Advance praise for Beranek's

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

Given the many controversies surrounding the acoustical properties of concerl halls

and opera houses, it is a relief to be guided by someone who is both a scientist and

a devoted listener. Here, the mysteries of acoustics seem less intimidating: we come

to understand why music sounds the way it does in various performance spaces, and

what we can do about it. It's a terrific book!

- PHILIP GOSSETT

Pro/essor 0/ Music, University 0/ Chicago

[This book] provides an invaluable reference for the understanding and design of

music facilities.

- I.M. PEl

Architect, New York

Dr. Beranek has created a comprehensive and fascinating study of 100 of the world's

halls for music. Visiting each of these venues would be a great delight and a mar­

velous adventure, but such being impractical, this great book is the next best thing.

All lovers of music, acoustics, architecture, and travel will enjoy this unique work.

- JOHN WILLIAMS

Composer and Conductor, Los Angeles

The rigor, clarity and comprehensiveness of Concert Halls and Opera Houses, balanced

brilliantly by Leo Beranek's personal and subjective sense of acoustics and music,

provides a powerful resource for architects and music lovers alike. Beranek's passion

for music helps to make this the most significant music acoustics book of our times.

- WILLIAM L. RAWN III FAIA, Architect, Boston

Art and science are combined in Leo Beranek's new book. Presented are carefully

collected plans, data and pictures of halls for music, and assessments of their acous­

tical quality by arlists, critics and audiences, as well as measured scientific criteria.

It is an easJy readable, "must" handbook for anyone traveling to perform or attend

concerl or opera music.

- HELMUT A. MULLER

Miiller-BBM GmbH, Acoustical and Environmental Consultants,

Planegg, Germany

Concert Halls and Opera Houses sets forth the harvest of six decades of intensive

study of acoustics for music performance. It is a comprehensive {and indispensable}

aid to architects, musicians and design teams who tacl;tle the incredibly daunting

task of creating new performance spaces.

- RUSSELL JOHNSON

Acoustics and Theater Consultant, ARTEC Consultants, Inc.,

New York

This book assembles architectural and acoustical data on 100 spaces for music and

rank-orders over two-thirds according to their acoustical quality as judged by mu­

sicians and music critics. It gives comprehensive l;tnowledge of room acoustics and

offers a basic foundation for acoustical research long into the future.

- HIDEKI TACHIBANA

Professor of Acoustics, University of Tokyo, Japan

Beranek has created a new Rosetta Stone for the languages of music, acoustics,

and architecture. Lovers of music everywhere will welcome this extraordinary work

for its scope, depth, and ease of reading, and for heightening our understanding

and enjoyment of the musical experiences that so enrich our lives.

- R. LAWRENCE KIRKEGAARD

Acoustical Consultant, Chicago, Illinois

BeraneV s latest reference worl;t is an essential volume in every auditorium designer's

library. It will also bring information and pleasure to all with an interest in music,

acoustics and architecture. In our offices, a common response to a question in an

acoustical design session is "Let's check in Beranek."

- ROB HARRIS

Director, Arup Acoustics, Winchester, Hampshire, England

Concert Halls and Opera Houses is the definitive work on the architectural acoustic

design of classical music spaces. With presentation of 100 halls, it illustrates various

levels of acoustical quality. Written for the lay reader it deserves to be in every school

of music, architecture and science and with every musician and music lover.

- CHRISTOPHER JAFFE

Founding Principal, Jaffe Holden Acoustics, Norwalk, CT

CONCERT

HALLS AND

OPERA

HOUSES

t

Springer New York Berlin Heidelberg Hong Kong London Milan Paris Tokyo

* ~~~~~~~~~~ * ~ ~ ~ CONCERT ~ ~ ~ ~

HALLS AND ~

~ ~ ~

OPERA ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ HOUSES ~ ~ ~ ~

Music, Acoustics, and Architecture ~

~ ~ ~ Second Edition ~ ~ L E O B ERANEK ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

, ~ '"

Springer

~ ~

* ~~~~~~~~~~ *

LEO BERANEK

975 Memorial Drive

Suite 804

Cambridge, MA 02l38-5755

USA

beranekleo@ieee.org

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Beranek, Leo Leroy, 1914-

Concert halls and opera houses: music, acoustics, and architecture / Leo Beranek.-2nd ed.

p. cm.

