Concert Venues

Ever since I started to go to classical performances, my wish has been to visit the greatest venues in the world. In my own country, we have the Concertgebouw of course, with its sublime accustics. The Concertgebouw is one of my favorite buildings. Whenever I go there, I'm always delighted just to see the building. I'm not much into architecture, but the building breaths history to me. Going inside feels like entering a world of decadence. I can only imagine how the aristocratic people used to wander around in the building; it's funny to think about that.

Last year I had the pleasure to see the Berliner Philharmoniker in their own venue. That venue is wunderbar, to say the least. You can take a virtuel tour here to see what I mean.

 

I guess you either love it or hate it. I didn't really like the building that much, but the accustics were great! The main hall is much bigger than the Concertgebouw. I only had the cheapest ticket, which meant that I had to stand way back on a balcony but you could hear everything perfectly still. After the break I went to sit on the balcony straight behind the orchestra so I could spy on the clarinet players.

Now that I'm going to New York, it's time to fulfil another wish. I'm going to a concert in Carnegie Hall! I'm so excited about that....The program that night (21st of March) consists of Richard Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder (one of my favorites) and Prokofiev's 5th symphony (don't know that one). Garry and I have tickets on one of the upper balcony's, which is going to be interesting to say the least, because I'm afraid of heights. The most striking thing about the biggest hall in Carnegie is that it's very heigh instead of deep. I'll just have to face my fears....