flaco Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 The NY Phil will be moving to it's old home, Carnegie Hall, and playing it's full season there by 2006. This is great news for the orchestra, which has been scraping away in Avery Fisher for nearly 40 years now. There is a NY Times article in today's paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainyann Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 I guess that is a good thing, I love carnegie Hall. What will become of Avery Fisher Hall? Incidentally, Phillip Meyers, principal French Horn of the NY Phil, performed the Strauss Concerto for French Horn yesterday with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. He was wonderful! Thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjm Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 Great news! Now people will be able to hear how well the orchestra is playing, and the brass won't have to blow their brains out anymore just to sound balanced in the audience. Less earplug time for the viola section?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLaBonne Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 Wow, better 40 years late than never. Hearty congratulations to both the musicians and the subscribers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainyann Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 Their violas are on the outside so perhaps it isn't too bad for them. Here is the article http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/02/arts/music/02PHIL.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierGirl Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 Wow, that's some news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy jane Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 That is wonderful news! The orchestra as well as the audience deserves it. (I've never been to NY, but our orchestra is planning a trip including a performance in Carnegie Hall. With any luck, we will be able to see NYPhil in performance as well). J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
If_only Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 Incredible news, and a way to attend to the $$ problem. Pretty timely article. I wonder what other cities, like Philadelphia think of news like this one. They just spent a bundle on Kimmel Center, with acoustic problems: a similar feel to what is addressed by the NY times article. So tours to Carnegie Hall are no longer a lure. This should be an interesting watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainyann Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 The Philadelphia Orchestra performs at Carnegie Hall once a month. I guess this will put an end to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
If_only Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 You know, rainyann, I think you are right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strungup Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 Interesting. What will happen to Avery Fisher Hall? Actually Lincoln Center is getting a big challenge since the NYC Opera is thinking about moving out, too. I'll bet that visiting orchestras to NYC will now be shunted into Avery Fisher. Unless the acoustics get fixed they won't like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmysmith Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 I played at Carnegie Hall a few years back and the Acoustics are absolutely wonderful! Its great to hear that the NY Phil will have a decent place to perform now (now, if they'd only get rid of Maazel). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 Big changes in the NYC market. The articles mention decline in Carnegie attendance-- don't know if that means that Carnegie will produce fewer out-of-town events (VPO, Philadelphia Orchestra, etc) or cut back on the non-sponsored events such as the concerts my orchestra has done there recently. Certainly with a big anchor tenant like the NYPO, they will have the whip hand in any price discussions, as shopping around to Avery Fisher Hall is not always a good option. And what WILL happen to Lincoln Center after the MET and Juilliard are left as the only major year-round institutions there? Maybe without the Phil there they will be able to renovate Avery Fisher Hall into something worth traveling to hear concerts in. As we know, however, that has been tried before with mixed success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zinomaniac Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 And to think that Carnegie almost met the wrecking ball (a few decades ago)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flaco Posted June 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 A few things. First of all, unlike the Met Opera which owns the hall it performs in, the NY Phil has been renting Avery Fisher for the time it has been playing there. Now they will not have to pay rent, as indicated by the partnership with Carnegie. Yes, the violas are on the outside, but in Avery Fisher, things could get so loud earplugs were necessary anyway. Carnegie has much more cushion and is more forgiving, the brass sound will be warmer and rounder there. The NYP has only played two concerts in Carnegie in the past five years. It has been scraping away in Avery Fisher while all the visiting orchestras, some great and others not-so-great, have had the luxury of using Carnegie. This led to so many unfair comparisons against NYP. NYP would be playing regular subsription programs in an unflattering acoustic while visiting orchestras would be playing tour programs which they had rehearsed and performed numerous times, and in the most illustrious hall in the country. Maazel is a commanding and wonderful maestro, IMO. Nearly every guest conductor pales in comparison. The Philharmonic has been often criticised by the local critics for presenting too much standard fare, as well as going with safe, 'old guard' music directors. It's hard to understand why this reputation persists when there are quite a few premieres every season as well as much recent 20th century music being programmed nearly every other week. Without intending to spark controversy, I can say that the audience response and interest in most premieres is completely lacking, and only sells when an artist of the highest stature, such as Yo Yo Ma is involved. Quite often if there is a premiere at the beginning of the program a large chunk of the audience simply comes into the hall after the first piece. When Maestro Boulez was the director of the NYP the endowment was severely threatened by his adventurous programming, which is presumably what the critics seem to want. During the tenures of Mehta and Masur, who were constantly criticised for playing standard fare, the endowment soared. I enjoy playing new music and 20th century music but if the audience rejects it most of the time, what then? I remember a premiere by a very well respected composer and performed by a very well known pianist getting booed at one performance. I guess this could be a different thread but I had to rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmysmith Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 Hey, Flaco, thanks for your responce. I'm sure Maazel is a great conductor. I just don't like his interpretations. I have his recording of the complete Sibelius symphonies and the Tchaikovsky Violin concerto with Kremer and I just don't like them. Perhaps I'll check out some other recordings of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjm Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 If you don't like the recording ,Kremer probably is more to blame for the interpretation. Try listening to Mahler 5 Maazel/Vienna. It is wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierGirl Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 In reply to: During the tenures of Mehta and Masur, who were constantly criticised for playing standard fare, the endowment soared. I enjoy playing new music and 20th century music but if the audience rejects it most of the time, what then? It's disappointed to find out this is happening in NYC. Here I thought it was just midwestern audiences who shyed away from newer music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlo_jsb Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 I have that recording!! It's great, isn't it? Carlo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainyann Posted June 3, 2003 Report Share Posted June 3, 2003 I see the NY Phil often and I am sad to say that I am one who does not like a lot of the new classical music. I would never arrive late to not hear it but it is not my cup of tea. I do admit that I pick the performances by either the soloist or the music. Two years ago I went to their Memorial Day concert because it had a viola piece played by Cynthia Phelps and Rebecca Young, it was beautifully played but I hated it. Luckily, they intermingle the new music with the old. I do like at atmosphere of Carngie Hall much better and am looking forward to attending there more often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
looloopoo Posted June 4, 2003 Report Share Posted June 4, 2003 The roles of the halls are going to be pretty much reversed - Avery Fisher is going to house the touring orchestras, while Carnegie is going to be the (hopefully permanent) home of the NYP. I remember reading that Avery Fisher was supposed to get a complete overhaul, but since the Fisher family didn't want the hall to be renamed or something to that effect, they're keeping the external structure and just doing internal structure work for the (absolutely horrid) acoustics. A testament to the atrocious acoustics - I received free tickets to the Anne-Sophie Mutter New York premier of the Andre Previn violin concerto he wrote for her, needless to say free tickets = nosebleed seats = hearing everything (except Anne-Sophie) absolutely mushy. Luckily it wasn't a sold out concert, so I mosey'd on down to the preferred orchestra section on the floor and enjoyed the Dvorak 8th. -Caroline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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