Customer Reviews

Concert Halls and Opera Houses: Music, Acoustics, and Architecture

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The author of this book greets us with an endearing smile on the back flap of the dust cover, and has every reason to. Imagine spending a significant part of your life touring concert halls and opera houses all over the world, sitting in on concerts (often changing seats in the course of the program), in order to assess the acoustic properties of the venue at hand. Fortunately, dr. Beranek has been kind enough to lay down his findings in this scholarly yet enchanting book. It offers invaluable insights into the workings of acoustics and the many factors that determine a hall's aural properties. It does so by elucidating the general principles of acoustics, and by addressing topics like building materials, hall shapes, balconies, etc., separately. But the bulk of the book is taken up by a kind of gazetteer describing in detail 100 concert halls and opera houses from around the world. Each of the descriptions includes data on all significant hall properties, as well as plans, cross sections, and (black and white) photographs looking from the auditorium towards the stage and vice versa. Yet you need not fear a dry, scientific inventory; on the contrary: the writing is never anything less than engaging, and the author never forgets that in the end it is all about the joys of music, which he clearly savours himself. The text is strewn with anecdotal quotations from conductors, players and reviewers alike - the author is acutely aware that a hall's reputation rests as much on the writings of critics and the overall audience experience as it does on quantifiable acoustical qualities. For those who like hit parades, yes, there is a top 20, though dr. Beranek is too much of a scientist to present it without heaps of caveats (though it is clear throughout the book that Boston Symphony Hall is his acoustic Walhalla).
Of course, a book like this can never be quite complete, and though I encountered the two halls I'd expected to see from my own country (the Amsterdam Concertgebouw again featuring as one of the world's top three), I was inevitably slightly disappointed to see my own town's hall disregarded, even though it is generally acknowledged to surpass the Concertgebouw when it comes to classical and early romantic repertoire. In a more general sense, the question is how random the selection was. You will find all the great halls you would expect in a survey like this (though Russia is conspicuously absent), but like me many readers are bound to be aware of hidden gems undiscovered (or at least unaddressed) by Beranek. London and Japan seem to be disproportionately represented (no less than 9 Tokyo halls are listed!), nor did I find all the US entries equally compelling (one wonders also why all countries are listed alphabetically, but after the US?). It should be noted, too, that the images serve to give a general impression of a hall, but are mostly of moderate quality, and sometimes quite bad. Finally, and then I'll stop complaining and resume the praise, opera houses are very much underrepresented and almost seem like an afterthought; they might as well have been left out, the focus is clearly on symphonic concert spaces.
None of this detracts in any significant way from the wonders of this unique book, which is, by the way, beautifully produced, featuring smooth, glossy paper. Whether an acoustic scientist, a regular concert goer or an architecture buff, this book will be fascinating reading for you. It may, indeed, even help you select the best available seat when you're booking a ticket in a hall you've never visited before (avoid those three back rows on the Boston Symphony Hall middle balcony!).

FYI - I just wrote a review of the book and it got lost in cyber space. So this is my abreviated second attempt.

1- This is more thorough than Auditoria by Forsyth. It is focused soley on acoustics of the spaces, not the architecture.
2- There are 18 to 21 acoustic metrics reported for each of the halls.
3- The last sections on acoustics of concert halls and opera halls is up to date and discusses key concepts & criteria in realtion to existing facilities.

The appendices are wonderful. Appendix #2 lists additional acoutical data that is availble on the concert halls reviewed in earlier chapters. Typically this additional data inlcudes RT by octave, and may include ITDG, G (strength) & IACC.

Beranek is one of the grand old men of the classical music acoustical design world. This book is a wonderful reference guide to the major concert halls of the world, with pictures, technical information, floor and seating plans, and detailed information about the acoustic design. It covers America, Europe, Japan, and a few famous halls in Oceania and Latin America. In addition, there are cogent essays summarizing the state of technical thinking in the design of good-sounding halls for classical music. If you need information about the size, sound, and history of one of the major concert halls in the world, this is the book. BTW, it is a beautiful and elegantly made book, with heavy glossy paper, etc.

That's a very good book! A complete book, specially if you want to know about concert hall. All plans are in scale

This is a classic reference for students and practitioners working in the field. It is the most complete compendium available of acoustical and architectural data on concert and opera halls throughout the world. Each building is meticulously detailed with photographs, line drawings and technical data.