Rev. ed. of: Concert and opera halls, 1996.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4419-3038-5 1. Architectural acoustics. 2. Music halls. 3. Theaters. 1. Beranek, Leo Leroy, 1914-

NA2800.B39 2002

725' .81-dc21 2002070734

ISBN 978-1-4419-3038-5 ISBN 978-0-387-21636-2 (eBook)

DOl 10.1007/978-0-387-21636-2

Printed on acid-free paper.

© 2004,1996 SPRINGER-VERLAG NEW YORK, INC.

SOFT COVER REPRINT OF THE HARDCOVER 2ND EDITION 2 0 0 4

All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the

written permission of the publisher (Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York,

NY 10010, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in

connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer

software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden.

The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if

they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or

not they are subject to proprietary rights.

An earlier edition of this book was published by the

Acoustical Society of America in 1996.

Text design by Steven Pisano.

9 8 7 6 543 2 1 SPIN 10882373

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A member 0/ BertelsmannSpringer Science + Business Media GmbH

Preface

he first question any lover of classical music usually asb an acoustician

is, "Which are the best halls in the world?" The response-the three halls

rated highest by world-praised conductors and music critics of the largest newspapers

were built in 1870, 1888, and 1900-always prompts the next query: "Why are

those so good while many halls built after 1950 seem to be mediocre or failures?"

You will find answers to these questions in this book the result of a half-century's

research into the very complex field of acoustics of halls for music.

The dialog re-enacted above bears a close resemblance to another illustration

that typically troubles music lovers. They frequently asl<, "Why is a Stradivarius

violin so good and so many built since then not in the same league?" In this case,

we know that Antonio Stradivari, working at the turn of the eighteenth century,

employed the utmost skill, a good ear, and perhaps a little luck to capture the dozens

of details that mal<e up a great violin. Subsequent violinmal<ers have learned that

only by producing close copies of his masterpieces can they expect their instruments

to be highly acceptable.

Indisputably, the acoustics of halls for music are more diverse than those of

violins . .& this book will explain in depth, halls for music encompass a broader

range of different types with very different acoustics, and one should always remem­

ber that composers often wrote music for a particular concert hall or opera house.

Consequently, a given composition usually sounds best when performed in its in­

tended acoustics. For instance, Gregorian chants were written for performance in

large churches with high reverberance; a small, quiet church never comes close to

doing it justice . .& Chapter 1 discusses, compositions of different musical periods­

Baroque, Classical, or ROmantic, for example-sound best in halls whose rever­

beration times vary from medium low to relatively high. Can one hall serve all

purposes? Halls with variable acoustics are among those treated here.

V111 PREFACE

Since we can, today, identify the acoustical characteristics of the finest halls

in existence, we could create an unerring duplicate of anyone of the several best

and thus reproduce its acoustics exactly. Why not do so? Because building com­

mittees generally select architects not to make exact copies of a great hall but to do

something original and visually inspiring, with the hope that the ha!!s wi!! have exce!!ent

sound. Most architects will not argue with that approach. who would be awarded

an architectural prize for the construction of an exact copy? Consequently, the

acoustical consultant is faced with a dilemma. To have the best acoustics, the hall

should be close in design to one of the great halls-and should yield similar electro­

acoustic data when measured. So the consultant usually follows a subtle path, push­

ing for as many similarities as possible and making recommendations, where dif­

ferences occur, of features-often novel-that may salvage the new design.

For every new hall, with its untried acoustics, opening night may become a

trial by fire. of course, the local orchestra and conductor may do all in their power

to adapt their playing style to the new acoustics, as the history of the Philadelphia

Academy of Music in Chapter 1 illustrates. But well-traveled music critics, often

in attendance only this once, may judge the acoustics of the new venue against those

of the four or five top-ranked old halls, and opening night reviews may set the

reputation of the hall, negatively, for years to come. On occasion, these assessments

turn out to be unjust, failing to account for how a hall's acoustics may be adjusted

over time or the possible misuse of the hall that first night. Such bad fortune befell

one important hall that was designed for a standard-sized orchestra playing the bnds

of compositions that maIze up the bulk of the repertoire of today's symphonic con­

certs. For the opening night, however, the conductor chose a new composition, with

a double-sized orchestra and a chorus of several hundred. The stage had to be

extended to over twice its normal size, and the choristers in the baclz row stood on

bleachers so high that their heads threatened to touch the stage ceiling, thus am­

plifying their voices unevenly. In some parts of the composition, the musicians

created unusually loud sound effects, in one case by hitting a suspended three-meter

section of railroad traclz with a sledge hammer. Nearly everybody in the audience

went home with a headache. The music critic's response? The hall was at fault.

