For modern people, the concert hall is not only a place to watch concerts or operas, but also a sacred place to cultivate artistic sentiments and feel the charm of music. A uniquely designed and beautifully built music hall can become a cultural symbol of a city and a pursuit of art. Some people say that the concert hall itself is a work of art; others say that the concert hall itself is an instrument...
Hungarian State Opera House
Budapest, Hungary
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Romantic Hungary, not only Hungarian Rhapsody and the Blue Danube, symbolizes hungary's opera tradition of more than 300 years, the Hungarian State Opera House, like a shining pearl of art, located in the city center of the City is known as the Hungarian "Champs Elysées" on Andrássy Street. The Hungarian State Opera, built in 1884, is one of the finest art halls in Hungary. The State Opera houses The entire Renaissance architectural style, with elements of the Baroque style. Although the theater is not the largest in scale, its gorgeous appearance and excellent sound quality are definitely top notch.
The current Hungarian State Opera House is the third theater on this site, and the Hungarian Royal Opera House, which was first built here, was destroyed in the war of the Revolution, and the rebuilt Opera House was destroyed again by artillery fire during World War II, before the Hungarian State Opera House we see now was built. Behind the classical marble columns, the magnificent opera hall is magnificent, the elegant chandeliers reflect the dazzling brilliance, the ceiling frescoes are carved with luxurious details, and the romantic nostalgia atmosphere fills the theater.
Harpa Concert Hall and Convention Center
Reykjavik, Iceland
Source: Harpa Concert Hall and Convention Center official website
In a secluded retreat on the reykjavik side of Iceland's capital, sits a very modern venue, the Harpa Concert Hall and Convention Centre, which was completed in 2011 and is the largest music and conference complex in Iceland and a new landmark in Reykjavik. The building won the European Union Contemporary Architecture Award, the Mies Van der Rohe Award, in 2013. The Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre is located at the junction of land and sea in downtown Iceland, so you can see the vast sea and rolling mountains. The 28,000-square-meter music hall and the largest concert hall can accommodate up to 1,800 people, so you can enjoy the icelandic symphony orchestra and watch Icelandic theatre and various musical genres perform.
The Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre was jointly designed by Icelandic and Danish design firms and is inspired by Iceland's brilliant auroras and beautiful scenery at night. Irregular pieces of glass on the surface of the building change with the seasons and the color of the sky, reflecting the brilliant and colorful light and the Icelandic cityscape. The shape of each piece of glass is different, the huge building is like a kaleidoscope, and the sunlight through the glass wall can directly shine into the hall during the day, without a lot of lights, so it is also very green.
Sydney Opera House
Sydney, Australia
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Located in New South Wales, Australia, the Sydney Opera House is an Australian landmark that initially became a symbol of Australia along with the Harbour Bridge and was one of the most distinctive buildings of the 20th century. The Sydney Opera House was completed in 1973 and was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II. The white roof of the opera house is paved with more than a million pieces of Swedish terracotta and has been specially treated, so it is not afraid of the sea breeze. With a total construction area of 88,000 square meters, the Opera House was approved by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as a cultural heritage site in 2007 for inscription on the World Heritage List.
The most special feature of this concert hall is the large pipe organ designed and built by Australian artist Ronald Sharp directly in front of the concert hall, which is the world's largest mechanical wood connecting organ, which consists of 10,500 wind pipes and is made of Australian wood. The theater has been visited by many international celebrities such as US President Ford, Clinton, South African President Mandela, former UN Security Council Prime Minister Annan, etc., and has a global reputation.
Amazon Theater
Manaus, Brazil
Image source: Amazon Theater official website
Can you also see the opera house in the heart of the rainforest? Located in Manaus, the heart of the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil, the Amazon Theater opened in 1897 as an iconic landmark of the area, where the annual Amazon Opera Festival takes place annually. Work on the building began in 1884 and took a total of 15 years, and the dome of the building is covered with 36,000 decorative tiles that form a huge Brazilian flag. The interior of the theater is equipped with 198 chandeliers, 32 of which are made of Murano glass.
