individual players and could clearly hear the occasional "crunch" of bow hair attacking strings. For me, there was a greater intimacy to the sound, but I wonder if it's not where I was sitting, 15 rows in on the floor (I tend to sit somewhere in the tiers when listening in Orchestra Hall).
I'm hoping that Sam might have a word or two to share from his perspective as well. As for myself, it was a pleasure to root for my home team from the audience, particularly at the instantaneous standing ovation at the end of the Mahler.
ADDENDUM: A rather nice review from the New York Sun.
ADDENDUM 2: And yet another glowing review, this from the New York Times. Go team!
posted by Sarah at
1:42 PM
4 Comments:
You're certainly right that it's a very different sound than we get on our home stage, which is fascinating to me, because the architect who designed Orchestra Hall, Cyril Harris, also designed Avery Fisher, and there are more than a few physical similarities. It's odd that the acoustic would be so different.
I would describe the onstage sound more or less as you did, except to note that, from where I was, it wasn't really any easier (or harder) to hear across the stage. It probably helped that we were playing something as bombastic as Mahler - if it had been Mozart, or even Beethoven, we would have had a bigger adjustment to make, I think, but Mahler needs to be played as big as possible regardless of the hall...
Sorry- I should have said that the acoustician for both halls was Cyril Harris. Not architect...
The second link appears to be pointing back to this blog, rather than the NYT.
Thanks for the alert, link is fixed!
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