Following the first chapters, which establish a base for understanding the ef­

fects of acoustics on composers, performers, and listeners, and guiding the reader

to a common vocabulary, the bullz of this book, Chapter 3, contains the write-ups,

photographs, drawings, and architectural details on 100 existing halls in 31 coun­

tries. Thirty of the halls are completely new. Although the remainder appeared in

earlier boolzs by the author, the materials have been updated wherever necessary.

The later chapters present the relation of a hall's acoustics to its age, shape, type

Preface

of seats, and the materials used for the walls and ceiling. The sequence of events

that led to Boston Symphony Hall's excellent acoustics, which opened in 1900, is

covered in detail-although it went through a troubled first few years because the

leading local music critic considered the predecessor hall as better. Detailed discus­

sions also appear for balcony, box, stage, and pit designs. All the known electro­

acoustical measurements on 100 existing halls are examined and compared with

the rank orders of 58 concert halls and 21 opera houses that were obtained from

interviews and questionnaires. Finally, the optimal electro-acoustical results are pre­

sented for concert halls and opera houses used for today's repertoires.

Three appendices supplement the chapters: the first gives definitions of all of

the major acoustical and architectural terms and symbols used in the book; the

second provides the electro-acoustical data available on the 100 halls; and the third

presents in tabular form much of the dimensional and electro-acoustical data for

the 100 halls.

~REDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Hundreds of persons are responsible for the material presented in this book:

conductors, music critics, composers, musicians, orchestra and opera directors, hall

managers, architects, acousticians, and musical friends.

The largest contributors of new information were Takayuki Hidaka, N oriko

Nishihara, and Toshiyuki Okano, devoted members of the acoustical department

at the Takenaka Research and Development Institute in Chiba, Japan. They are

responsible for the electro-acoustical data in this book on twenty-two concert halls

and seven opera houses in nine nations of Europe, the Americas, and Japan. Other

major contributions came from experts at Mueller-BBM of Munich/Planegg, Ger­

many; the National Research Council of Canada; the Technical University of Den­

mark; ARTEC Consultants of New York; KirkegaardAssociates of Chicago; Jaffee

Holden Acoustics of Norwalk, Connecticut; Michael Barron of Bath University;

Jordan Acoustics of Denmark; Arup Acoustics of Winchester, Hampshire, U.K.;

Sandy Brown Associates of London; Nagata Acoustics of Tokyo; InterConsult

Group of Trondheim, Norway; Garcia-BBM of Valencia; ACENTECH {successor

to Bolt Beranek and Newman} of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Cyril Harris of New

York; and Albert Yaying Xu of Paris. Others too numerous to name here also

provided invaluable inform:ation for this volume.

;x

x PREFACE

For the "biographies" of the 100 halls, the architectural drawings for 64 were

produced by Richard Shnider, 30 by the late wilfred Malmlund, and 6 by Daniel

Chadwick. Important editorial assistance on the first two chapters was rendered by

Ondine E. Le Blanc.

To all of the above, lowe my deepest thanks.

LEO BERANEK

October 2003

t

Contents

Preface Vl1

CHAPTER ONE

~USIC AND dCOUSTICS

What Are Good Acoustics? 1

Acoustics and the Performers 3

Conductors 3

Performers 7

Acoustics and Musical Periods 8

Baroque Period 8

Classical Period 10

Romantic Period 12

Twentieth-Century Music 13

European Opera 14

Acoustics and Listeners 15

1

xii

CHAPTER Two

~E YANGUAGE OF

~USICAL cmCOUSTICS 19

Definitions and Explanations of Selected Terms 19

Reverberation and Fullness 0/ Tone 20

Direct Sound, Early Sound, Reverberant Sound 23

Early Decay Time (EDT) (Also Early Reverberation Time) 23

Speed 0/ Successive Tones 24

Definition (or Clarity) 24

Resonance 27

Intimacy or Presence and Initial-Time-Delay Gap 27

Liveness and Mid-Frequencies 29

Spaciousness 29

Warmth 30

Listener Envelopment 30

Strength of Sound and Loudness 30

Timbre and Tone Color 31

Acoustical Glare 31

Brilliance 32

Balance 32

Blend 32

Ensemble 32

Immediacy 0/ Response (Attack) 33

Texture 33

Echoes 33

Dynamic Range and Background Noise Level 33

Detriments to Tonal Quality 35

Uniformity 0/ Sound in Audience Areas 35

Summary 0/ the Musical Qualities Affected by Acoustics 35

CONTENTS

Contents

CHAPTER THREE

{)NE @UNDRED c&ONCERT

~LLS AND {)PERA @~USES

(See listing on p. xvii)

