Favourite concert halls?

[MrGongGong]

With all this Free Trade Hall appreciation, does anyone like its replacement?

You mean the Bridgewater hall ?

It has the most static inducing carpet of anywhere I've been. So much so, that the technicians where special shoes !
Last time I did a gig there I had the scary experience of getting an electric shock every time I touched the mixing desk
the brain saying "it's ok , it's only static"
and the body saying "you're going to die"


The Anvil (someone mentioned before) has such a tiny space backstage that anything more than a string quartet is a crush
and St Davids hall is the hardest to get into in a car full of kit ! (and remarkably easy to get lost backstage , in a Spinal Tap stylee) what is odd is that it's almost impossible to move a harp , A HARP !!!! IN WALES from one side of the wings to the other without stairs .........

[amateur51]

You mean the Bridgewater hall ?

It has the most static inducing carpet of anywhere I've been. So much so, that the technicians where special shoes !
Last time I did a gig there I had the scary experience of getting an electric shock every time I touched the mixing desk
the brain saying "it's ok , it's only static"
and the body saying "you're going to die"


The Anvil (someone mentioned before) has such a tiny space backstage that anything more than a string quartet is a crush
and St Davids hall is the hardest to get into in a car full of kit ! (and remarkably easy to get lost backstage , in a Spinal Tap stylee) what is odd is that it's almost impossible to move a harp , A HARP !!!! IN WALES from one side of the wings to the other without stairs .........

There's an e-book in this, ah said, there's an e-book in this!

[MrGongGong]

There's an e-book in this, ah said, there's an e-book in this!

Surely that's for Huddersfield Town Hall ?

[Petrushka]

1. Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent

This could be called my 'local' and Barbirolli had a very soft spot for the hall on account of its acoustic. I used to go there to hear the Halle (among others) back in the 1970s but haven't been for many years. It's recently been refurbished but can't report on whether or not the acoustic has been harmed in any way.

If we are into concert halls abroad then I greatly liked the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory when I attended three LSO concerts there in 1979. Wonder if Waldhorn was in the orchestra?

[Tony Halstead]

This could be called my 'local' and Barbirolli had a very soft spot for the hall on account of its acoustic. I used to go there to hear the Halle (among others) back in the 1970s but haven't been for many years. It's recently been refurbished but can't report on whether or not the acoustic has been harmed in any way.

If we are into concert halls abroad then I greatly liked the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory when I attended three LSO concerts there in 1979. Wonder if Waldhorn was in the orchestra?

No, I have played TWICE in the Victoria Hall, Hanley: the 1st time was in 1965 with the North Staffordshire Symphony Orchestra, and the 2nd time in about 1975/ 1976 with the ECO and Daniel Barenboim.
The hall has a glorious acoustic but I seem to remember its very high raked stage being a bit scary for the horn section!

Edit/ follow-up: sorry, I lost the plot and mixed up Moscow with Hanley... ( easily done, ) but in fact I have indeed played with the LSO in the Moscow Conservatory Great Hall, although that was in 1971 not 1979.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This could be called my 'local' and Barbirolli had a very soft spot for the hall on account of its acoustic. I used to go there to hear the Halle (among others) back in the 1970s but haven't been for many years. It's recently been refurbished but can't report on whether or not the acoustic has been harmed in any way.

There don't appear to be many classical concerts in Hanley now.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

And then there's Walthamstow Town Hall - venue for many a fine recording, and home (in the early '80s at any rate) of the Forest Philharmonic Orchestra, an astonishingly good amateur band conducted by Frank Shipway. Superb performances of Mahler #9 (yep - non-professionals doing a fantastic job of this work), Brahms' #4, Sibelius #4 - and the Strauss Four Last Songs sung by Jill Gomez: a much better performance than any given at the Proms in the last decade. And a lovely acoustic.

[davehsug]

There don't appear to be many classical concerts in Hanley now.

