Word: acoustician
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...years ago Asia's cities were all building cathedral-like airports; now, they must have their performing-arts palaces. Singapore has its two-year-old Esplanade complex, with a sonic environment created by the legendary American acoustician Russell Johnson, which is regarded by expert listeners as one of the best halls anywhere. In Kuala Lumpur, oil money built a stunning new hall at the base of the Petronas Towers for the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, which celebrates its sixth birthday in August. Futuristic opera houses are going up in Beijing and Guangzhou, challenging Shanghai's Grand Theater. In February, Jakarta opened...
...challenge the project presented to Toyota was working with the flowing arcs of Gehry's 2,265-seat hall. The vineyard-style ceiling, which ripples in waves above the audience, asks much more of an acoustician than the classic shoebox-style design of a traditional concert hall. And Gehry's building includes tricky details, like seating that creates nooks and crannies where sound is lost, plus a hidden stage behind the main...
...distributing it, and partly because singers like things that way. Judging by the opening performance of The Marriage of Figaro, Christie got his wish. The theater is handsome without being ostentatious. The interior is stark, but the warm pine walls save it from being dreary, impeccable modern. According to acoustician Derek Sugden, "Wood can be death unless it's stiff and thick. A softer grain will absorb low frequencies, which means there can be no richness in the sound." He and the Hopkinses decided to use pitch pine left around from Victorian warehouses. Waxed, it has a rosy glow...
...treated Carnegie kindly. The ceiling was leaking, and the floorboards were rotting. Says Chairman of the Board James D. Wolfensohn: "It's not that we wanted to change it because we had the money and thought it would be fun. There simply was no alternative." Under the supervision of Acoustician Abe Melzer, the old materials were replaced as much as possible with new ones possessing the same sonic properties. Notes Lawrence Goldman, the hall's director of real estate planning and development: "Each element was tested...
Inevitably, the sound was altered. Some orchestral players claim they cannot hear one another adequately in performance, that the communication among them no longer has an intimate, chambermusic quality. Some listeners miss the old soul-rattling vibrations. Says Acoustician Larry King, who was not involved in the project: "Carnegie Hall doesn't shake the skull as it did before." Summing up the negative reaction, Music Critic Leighton Kerner of the Village Voice declared, "New York City now has another Avery Fisher Hall," referring to the acoustically troubled home of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center...