CHAPTER FOUR

37

~OUSTICS OF c&ONCERT ~LLS 491

Rank-Orderings of Acoustical Quality of 58 Concert Halls

Developed from Interviews and Questionnaires 494

Reverberation Time: Musicians' Preferences 495

Reverberation Time for Occupied Halls 497

Architectural Basics 498

Age 498

Shape 499

Music Power 500

Audience Absorption and Type of Chairs 501

Materials for Walls, Ceiling, and Stage 502

Physical Measures of Acoustical Quality 503

Reverberation Time (RT) 503

Early Decay Time (EDT) 505

Binaural Quality Index (BQ!) 506

Loudness, the Strength of the Sound (G) 509

Warmth, Bass Ratio (BR) and Bass Strength (Glow) 512

Intimacy, Initial-Time-Delay Gap (ITDG) 513

Lateral Fraction (LFE4) 519

Acoustical "Glare" and Sur/ace Di/lusivity Index (SD!) 521

Listener Envelopment 524

xiii

xiv

Clarity 525

Texture 527

Orthogonality 0/ Objective Acoustical Measures 528

CONTENTS

Special Structures for Reducing Acoustical 'iolare" and for Diffusing Sound 528

BriRiance 533

Noise, Vibration and Echo 534

Further Architectural Considerations 535

Pre/erred Values for Acoustical Parameters 535

Preliminary Design Procedures 538

Stage Design 541

Balconies 545

Models 545

Multipurpose Halls 549

Architectural Design of Chamber Music Halls 550

Concluding Remarks 552

CHAPfERFIVE

@¢CaUSTICS OF {)PERA @oUSES 553

Questionnaire Rank-Orderings of Acoustical

Quality of 21 Opera Houses 554

Objective Measurements of the Acoustical

Properties of 23 Opera Houses 556

Measurement Procedure 556

Sound Quality Parameters 559

Orchestra Pits 564

Types 0/ Orchestra Pits 565

Boxes and Balconies 968

Echo and Distortion 570

Concluding Remarks 573

APPENDIX 1 Terminology, Definitions, and Conversion Factors 575

APPENDIX 2 Acoustical Data for Concert Halls & Opera Houses 583

APPENDIX 3 Equations, Technical Data, and Sound Absorption 615

Bibliography 641

Name Index 647

Subject Index 653

Concert Halls and Opera Houses

UNITED STATES

1 Aspen, Colorado, Benedict Music Tent 39

2 Baltimore, Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall 43

3 Boston, Symphony Hall 47

4 Buffalo, Kleinhans Music Hall 51

5 Chicago, Orchestra Hall in Symphony Center 55

6 Cleveland, Severance Hall 61

7 Costa Mesa, California, Orange County Perfo=ing Arts Center, 67

Segerstrom Hall

8 Dallas, Eugene McDermott Concert Hall in Morton H. 75

Meyerson Symphony Center

9 Denver, Boettcher Concert Hall 81

10 Fort Worth, Texas, Bass Perfo=ance Hall 85

11 Lenox, Massachusetts, Seiji Ozawa Hall 89

12 Lenox, Massachusetts, Tanglewood, Serge Koussevitzky 93

Music Shed

13 Minneapolis, Minnesota Orchestra Association Orchestra Hall 99

14 New York Avery Fisher Hall 103

15 New York, Carnegie Hall 107

16 New York, Metropolitan Opera House 113

17 Philadelphia, Academy of Music 119

xviii CONCERT HALLS AND OPERA HOUSES

18 Philadelphia, Verizon Hall in the Kimm.el Center for the

Performing Arts

123

19 Rochester, New York, Eastman Theatre 129

20 Salt Lake City, Abravanel Symphony Hall 133

21 San Francisco, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall 137

22 San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House 141

23 Seattle, Benaroya Hall 145

24 Washington, DC, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing 149

Arts, Concert Hall

25 Washington, DC, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing 153

Arts, Opera House

26 Worcester, Mechanics Hall

