A German concert hall crumbles after 30 years
OrchestrasAdherents of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra awoke this morning to learn that their concert hall is going to be put out of action for several years.
‘Structural deficiencies’ have been discovered and the loudspeaker system has broken down.
The city will conduct a feasibility study over the next two years but the mayor has warned grimly that the repair bill may cost more than the original 60 million-mark building budget in 1993.
That’s not quite correct. The ELO system didn’t break down, it just has some ageing difficulties and therefore the city plans a renovation which shall be done in several parts during the summer breaks in between the concert seasons. Keep calm and carry on…
Ah but anything that mundane wouldn’t get clicks.
Although the very existence of an electronic booster system would seem to be something of a structural deficiency as it is in purist terms. (BTW you wouldn’t happen to be a descendant of Dr. William Axt, would you?)
Does this mean that the Bohemian sound of the Bamberger Symphoniker is based on an electronic booster system?
Well this is another example of good journalism. The German press release mentions the ELA which isn’t an electronic booster system at all – the Bamberg Symphony Hall doesn’t need that as its brilliant acoustics have been refined by Yasuhisa Toyota himself. It’s just the system of loudspeakers in every room of the building that are used for evacuation purposes in case of an emergency.
Thank you for clarifying!
I recently attended Bruckner’s 8th with Herbert Blomstedt twice from different angles and I can confirm that this hall is acoustically one of the best I have ever witnessed, along with Philharmonie Dresden.
Keep calm and have a Rauchbier!
Where did the Bamberg Symphony play before? Can they go back?
Don’t give Söder silly ideas!
One climate-change scenario may be that the base of the hall gets washed away by the Regnitz, following torrential rain.
“acoustic booster system”
Presumably similar to the unreliable “assisted resonance” system once used in the Royal Festival Hall?
As already explained above, this is NOT an electronic booster system at all – the Bamberg Symphony Hall doesn’t need that as its brilliant acoustics have been refined by Yasuhisa Toyota himself. It is a system of emergency loudspeakers used in case of evacuation. This system has to be renovated because it’s simply old and outdated. The Bamberger are trying to get this done in extended summer breaks so they can perform during the winter seasons in between as usual.
Just to clarify that the loudspeakers mentioned (which are outdated and need replacement) are NOT any acoustic boosters but “just” a system of emergency speakers into every room of the venue that shall be used in case of evacuation.
The brilliant acoustics of the Bamberg concert hall, home of the Bamberger Symphoniker, has been refined by Yasu Toyota some years ago and doesn’t need any boosters at all
thank you
Perhaps old Neupert “harpsichords,” native to the city, could be recycled as building materials. It would be wonderful if they could be of some use for a change.