Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
{{Short description|Concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Royal Concert Hall
| native_name = Koninklijk Concertgebouw
| native_name_lang = nl
| former_names =
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| status = Complete
| image = Concertgebouw in Amsterdam April 2015.jpg
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| image_size = 250px
| caption =
| map_type = Netherlands Amsterdam
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location in Amsterdam
| altitude =
| building_type = Concert hall
| architectural_style = Neoclassical
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| cost = 300,000 Dutch guilders{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
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| client =
| owner = Het Concertgebouw N.V. (privately owned){{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
| current_tenants = Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
| landlord =
| location = Museumplein
| address = Concertgebouwplein 10
1071 LN Amsterdam
| location_town = Amsterdam
| location_country = Netherlands
| coordinates = {{coord|52.3563|4.8791|region:NL-NH|display=inline,title}}
| groundbreaking_date =
| start_date = 1883
| completion_date = Late 1886
| opened_date = 11 April 1888
| inauguration_date =
| renovation_date = July 1985 – April 1988
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| seating_type = Theatre
| seating_capacity = 1,974 (Main Hall)
437 (Recital Hall)
150 (Choir Hall){{cite web|title=Concerts|url=https://www.concertgebouw.nl/en/hall-rental/hall-rental/concerts|publisher=Concertgebouw NV|access-date=23 May 2021|archive-date=23 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523195726/https://www.concertgebouw.nl/en/hall-rental/hall-rental/concerts|url-status=dead}}
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| architect = {{ill|Adolf Leonard van Gendt|nl}}
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| designations = Protected monument
| ren_architect = Pi de Bruijn
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| website = {{Official website}}
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The Royal Concertgebouw ({{langx|nl|het Koninklijk Concertgebouw}}, {{IPA|nl|ət ˈkoːnɪŋklə kɔnˈsɛrtxəˌbʌu|pron}}) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in the world, along with Boston's Symphony Hall[https://www.wired.com/2012/04/april-11-1888-concertgebouw-home-of-nearly-perfect-acoustics-opens/ April 11, 1888: Concertgebouw, Home of Nearly Perfect Acoustics, Opens]R. W. Apple, Jr., Apple's America (North Point Press, 2005), {{ISBN|0-86547-685-3}}. and the Musikverein in Vienna.{{cite web|url=http://www.ark.fi/ark4_96/acoustics.html|title=Concert Hall Acoustics and the Computer|author=Tapio Lahti and Henrik Möller|publisher=ARK – The Finnish Architectural Review|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070322182523/http://www.ark.fi/ark4_96/acoustics.html|archive-date=22 March 2007}}{{Cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=99000633}}|title=National Historic Landmark Nomination: Symphony Hall|date=June 26, 1998 |format=PDF |author1=Gerrit Petersen |author2=Steven Ledbetter |author3=Kimberly Alexander Shilland |name-list-style=amp |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=2020-04-12}}
In celebration of the building's 125th anniversary, Queen Beatrix bestowed the royal title "Koninklijk" upon the building on 11 April 2013, as she had on the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra upon its 100th in 1988.{{cite web|title=Koninklijke status voor Het Concertgebouw|url=http://www.concertgebouw.nl/nieuws/koninklijke-status-voor-het-concertgebouw|publisher=Concertgebouw NV|access-date=11 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615111021/https://www.concertgebouw.nl/nieuws/koninklijke-status-voor-het-concertgebouw|archive-date=15 June 2018|url-status=dead}}
History
The architect of the building was {{ill|Adolf Leonard van Gendt|nl}},{{cite Monumentenregister|monumentID=288|name=Concertgebouw|access-date=9 February 2012}} who was inspired by the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, built two years earlier (and destroyed in 1943).{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