ARGENTINA

27 Buenos Aires, Teatro Co16n

AUSTRALIA

28 Sydney, Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House

AUSTRIA

29 Salzburg, Festspielhaus

30 Vienna, Grosser Musikvereinssaal

31 Vienna, Konzerthaus

32 Vienna, Staatsoper

BELGIUM

33 Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts

BRAZIL

34 Sao Paulo, Sala Sao Paulo

157

161

165

169

173

177

181

185

189

Concert Halls and Opera Houses

CANADA

35 Montreal, Salle wilfrid-Pelletier

36 Toronto, Roy Thompson Hall

CHINA

37 Hong Kong, Cultural Center, Concert Hall

38 Shanghai, Grand Theatre

DENMARK

39 Copenhagen, Radiohuset, Studio 1

40 Odense, Nielsen Hall in Odense Koncerthus

ENGLAND

41 Birmingham, Symphony Hall

42 Sussex, Glyndebourne Opera House

43 Liverpool, philharmonic Hall

44 London, Barbican, Concert Hall

45 London, Royal Albert Hall

46 London, Royal Festival Hall

47 London, Royal Opera House

48 Manchester, Bridgewater Hall

FINLAND

49 Lahti, Sibelius/talo

FRANCE

50 Paris, Opera Bastille,

51 Paris, Opera Garnier:

52 Paris, Salle Pleyel

193

197

201

207

211

215

219

225

229

233

237

245

249

253

257

263

267

271

xx CONCERT HALLS AND OPERA HOUSES

GERMANY

53 Baden-Baden, Festspielhaus

54 Bayreuth, Festspielhaus

55 Berlin, Kamme=usiksaal der philha=onie

56 Berlin, Konzerthaus Berlin (fo=erly, Schauspielhaus)

57 Berlin, Berlin philha=onie

58 Bonn, Beethovenhalle

59 Dresden, Semperoper

60 Leipzig, Gewandhaus

61 Munich, Herkulessalle

62 Munich, philharmonie am Gasteig

63 Stuttgart, Liederhalle, Beethovensaal

GREECE

64 Athens, Megaron, the Athens Concert Hall

HUNGARY

65 Budapest, Magyar Allami Operahaz

66 Budapest, Patria Hall, Budapest Convention Centre

IRELAND

67 Belfast, Waterfront Hall

IS RAE L

68 Jerusalem, Binyanei Ha'Oomah

69 Tel Aviv, Fredric R. Mann Auditorium

ITALY

70 Milan, Teatro Alia Scala

71 Naples, Teatro di San Carlo

277

283

289

293

297

301

305

309

315

319

325

331

335

339

343

347

351

355

359

Concert Halls and Opera Houses

JAPAN

72 Kyoto, Concert Hall

73 Osaka, Symphony Hall

74 Sapporo, "Kitara" Concert Hall

75 Tokyo, Bunka Kaikan

76 Tokyo, Dai-ichi Seimei Hall

77 Tokyo, Hamarikyu Asahi Hall

78 Tokyo, Metropolitan Art Space Concert Hall

79 Tokyo, New National Theatre, Opera House

80 Tokyo, NHK Hall

81 Tokyo, Orchard Hall

82 Toho, Suntory Hall

83 Tokyo, Tol"yo Opera City, Concert Hall

MALAYSIA

84 Kuala Lumpur, Dewan Filharmonil" Petronas

MEXICO

85 Mexico City, Sala N ezahualcoyotl

NETHERLANDS

86 Amsterdam, Concertgebouw

87 Rotterdam, De Doelen, Concert Hall

NEW ZEALAND

88 Christchurch, Christchurch Town Hall

NORWAY

89 Trondheim, Olavshallen

363

367

371

375

381

385

389

393

399

403

407

411

417

421

425

429

433

437

XXI

xx;; CONCERT HALLS AND OPERA HOUSES

SCOTLAND

90 Edinburgh, Usher Hall

91 Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall

SPAIN

92 Madrid, Auditorio Nacional de Musica

93 Valencia, Palau de la Musica

SWEDEN

94 Gothenberg, Konserthus

SWITZERLAND

95 Basel, Stadt-Casino

96 Lucerne, Culture and Congress Center, Concert Hall

97 Zurich, Grosser Tonhallesaal

TAIWAN

98 Taipei, Cultural Centre, Concert Hall

VENEZUELA

99 Caracas, Aula Magna

WALES

100 Cardiff, St. David's Hall

441

445

449

453

457

461

465

471

475

479

485

CONCERT

HALLS AND

OPERA

HOUSES

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