The theater was built at the height of the rubber trade, and Manaus became one of the richest cities in the world, so the Amazon Theater was magnificent: Parisian furniture, Italian marble staircases, Italian statues, British steel walls... There are only 685 seats in the theater, but it is divided into 4 floors, and the entire audience seats are distributed in a circular shape, which is wooden seating, simple and elegant. It is worth noting that from the center of the Opera House to the circular dome, there are 4 huge frescoes, and the structure of the dividing frescoes is like the 4 legs of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Carnegie Hall
New York, USA
Source: Carnegie Hall official website
Carnegie Hall was a large concert hall founded in 1891 by American steel king and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, and officially renamed Carnegie Hall in 1893. The architecture of Carnegie Hall is in the Italian Renaissance style and is famous for its world-class acoustics. Tchaikovsky was the guest conductor at the premiere of the concert hall, and the New York Philharmonic orchestra has performed here for many years. It has to be said that Carnegie Hall is already a sacred presence in the hearts of musicians.
The ceiling of the main hall is extremely high, and the audience needs to go through 105 steps to the top floor of the auditorium. The concert hall is golden and brilliant, with red decorative elements, graceful and luxurious. Carnegie Hall uses a traditional layout similar to the "shoe box shape", the sound quality is almost flawless, and the sound effect is warm and realistic. In 1986, the concert hall was renovated and expanded, and although the builders tried their best to keep it in place, the acoustics were still not up to the same level as before.
Paris Opera
Paris, France
Source: Official website of the Paris Opera
Paris has always been known for its romance, and its opera house is no less impressive, and the story of "The Phantom of the Opera" takes place here. The 17th and 8th century Paris Opera, a place frequented by high society, is majestic and magnificent from a distance, combining Romanesque and Baroque styles with great luxury. Walking through the marble staircase, past the richly decorated foyer, flanked by chandeliers, the hall appears to shine more and more under the illumination of golden lights.
The interior of the opera house is decorated in gold with very detailed carvings, the walls and ceiling are decorated with exquisite frescoes, and the opera house also includes a ballet school and a library. The Paris Opera has a very mysterious architectural structure, the theater has 2531 doors, 7593 keys, 6 miles of underground tunnels. In the basement of the opera house, there is a dark lake with a huge capacity, the lake is 6 meters deep, and every 10 years or so the theater has to pump out all the lake water and replace it with new water.
Golden Hall
Vienna, Austria
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Built in 1869, the Vienna Musikverein is the oldest and most modern concert hall in Vienna, and one of the most famous concert halls in the world. Vienna's Musikverein is now not only a place for concerts and musicians, but also a landmark building that must be punched in when coming to Vienna. The Musikverein is the permanent residence of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the site of the Vienna Festival. The Musikverein is part of the Society of Friends of Music building, which also houses a number of concert halls. Every year on New Year's Day, the high-level New Year's Concert always attracts the attention of music lovers around the world.
Greek elements can be seen in the statues of Greek goddesses standing on the roof of the Golden Hall building, as well as the statues inside the Music Hall. The Greek statue columns inside the hall not only serve as a decorative function, but also as an integral part of the sound engineering, which cannot help but be amazed. The four walls, ceiling, columns, and carvings of the Golden Hall are all draped in dazzling gold, which is very gorgeous. Such a noble Golden Hall is also quite grounded: in addition to the normal tickets for each concert, it also offers a standing ticket of only 5 euros per concert, giving music lovers the opportunity to enjoy the music feast of the world's top masters.
Royal Albert Hall
London, UK
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The Royal Albert Hall is an artistic landmark in London, England, where hundreds of major events are held every year, including concerts, performances, competitions and graduation ceremonies. The annual Summer Getaway Concert, which is held every summer for eight consecutive weeks, is held here. Originally the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, it was renamed royal Albert Hall by Queen Victoria in 1871 in honor of his late husband, Prince Albert. He loved music very much during his lifetime, but he never realized his wish to build a concert hall. Not far from the concert hall, there is also a statue of Prince Albert.
The Royal Albert Hall is one of the oldest concert halls in the city of London, and its façade is a red brick building modeled after the Roman Amphitheater, which many celebrities have visited: the famous singer Adele has held concerts here; South African President Mandela has spoken here during his visit to Britain; pianist Lang Lang has also held piano concerts here... The concert hall also houses a restaurant and bar where ticketed audiences can take a break before the show starts.
