Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
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The Royal Concertgebouw (Template:Langx, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) 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<ref>April 11, 1888: Concertgebouw, Home of Nearly Perfect Acoustics, Opens</ref><ref>R. W. Apple, Jr., Apple's America (North Point Press, 2005), Template:ISBN.</ref> and the Musikverein in Vienna.<ref name=ac>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="nrhpinv2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
The architect of the building was Template:Ill,<ref name=mr>Template:Cite Monumentenregister</ref> who was inspired by the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, built two years earlier (and destroyed in 1943).Template:Citation needed
Construction began in 1883 in a pasture that was then outside the city, in Nieuwer-Amstel, a municipality that in 1964 became Amstelveen.<ref>Drawing of the Concertgebouw in the fieldsTemplate:Dead link, at the Amsterdam City Archives</ref> A total of 2,186 wooden piles, 12 to 13 metres (40 to 43 ft) long, were emplaced in the soil.<ref name="Paul L. Montgomery">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.Template:Citation needed
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:As of, the managing director of the Concertgebouw is Simon Reinink and the artistic director is Anneke Hogenstijn.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
BuildingEdit
The Main Hall (Grote Zaal) seats 1,974,<ref name="Concert halls"/> and is Template:Convert long, Template:Convert wide, and Template:Convert high.<ref name="Concertgebouw NV">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A smaller, oval-shaped venue, the Recital Hall (Kleine Zaal), is located behind the Main Hall. The Recital Hall is Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide.<ref name="Concertgebouw NV"/> Its more intimate space is well-suited for chamber music and Lieder. The Recital Hall has 437 seats.<ref name="Concert halls"/>
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.<ref name="Paul L. Montgomery"/>
- 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
OrganEdit
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.<ref>Information on Organ (PDF)</ref>
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- Couplers: II/I (also as Suboktavkoppel), III/I, III/II, I/P, II/P, III/P
Names of composers in the Main HallEdit
In the Main Hall, the surnames of the following 46 composers are displayed on the balcony ledges and on the walls:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Music venues in the Netherlands Template:Amsterdam Template:Authority control