Construction began in 1883 in a pasture that was then outside the city, in Nieuwer-Amstel, a municipality that in 1964 became Amstelveen.[http://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/english/amsterdam_treasures/music/concertgebouw_in_the_fields/index.en.html Drawing of the Concertgebouw in the fields]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, at the Amsterdam City Archives A total of 2,186 wooden piles, 12 to 13 metres (40 to 43 ft) long, were emplaced in the soil.{{cite news|author=Paul L. Montgomery|author-link=Paul L. Montgomery|title=Dutch Hail Concertgebouw's 100th|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/13/arts/dutch-hail-concertgebouw-s-100th.html|work=The New York Times|date=13 April 1988|access-date=12 October 2007}} The Concertgebouw was completed in late 1886, however due to the difficulties with the municipality of Nieuwer-Amstel – filling in a small canal, paving the access roads and installing street lights – the grand opening of the building was delayed.{{cite web |url=https://www.concertgebouw.nl/en/history |title=History of the building |publisher=Official website of the Concertgebouw |access-date=10 June 2018 |archive-date=17 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617165123/https://www.concertgebouw.nl/en/history |url-status=dead }}
The hall opened on 11 April 1888 with an inaugural concert, in which an orchestra of 120 musicians and a chorus of 500 singers participated, performing works of Wagner, Handel, Bach, and Beethoven. The resident orchestra of the Concertgebouw is the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest), which gave its first concert in the hall on 3 November 1888, as the Concertgebouw Orchestra (Concertgebouworkest). For many decades from the 1950s to the present day the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (previously the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra) as well as the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest also provide their regular concert series in the Concertgebouw.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}
Today, some 900 concerts and other events per year take place in the Concertgebouw, for a public of over 700,000, making it one of the most-visited concert halls in the world.{{cite web|title=Facts & Figures |url=http://www.concertgebouw.nl/facts-figures|publisher=Concertgebouw NV|access-date=24 February 2014}}
{{As of|2014|02}}, the managing director of the Concertgebouw is Simon Reinink and the artistic director is Anneke Hogenstijn.{{cite web|title= Jaarverslag 2012|language= nl|trans-title= Annual Report 2012|url= http://www.concertgebouw.nl/sites/concertgebouw.nl/files/filemanager/Jaarrekening_NV_2012_definitief.pdf|publisher= Concertgebouw NV|date= 2 April 2013|access-date= 24 February 2014|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140207204452/http://www.concertgebouw.nl/sites/concertgebouw.nl/files/filemanager/Jaarrekening_NV_2012_definitief.pdf|archive-date= 7 February 2014}}
Building
The Main Hall (Grote Zaal) seats 1,974, and is {{convert|44|m|ft|abbr=off}} long, {{convert|28|m|ft|abbr=off}} wide, and {{convert|17|m|ft|abbr=off}} high.{{cite web|title=Het Concertgebouw – Capaciteit Zalen|url=http://www.concertgebouw.nl/sites/concertgebouw.nl/files/filemanager/Capaciteitenlijst.pdf|publisher=Concertgebouw NV|access-date=24 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126182327/http://www.concertgebouw.nl/sites/concertgebouw.nl/files/filemanager/Capaciteitenlijst.pdf|archive-date=26 November 2013}} Its reverberation time is 2.8 seconds without audience, 2.2 seconds with, making it ideal for the late Romantic repertoire such as Mahler. Although this characteristic makes it largely unsuited for amplified music, groups such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Who did perform there in the 1960s.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} In the Main Hall, there is a layer of dust in several places as removing this layer would impact the acoustics as they are now.{{Cite web|title=Geheime deuren in Het Concertgebouw {{!}} Preludium – magazine voor liefhebbers van klassieke muziek|url=https://www.preludium.nl/geheime-deuren-in-het-concertgebouw|access-date=2021-12-13|website=www.preludium.nl}}
A smaller, oval-shaped venue, the Recital Hall (Kleine Zaal), is located behind the Main Hall. The Recital Hall is {{convert|20|m|ft|abbr=off}} long and {{convert|15|m|ft|abbr=off}} wide. Its more intimate space is well-suited for chamber music and Lieder. The Recital Hall has 437 seats.
In 1983, the Concertgebouw was found to be sinking into the damp Amsterdam earth, with several inch-wide cracks appearing in the walls, so the hall embarked on extensive fundraising for renovations. Its difficult emergency restoration started in 1985, during which the 2,186 rotting wooden pilings were replaced with concrete pillars. Dutch architect Pi de Bruijn designed a modern annex for a new entrance and a basement to replace cramped dressing and rehearsal space.