Oslo Opera House
Norway, Oslo
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In Norway, mountaineering seems like a normal thing, but why can't the concept of mountaineering be applied to architecture? The Oslo Opera House in Norway gave us a perfect answer. Usually, stepping on the roof without permission can be driven off, but the Oslo Opera House, which opened in 2008, has gone against tradition and encouraged people to go to the roof. Along the sloping marble pavement, visitors can walk up to the roof of the Opera House, where they can take a walk or take a nap to admire the beauty of Oslo's cityscape.
With solar panels on the front, it is also the largest building in Norway that relies on solar power to meet energy needs. In the center of the theater hangs a white circular LED chandelier composed of several glass rods, which looks like a bright moon when lit. The Oslo Opera House won the 2009 European Architecture Mies Van der Rohe Award for its modern and stylish architecture.
Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall
Tokyo, Japan
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Tokyo Opera City is a large-scale comprehensive cultural facility in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, Japan, which integrates office, viewing, and shopping, and is the third tallest skyscraper in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku Ward. In 1997, conductor Seiji Ozawa came to help with the opening ceremony of the concert hall.
The most unique beauty of Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall comes from its pyramid-like ceiling design made of oak on the top, and when the lights are all lit, it seems that golden sunlight pours down on the concert hall. The triangular ceiling design, in addition to the luxurious visual effects, also has excellent acoustic effects, cellist Yo-Yo Ma praised the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall as one of the best acoustically sound halls he has ever experienced.
Bolshoi Theatre
Russia, Moscow
The Bolshoi Theater, built in 1825, is Moscow's famous ballet and opera theater and the oldest theater in Russia. As one of the highest artistic halls of ballet, the ballet "Swan Lake" is the signature program of the Bolshoi Theatre. In front of this pale yellow classicist building stands eight ancient Greek Ionian columns with a height of 15 meters, and the 4 bronze carriages on the top of the door are imposing and beautiful, which is one of the symbols of Moscow. During the October Revolution, there was a war here, and the bullet holes left at that time are still clearly visible on the façade of the Grand Theater.
La Scala Opera House
Milan, Italy
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The Teatro alla Scala in the fashion capital of Milan is not only one of the best sound opera houses in the world, but also a symbol of Italian music. The Teatro alla Scala was destroyed by artillery fire, but in 1946 the Italian government spent a lot of money to reproduce the gorgeous opera house as it was. In the square in front of la Scala, the former La Scala houses the monument to leonardo da Vinci, a great artist and scientist who once settled in Milan, and a statue of his 4 proud protégés. Da Vinci held the book in one hand and raised it slightly in the other, decorating the opera house with knowledge and wisdom.
Disney Concert Hall
California, USA
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Disney is not only cartoons and amusement parks, but also concert halls. Located in Los Angeles, California, Walt Disney Concert Hall was designed by Pritzker Architecture Award winner Frank Gehry and is the headquarters of the L.A. Symphony Orchestra and Choir. Inaugurated in 2003, the Disney Concert Hall is deconstructivist, with bold lines and bold metal sheets covering the roof of the building, and smooth stainless steel surfaces reflecting the sun at different times, each second taking on a different color. Its unique appearance makes pedestrians stop and watch. The Disney Concert Hall was also the first stop on Li Yundi's 2016 World Tour.
Elbe Philharmonic Hall
Hamburg, Germany
On the docks of Hamburg, Germany, a shining glass box stands on the banks of the Elbe River, the upper part is like a floating ice cube, and the lower part is a classical red-walled building, showing the form of a double heaven of ice and fire. This unique building has a lot to offer, and its designers are also the two architects who created the Bird's Nest and London's Tate Modern. The Elbphilharmonie opened in 2017, and the red brick building in the lower part was originally an abandoned dock warehouse, with smooth lines on the top of the glass, as if it were a jumping wave on the sea. The "white skin" inside the concert hall is at the heart of its acoustics, made up of tens of thousands of plaster fibreboards spliced together, allowing sound to spread to any corner for an exceptional sound experience.
Metropolitan Opera
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The predecessor of the Metropolitan Opera was a theater on Broadway and one of the oldest opera houses in the United States. In 1966, the Metropolitan Opera moved to a new location, a huge ten-storey building that could accommodate more than 4,000 spectators, becoming a central part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. It was rebuilt again in 1983, where the famous opera Faust by the French composer Gounod was premiered. The architectural style of the Metropolitan Opera House, which combines classical and modern, is an angular rectangular structure with 5 arched glass windows of the same height as the building on the front, which is very spectacular and is one of the few grand theaters in the world.