We have at least one a month between October & May, with what's called the Stoke-on-Trent festival. Usually BBC Phil, Halle, CBSO & a 2 yearly visit from the Liverpool Phil (they're doing the Mozart requiem this year - can't wait, although no Petrenko this time), with others from time to time. The raking as mentioned earlier is now gone, with just a flat stage & the choir stalls above. This does limit the space available & means there isn't room for the huge orchestra - never more than 6 double basses etc. The acoustics appear unchanged as there were no structural changes. The only real difference is that most of the orchestra isn't visible from the stalls.

[gamba]

City Halls, Glasgow



" What a pleasure to make recordings in the hall ! Not only are the acoustics marvellous for concerts but they are particularly good for

recording. " ( Sir Charles Mackerras )


" The new City Hall has proved an acoustic winner. I've now lost count of critical colleagues from London papers who have been gaga at the quality of sound in the place " Michael Tumelty, music critic the ' Herald. '


" I don't think it's too bad either " gamba

[amateur51]

Surely that's for Huddersfield Town Hall ?

'appen

[teamsaint]

Not my favourite, but my local one, the Anvil has just published its 2019/2020 programme.
In many ways, in fact in almost every way, a rather standard range of repertoire, but actually quite a few I a fancy, not least a Mahler 3, With the Prague SO, and a visit from Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.
The Sixteen doing Ceremony of Carols should be good too, tickets prices a bit steep at minimum of £29 though.
But I won’t go on about Anvil ticket prices again.

I do wonder if the Anvil aren't missing a trick by programming a little more adventurously. Lots of A Level music students in north Hants, Surrey, Winchester etc could surely be tempted in by the Odd concert of more ambitious late 20 / contemporary fare ?

Gripe.....among candidates for the most over programmed work, great though it is, must be the Sibelius VC.

[Beresford]

Kings Place - every time I have been, I find the Air conditioning much too loud. I'm surprised that performers don't insist it be switched off, especially when the hall is only half full.
Wigmore Hall - I love the atmosphere, and lack of audible aircon, but isn't it very difficult for performers as there seems to be nothing that would give at least an echo of adjacent players or singers, or is that something that pro's have to live with?
Barber Institute in Birmingham University - must try again. I went when I was a student there over 40 years ago, but all I remember is that it was the only place in the University with soft loo roll-paper (not Izal). Many university performance halls seem to be good, for chamber music at least, and soft loo paper is now universal.

Usually I like the acoustics in churches or cathedrals, but Liverpool Metropolitan is an acoustic disaster, or maybe the music to suit it has not yet been written. Liverpool Anglican cathedral is good for echo freaks, so concerts are often located at the North End, or the good Lady Chapel.

[Dave2002]

Not my favourite, but my local one, the Anvil has just published its 2019/2020 programme.
In many ways, in fact in almost every way, a rather standard range of repertoire, but actually quite a few I a fancy, not least a Mahler 3, With the Prague SO, and a visit from Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.
The Sixteen doing Ceremony of Carols should be good too, tickets prices a bit steep at minimum of £29 though.
But I won’t go on about Anvil ticket prices again.

I do wonder if the Anvil aren't missing a trick by programming a little more adventurously. Lots of A Level music students in north Hants, Surrey, Winchester etc could surely be tempted in by the Odd concert of more ambitious late 20 / contemporary fare ?

Gripe.....among candidates for the most over programmed work, great though it is, must be the Sibelius VC.

Some interesting visiting orchestras - the Iceland SO and the Siberian SO - but couldn’t the latter orchestra have chosen some more unusual Glazunov - say Symphony 6, rather than the VC.

[jayne lee wilson]

My own HCH....

The cherished listening room....

[LezLee]

City Halls, Glasgow

" The new City Hall has proved an acoustic winner. I've now lost count of critical colleagues from London papers who have
" I don't think it's too bad either " gamba

Another fan here, just one little grumble, I don't find it very comfy.