New Mariinsky concert hall in St. Petersburg hosts its first concerts
The St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre’s new, state-of-the-art concert hall, located in the company’s former warehouse, a few hundred metres from its historic main building, was opened to the audiences of the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra on Tuesday.
After the warehouse nearly perished in a massive blaze in 2003, it was decided to use the space for a new concert hall, and construction began in June 2005.
The majority of the financing for this grand scale cultural project came from private companies and individuals.
Valery Gergiev, the artistic director of both orchestras, asked Japanese acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota of the internationally-acclaimed Nagata Acoustics to design the hall’s acoustics.
Toyota’s previous classical venues include Japan’s Sapporo Concert Hall and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
The good news for Finland is that Toyota has also been called in to see to the acoustic engineering of the new Helsinki Music Centre that is to go up on a prime site opposite Parliament.
"This is a splendid hall, quite splendid", praised Valeri Gergiev, after conducting two consecutive major concerts on Tuesday evening.
The seats surround the performers in this narrow auditorium-type hall, thus allowing good visibility for the entire audience, while the real value of the space is said to be in its acoustics.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 20.6.2007 - TODAY |
 New Mariinsky concert hall in St. Petersburg hosts its first concerts |
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