Today's Field Trip!

[MylesBAstor]

Had to pinch myself I wasn't dreaming!

Philadelphia Orchestra. was in town playing Mahler's Symphony #10 and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #1 at Carnegie. Good friend Bob Grossman and member of the orchestra invited me to arrive before the rehearsal and gave me a personal backstage tour and got to stand onstage watching the musicians and orchestra set up and warm up. Funny thing. Carnegie Hall looks and feels so big when sitting in the orchestra yet so small when looking out on the audience from the stage. Oh and got to stand a few feet away and watch Lang Lang warm up on Rachmaninoff's PC#1!

Met a few members of the orchestra (one who owns Quad 57s), the conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin who was absolutely charming and then had dinner with Bob and a few members of the Orchestra! We talked what it was like to play in the different halls around the world, what it was like to play at Carnegie vs their home hall, the new halls in China, what do they do for laundry while on a three week tour (some interesting answers here), etc., etc.

Oh the rehearsal concert was wonderful and the opening movement of Mahler's Symphony #10 as well as Lang Lang's playing on the opening of Rachmaninoff's PC #1 was sublime. After the rehearsal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin asked the percussionist to test the bass drum and got to stand a few feet away and experience the instrument! The PO is off to Asia for a three week tour in China, Japan and Macao.

Thanks to good friend Bob Grossman for making an audiophile's Make A Wish dream come true.

[allenh]

What a great treat, Myles! Congrats!

[1morerecord2clean]

Nice Myles. I was still a student with Don MComas when they had their first tour in China a long long time ago. That may have been the First American orchestra in China. Can't recall.

[Asamel]

Hey Bob! Have fun in China!

[Rob]

...Met a few members of the orchestra (one who owns Quad 57s)...

why am i not surprised about the Quads

[MylesBAstor]

why am i not surprised about the Quads

And he was from Hawaii and bought his gear from the late Stuart Ono.

[Rob]

I met Stu through Audio Asylum, I didn't know he passed. RIP Stu.

[MylesBAstor]

And he was from Hawaii and bought his gear from the late Stuart Ono.

Six months or so ago? I remember Stu from The Audiophile Network days. And yes, Stu was a pretty regular poster on the Asylum.

[Tunes]

Nice opportunity to get up close Myles. Very cool!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Wow! How freakin' cool is that! Congrats!

[MylesBAstor]

Other adage that comes to mind. If you want to enjoy your audio system, stop going to hear live music.

[Ki Choi]

Attending events like that makes you forget about the gear...

[MylesBAstor]

Attending events like that makes you forget about the gear...

In a microsecond.

[MylesBAstor]

In a microsecond.

Now that am starting to get over this flu and sore throat that follows.

It was very interesting listening to the Philadelphia Orchestra play in an empty Carnegie Hall vs. when when the hall is packed for a concert. Sans audience, the hall is more vibrant, cleaner and transparent. Each orchestral section, brass, percussion, woodwinds, etc. are more easily ID'd. Now I could have moved around the hall and listened in different seats but I was enjoying the music too much front and center in Row L!

During dinner, I had the opportunity to talk to the musicians about what it's like to play in all the different halls around world, especially in regards to their upcoming trip to Asia. Bob shared that the new Chinese concert halls are on the large side, seating approximately 3500-4000 people. The funniest anecdote of the evening, however, was about one time when they played at the Musikverein in Vienna. A very old and small hall, the doors weren't big enough to wheel a concert grand piano through them like in American halls. Instead, they had to take the legs off of the instrument, turn the piano on its side and then wheel it onto the stage and reassemble.

After all of that, I was inspired to do a little more digging (and Bob Grossman also mentioned about a new article too) into hall acoustics. Besides the well known Leo Beranek article, I came across some very interesting new studies on hall acoustics. Hall acoustics aren't after all, really any different than those who try and replicate the sound of a Stadivarius violin. Despite all the test instruments in the world, no instrument maker has been able to duplicate the sound of this legendary instrument! Same goes for concert halls. No matter how many test instruments they drag into the great old halls, there are more swings and misses with new halls than home runs. In fact, their batting average is probably way below the Mendoza line. Along the way, though, I found some very interesting new research articles that I will post about hall measurements especially a few correlating emotional connection to the music with hall side wall reflections. Ergo, large halls with little side wall reflections aren't as musically satisfying as the small "shoebox" halls like the Musikverein and other European Halls as well as say Boston Symphony Hall (or Troy Savings Bank Hall). I'll be posting either the articles or links to some of these articles over the weekend. Hope all enjoy as much as I did.

[1morerecord2clean]

Myles, you can add the Concertgebow to the rectangular halls.

[MylesBAstor]

Myles, you can add the Concertgebow to the rectangular halls.

Absolutely, you'll see it listed in one of the articles I will post! It is considered in most articles among the four best halls in the world.