Geffen Hall, NYc, how does it sound?

[royjohn]

Just wondering if any of you have been to Geffen Hall since the reopening and can report on how it sounds, esp. the bass and the tuba in particular.
I see some good reports, but nothing in particular about the bass response...it sounds OK on the computer in sound clips, but that doesn't tell you much, really. Is Alan Baer on here at all, and would he comment publicly?
royjohn, tuba newbie

[djwpe]

Just wondering if any of you have been to Geffen Hall since the reopening and can report on how it sounds, esp. the bass and the tuba in particular.
I see some good reports, but nothing in particular about the bass response...it sounds OK on the computer in sound clips, but that doesn't tell you much, really. Is Alan Baer on here at all, and would he comment publicly?
royjohn, tuba newbie

I was intimately involved in the renovation (managed the MEP design for LIncoln Center) and I’m still there pretty frequently finishing up commissioning.

I’ve been to two performances thus far, and the difference is stunning. The balance is great, and the clarity is great.

There is none of the old super loud “peel paint off the walls” sounds that you used to get in certain seats. It sounds great everywhere I’ve sat. Even the finale of Pines of Rome sounded great.


Don

[bort2.0]

I hope my wife and my favorite seats still exist. They were kind of an oddball pair of seats. I loved the old Avery Fisher Hall, and all of its outdated gone bulb style.

[djwpe]

I hope my wife and my favorite seats still exist. They were kind of an oddball pair of seats. I loved the old Avery Fisher Hall, and all of its outdated gone bulb style.

I doubt they exist in the prior form. The hall was reshaped, seats were removed (now ~2200 from 2700)the stage was moved forward, and a choral loft/parterre was added behind the stage. The orchestra floor was re-raked, and the sightlines were improved for all seats.

Tell me what your favorite seats were, and I’ll take a picture for you tomorrow or next week when I’m there again.

Don

[York-aholic]

I hope my wife and my favorite seats still exist.

If you don’t read that sentence with the correct pacing, it sure sounds odd.

[bort2.0]

I hope my wife and my favorite seats still exist. They were kind of an oddball pair of seats. I loved the old Avery Fisher Hall, and all of its outdated gone bulb style.

I doubt they exist in the prior form. The hall was reshaped, seats were removed (now ~2200 from 2700)the stage was moved forward, and a choral loft/parterre was added behind the stage. The orchestra floor was re-raked, and the sightlines were improved for all seats.

Tell me what your favorite seats were, and I’ll take a picture for you tomorrow or next week when I’m there again.

Don

[bort2.0]

I hope my wife and my favorite seats still exist.

If you don’t read that sentence with the correct pacing, it sure sounds odd.

Well, I hope for that, too!

[djwpe]

I hope my wife and my favorite seats still exist. They were kind of an oddball pair of seats. I loved the old Avery Fisher Hall, and all of its outdated gone bulb style.

I doubt they exist in the prior form. The hall was reshaped, seats were removed (now ~2200 from 2700)the stage was moved forward, and a choral loft/parterre was added behind the stage. The orchestra floor was re-raked, and the sightlines were improved for all seats.

Tell me what your favorite seats were, and I’ll take a picture for you tomorrow or next week when I’m there again.

Don

Is that the old score desk seats in the third tier? Those were not my favorite seats.

The tiers have been reprofiled, and the seats face the stage now. I’ll take a photo for you.

Don

[bort2.0]

I never knew what their purpose was, but it was cool to be way up and out of the way just, the two of us.

I'm sure they were actually lousy seats acoustically, and it was hard to see some stuff too, but I loved it up there. Among other things, we were young, recently married, and when you're out and about the city all day, half a sense of a bit of privacy is a nice thing to have.

Side note, some concerts were a full house anyway, and it was jammed up there too. Most memorably, what I think was Lorin Maazel's last concert with the NYPO (Shostakovich 5... wow!)

[binlove]

I was intimately involved in the renovation (managed the MEP design for LIncoln Center) and I’m still there pretty frequently finishing up commissioning.

Hey Don, what is the MEP design? What does that mean?

[djwpe]

I was intimately involved in the renovation (managed the MEP design for LIncoln Center) and I’m still there pretty frequently finishing up commissioning.

Hey Don, what is the MEP design? What does that mean?

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing.

[djwpe]

I never knew what their purpose was, but it was cool to be way up and out of the way just, the two of us.

I'm sure they were actually lousy seats acoustically, and it was hard to see some stuff too, but I loved it up there. Among other things, we were young, recently married, and when you're out and about the city all day, half a sense of a bit of privacy is a nice thing to have.

Side note, some concerts were a full house anyway, and it was jammed up there too. Most memorably, what I think was Lorin Maazel's last concert with the NYPO (Shostakovich 5... wow!)

They were definitely bad acoustically. I sat there once when I got comps for Symphonie Fantastique. The bass trombone pedals in the March to the scaffold went straight from George’s bell to my ears. It was not pleasant.

[djwpe]

@bort2.0

Here’s the photo I promised from the location of the old score desks.

As a bonus, I saw Al and he had the 188 out for today’s rehearsal.

DE652743-076C-4AFC-98DF-2A6EB7C0E574.jpeg (138.17 KiB) Viewed 655 times

[tofu]

.

[djwpe]

@bort2.0

Here’s the photo I promised from the location of the old score desks.

As a bonus, I saw Al and he had the 188 out for today’s rehearsal.

DE652743-076C-4AFC-98DF-2A6EB7C0E574.jpeg

Were these single file seats part of the original interior design or added over the years to maximize capacity? Seems odd to have originally designed single file seating since people like to sit together side by side.

This is an all-new configuration as part of the gut-renovation of the hall. I was not privy to the decision process, but it was part of the reprofiling of the tiers and the intent to approve sightlines and acoustics.