Jacob Olie - Concertgebouw Amsterdam 10 november 1902.jpeg|Concertgebouw in 1902, by Jacob Olie
Exterieur VOORGEVEL, LINKER ZIJGEVEL - Amsterdam - 20288737 - RCE.jpg|East side before its restoration in 1985
Exterieur NIEUWE AANBOUW, OVERZICHT - Amsterdam - 20260226 - RCE.jpg|East side with the new entrance
Organ
File:Orgel Concertgebouw Amsterdam.JPG
The organ was built in 1890 by the organ builder Michael Maarschalkerweerd from Utrecht, and was renovated in the years 1990 to 1993 by the organ builder Flentrop. It has 60 registers on three divisions and pedal.Information on [https://web.archive.org/web/20131231082834/http://www.concertgebouw.nl/sites/concertgebouw.nl/files/filemanager/media/367692/dispositie%20orgel.pdf Organ (PDF)]
File:22 lier concertgebouw - WLM 2011 - drobm.jpg
| border="0" cellspacing="24" cellpadding="18" style="border-collapse:collapse;"
| style="vertical-align:top" | {| border="0" | colspan=2 | I Hauptwerk C–g3 ---- | |
| Prestant | 16’ |
| Bourdon | 16’ |
| Prestant | 8’ |
| Bourdon | 8’ |
| Flûte harmonique | 8’ |
| Violoncello | 8’ |
| Prestant | 4’ |
| Flûte octaviante | 4’ |
| Quint harm. | 22/3’ |
| Quint | 22/3’ |
| Octav harm. | 2’ |
| Octav | 2’ |
| Terz harm. | 13/5’ |
| Mixtur IV–VI | |
| Mixtur III–IV | |
| Cornet V | 8’ |
| Bariton | 16’ |
| Trompet harm. | 8’ |
| Trompet | 8’ |
| Trompet | 4’ |
| style="vertical-align:top" |
| border="0"
| colspan=2 | II Schwellwerk C–g3 ---- | |
| Quintadeen | 16’ |
| Flûte harm. | 8’ |
| Hohlflöte | 8’ |
| Viola di Gamba | 8’ |
| Voix Céleste | 8’ |
| Flûte octaviante | 4’ |
| Quint | 22/3’ |
| Flageolet harm. | 2’ |
| Terz | 13/5’ |
| Piccolo | 1’ |
| Plein-jeu harm. IV-VI | |
| Bombarde | 16’ |
| Trompet | 8’ |
| Basson-Hobo | 8’ |
| Vox humana | 8’ |
| Trompet harm. | 4’ |
| Tremulant |
| style="vertical-align:top" |
| border="0"
| colspan=2 | III Schwell-Positiv C–g3 ---- | |
| Zachtgedekt | 16’ |
| Prestant | 8’ |
| Rohrflöte | 8’ |
| Salicional | 8’ |
| Unda Maris | 8’ |
| Octav | 4’ |
| Fluit-dolce | 4’ |
| Violine | 4’ |
| Waldflöte | 2’ |
| Maarschalkje | 11/3’ |
| Mixtur II–V | |
| Trompet harm. | 8’ |
| Klarinet | 8’ |
| Tremulant |
| style="vertical-align:top" |
| border="0"
| colspan=2 | Pedalwerk C–g1 ---- | |
| Gedeckt Subbas | 32’ |
| Prinzipalbass | 16’ |
| Subbass | 16’ |
| Violon | 16’ |
| Quintbass | 102/3’ |
| Flöte | 8’ |
| Violoncello | 8’ |
| Corni-dolce | 4’ |
| Basson | 16’ |
| Trombone | 8’ |
| Trompet | 4’ |
|}
- Couplers: II/I (also as Suboktavkoppel), III/I, III/II, I/P, II/P, III/P
Names of composers in the Main Hall
File:Concertgebouw, Ámsterdam, Países Bajos, 2016-05-30, DD 22-24 HDR.jpg
In the Main Hall, the surnames of the following 46 composers are displayed on the balcony ledges and on the walls:{{cite web|title=Reader De eregalerijen in het concertgebouw|url=http://www.opusklassiek.nl/componisten/opusklassiek_lscgbcursusboekje_eregalerij.pdf|publisher=Vrienden Concertgebouw & Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest|access-date=23 February 2014}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Rijksmonument|288}}
- {{commons category-inline|Concertgebouw, Amsterdam}}
- {{official website}}
{{Music venues in the Netherlands|state=collapsed}}
{{Amsterdam}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1888 establishments in the Netherlands
Category:Concert halls in Amsterdam
Category:Music venues completed in 1888
Category:Rijksmonuments in Amsterdam
Category:Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra