Simon Rattle and the new London concert hall...

[doversoul1]

A world-class concert hall, built for the digital age

Sounds like a turkey throwing an extravagant Christmas party.

If only a place liked Dover could have a small but dedicated concert hall where children and young (and old) people could see and hear the ‘real’ thing as part of their normal lives..

[Bryn]

Sounds like a turkey throwing an extravagant Christmas party.

If only a place liked Dover could have a small but dedicated concert hall where children and young (and old) people could see and hear the ‘real’ thing as part of their normal lives..

You might do good Deal better, perhaps?

[Anastasius]

According to The Times, they are proposing to equip every seat with iPad type thingies connected to social media 'so that people can share their experiences'.

I despair. I really do. The thought of all those flickering screens, flickering fingers. This person will never go to that concert hall.

[Stephen Maddock]

I think part of the problem is that suggesting that this is a bad idea is taken to mean that one is somehow "against" classical music.
It's interesting that some of those I communicate with on social media are having to be very careful about how they talk about this as many of them are personally involved in orchestras, festivals and venues.

So if you see him, buy Stephen Maddock a Christmas drink

Obviously, this is an excellent suggestion!

There are clearly a great many questions around this whole debate. But from my perspective (at a distance in Birmingham) the key issue is not whether London needs a new concert hall, but who should pay both for its construction and for the revenue cost of running it.

This is a question of fairness: the excellent newish halls in Birmingham and Manchester were paid for by the local councils and ours has been funded by them ever since (the Bridgewater operates without any public subsidy, though it is still owned by the council). Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall is owned and operated by the orchestra, again with no national funding for this aspect of their work.

So if London wants a new, much better hall - and I can see why they would want one as good as the ones in these other cities, or Gateshead - London should pay. Private money (a £125m campaign is suggested in the feasibility study), yes, and the balance should be from the London Mayor and/or Corporation of the City of London - who already own and fund the Barbican, and fund the LSO. I fail to see why it becomes a matter for the Arts Council or for that matter the Chancellor, just because it is on their doorstep. And I feel the same way about the revenue funding once it's in operation.

This is an especially urgent issue as the local councils around the country are being squeezed by central government to the point where they will only be able to provide statutory services - in which culture will have no place, however willing the politicians. Birmingham's arts funding (including that to the CBSO) has just been cut by 25% from April, with worse to come in 2017 and 2018. If we are not careful, by the time London's new hall opens, the only international class orchestras left will be those in London. The London politicians and bureaucrats - and for that matter many of those working in the arts in the larger London-based organisations - pay lip service to this issue, but urgent action is needed.

[Beef Oven!]

According to The Times, they are proposing to equip every seat with iPad type thingies connected to social media 'so that people can share their experiences'.

I despair. I really do. The thought of all those flickering screens, flickering fingers. This person will never go to that concert hall.

What has the world come to?

[Pulcinella]

According to The Times, they are proposing to equip every seat with iPad type thingies connected to social media 'so that people can share their experiences'.

I despair. I really do. The thought of all those flickering screens, flickering fingers. This person will never go to that concert hall.

I won't either.
Might be a good idea if they had automatic cough sweet dispensers though.

[oddoneout]

According to The Times, they are proposing to equip every seat with iPad type thingies connected to social media 'so that people can share their experiences'.

Well Heaven forfend they should do anything as old hat or intellectually challenging as actually watching the performers or listening to the music....
But why would it be necessary to spend multi millions on a building for people to sit in to play with their devices?
London may not have a concert hall of the standard it feels it deserves, but it does have concert halls. Norwich for instance doesn't have even one; lovely as the cathedral and medieval St Andrews Hall are, they are not concert halls.
And yes, the comment earlier about council budgets makes the London-centric nature of this proposal even more of a bitter pill. The ripple effect from a site down in the bottom right hand corner of the country, partially bounded by water, is limited.

[MrGongGong]

So if London wants a new, much better hall - and I can see why they would want one as good as the ones in these other cities, or Gateshead - London should pay.

Why all the guff about benefitting the rest of the UK?

London may not have a concert hall of the standard it feels it deserves

This is a myth. The refurbished RFH is wonderful (from an audience and performers perspective)
I guess some folks are more than a little jealous of Birmingham, Gateshead and Manchester

[teamsaint]

According to the Guardian

"The 250-page report agrees and says the London halls lack “a brilliance, immediacy, depth, richness and warmth”.

Although, as a comparison, I visited the new Philharmonie in Paris this year, and heard a good orchestra playing Mahler.And groovy though it is, and it is certainly a pleasurable place to hear music, it really didn't strike me as notably better than the RFH , for example, in terms of listening to music.

Not £270m better, or anything like, at any rate.

[MrGongGong]

According to the Guardian

"The 250-page report agrees and says the London halls lack “a brilliance, immediacy, depth, richness and warmth”.
.

That's bollocks
For WHAT music?
Sitting where ?
with WHICH ensemble ?

That sounds like a load of HiFi "buff" guff

[Beef Oven!]

According to the Guardian

"The 250-page report agrees and says the London halls lack “a brilliance, immediacy, depth, richness and warmth”.

Although, as a comparison, I visited the new Philharmonie in Paris this year, and heard a good orchestra playing Mahler.And groovy though it is, and it is certainly a pleasurable place to hear music, it really didn't strike me as notably better than the RFH , for example, in terms of listening to music.

Not £270m better, or anything like, at any rate.

Reclaim Kingsway Hall, fill in the underground tube-lines and let's get cracking!

[Beef Oven!]

That's bollocks
For WHAT music?
Sitting where ?
with WHICH ensemble ?

That sounds like a load of HiFi "buff" guff

The Stranglers sounded great then, and Laibach sounded great this year. FSOL, too.

[teamsaint]

Reclaim Kingsway Hall, fill in the underground tube-lines and let's get cracking!

And/Or extend cross rail to Basingstoke and double the size of the Anvil.


Gongers will love this game of Fantasy concert hall.

[Beef Oven!]

And/Or extend cross rail to Basingstoke and double the size of the Anvil.

Gongers will love this game of Fantasy concert hall.

[MrGongGong]

Nothing like a bit of fantasy

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/classical-music/londons-centre-for-music-an-inspiring-or-divisive-idea/