Symphony Halls, Fan vs Shoebox Shaped?

[TitaniumTroy]

Has anybody been to one of these halls and how does it sound compared to the fan shaped one's? I the shoebox shape can hold less people, which is why most are not built that way.

Musikverein
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wiener Musikverein

Wiener Musikverein, June 2006
General information
Type Concert hall
Architectural style Neoclassical
Town or city Vienna
Country Austria
Current tenants Vienna Philharmonic
Inaugurated 6 January 1870
The Wiener Musikverein, (German pronunciation: [ˌviːnɐ̯ muˌziːkfɛɐ̯ˈʔaɪ̯n]; Viennese Music Association), commonly shortened to Musikverein, is a concert hall in the Innere Stadt borough of Vienna, Austria. It is the home to the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra.

The "Great Hall" (Großer Saal) due to its highly regarded acoustics is considered one of the finest concert halls in the world, along with Berlin's Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Boston's Symphony Hall.[1] None of these halls was built in the modern era with the application of acoustics science and all share a long, tall, and narrow shoebox shape.

 

[TBone]

here, we have many excellent venues for music/plays.

my favorite is Massey Hall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massey_Hall

We also have Roy Thompson Hall ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Thomson_Hall
Roy Thomson fueled much controversy / issues, initially, related to its acoustics.
http://www.artecconsultants.com/03_...son_hall/press/roy_thomson_hall_press_01.html

 

[NorthSky]

Cool topic: http://fusion.net/story/226407/sound-architecture/

• http://www.anstendig.org/Acoustics.html
• http://hiconsumption.com/2014/08/the-14-best-concert-halls-in-the-world/
• http://iq.intel.com/15-design-secrets-of-modern-concert-halls/
• http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/mar/05/10-worlds-best-concert-halls-berlin-boston-tokyo
• http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/acoustics_info/concert_hall_acoustics/?content=shape

Strange, this one didn't make the cut: http://placedesarts.com/rooms/main-rooms/maison-symphonique-de-montreal.en.html
- http://www.artecconsultants.com/05_...letter_2011_09-montreal-new-concert-hall.html
- http://www.osm.ca/en/discover-osm/hall

I guess they didn't review all the greatest world's halls...

 

[ChrisH]

I have been to Symphony Hall in Boston, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. To my ears, these are really the best halls in the world; especially for romantic music. They all share a very common reverb time of about 2.0 seconds, which is ideal for larger romantic works where you want to the sound to carry through the phrasing of the music. Very different than listening to Bach, where you want all of the contrapuntal lines to be clear, therefor wanting lower reverb times.

It's really crazy when you start thinking about how music was developed with the acoustical performance space in mind. Or, that fact that the RT at the MET in New York is quite long for an opera house. This was done because the languages of opera are not native to the United States. So clearly hearing the enunciation is not the most important since almost everyone will using a libretto. Or, how orchestras themselves developed do to the acoustical space they play in. Stokowski and Philadelphia come to mind.

Leo Beranek has written an excellent book on concert halls and all of their respective measurements. You can find it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0387955240/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1