Paris concert hall hits 97% capacity
mainThe benefits of a new hall are all too evident in Paris.
The large concert hall of the Paris Philharmonie sold 97 percent of its tickets in 2016, it was announced today. The average across all halls in the complex was 93 percent.
From what we’re hearing, the two main London halls – RFH and Barbican – are presently playing 20 percentage points below Paris.
I don’t know what kind of box office Disney Hall in Los Angeles is doing these days, but the newness factor when it opened created a similar demand. Tickets were expensive and sellouts were almost a given.
It seems to me that if you wanted some kind of comparison you wouldn’t be using apples (new hall) and oranges (older established venues). Hell, even Carnegie Hall has clunker events, whereas if a new hall opened up in my town, people would be climbing over each other to get tickets for something just to experience it in all its freshness and evaluate the acoustics of the room. With ‘known knowns’ like RFH and the Barbican, that hasn’t been a factor for many decades.
That said, I’ve heard great things about that hall and hope to get to hear something myself when we’re in Paris this fall.
Just to point out that the 2016 figures are the Philharmonie’s second full year of operation and the total seats sold, 1.2 million, were essentially the same as the first year. A different good sign.