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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
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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
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
www.springer-ny.com
Springer-Verlag New York Berlin Heidelberg
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
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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
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