A Lincoln Center concert hall's half-billion-dollar facelift

The acoustics in the home of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center have always been problematic. Now, after a $550 million redesign, the refurbished David Geffen Hall has been praised in advance of its opening this weekend. Correspondent David Pogue goes inside the upgrade of a world-class venue.
#newyorkphilharmonic #lincolncenter #geffenhall

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[matthewdodson]

I was at the first performance for subscribers. When I tell you it is STUNNING….acoustics are tremendous, it’s unbelievably beautiful. Such a great experience as a concert-goer.

[BariTone-vr]

So happy for the NY Phil and NYC audiences and the entire music loving world!! It will transform this orchestra as they learn to play in an acoustic that helps them rather than being an obstacle. The hall is truly the largest instrument in the orchestra. It is long overdue. Bravi tutti!!

[sjwhite]

Love seeing you every Sunday Jane Pauley!

[boblaw]

Sad no credit was given to the architects and engineers.

[AmosAmerica]

Exciting! I plan to visit tomorrow 🙂Well, the lobby that is!

[kindofprecise]

I was at the right place at the right time and ended up with a lot of the beechwood cutoffs from this project, I've been making workbenches out of it

[gasper]

My Mother took me at 3 y/o to see Nutcracker Ballet in 1969 and in a quiet part I shouted out something that made everybody on stage & audience laugh. Now, I guess I can watch for free in lobby. I don't know if my shouting would make them laugh now though.

[jackmorrison]

To date myself I remember as a young person of 19 or 20 (who had never been to a classical music live concert) being required by a university professor to attend at least 2 classical concerts in the era of the hanging acoustic panels. This was the late 1960's. The sound the string section made in that hall back then was so strange. A kind of dry rubbing noise I had never heard on any recording and never heard again. It blotted out the other parts of orchestra.

The sound was different when I went back in the 80's after many of the earlier renovations were done. Now they finally seem to have gotten it right when I'm too old to go.

[brentfisher]

Spectacular! Kudos to David Geffen for bankrolling the effort, but let's not forget that it was Avery Fisher (hence for 6 decades it was called 'Avery Fisher Hall') who bankrolled the hall thru good and lean times. Perhaps it should be "David Geffen Masterpiece at Avery Fisher Hall"? Naw...too many words: David Geffen Hall it should be.

Cheers

[jimbonacum]

Well all I can say is that I hope that the sound has improved. It has been a nightmare ever since they opened. As I recall there were several previous attempts to fix it but to no avail. I recall going to hear the great Brazilian musician, Tom Jobim at Philharmonic hall in the late 1980's. It was very noticeable that the percussionists sounded like they were 2 or 3 beats behind the rest of the band. Hopefully the complete gutting of the space will fix things.

[RomyMacias]

This moved me to tears. What an amazing renovation!

[lewstone]

Wow they really paid back those thousands of people they wrongly evicted, destroying their neighborhood in the process, by allowing them to come buy a coffee and watch someone perform from the sidewalk. Yep, all even now!

[samueljaramillo]

The hall looks beautiful. Waiting to see what it looks and sounds like.

[markbeck]

I'm so glad they were able to fix the Hall; what an effort.

[LJB]

Hopefully, it will now work out for everyone. As to square and boxy - That description fits Symphony Hall in Boston, and its acoustics have been great from the day it opened in 1900.

[katrreenna]

Allowing people to watch the concert on a screen in the lobby or pay for food at the restaurants is not "giving back."

If they really wanted to give back to the community they displaced, why don't they do things like:
1. Provide the space and teachers for free music lessons at the hall for low income children
2. Donate instruments to schools in the surrounding areas
3. Give a certain number of free tickets per season to low income people or some of the children's families who are taking the lessons or are recipients of the instruments
4. Set up a program where members of the orchestra can mentor children of the community they displaced


and, if the response to this is that they are already doing some of this or plan to, then why was that not covered in the story?

[KelbyLin-pw]

I went to there on a trip it was a amazing experience:D

[RHTeebs]

I wonder if David still has the golden harmonica he got from Craig Ferguson.

[DannyEastVillage]

Philharmonic Hall had impossible acoustics. Avery Fisher had an improved, but dry acoustic combined with the ambiance of an airplane hanger. And that horrible flat floor! This looks like a space that will actually be fun to be in. Now if they would just get TF rid of those god-awful cramped Philip Johnson public spaces of the opera house. Of course, before its renovation, the New York State (now Koch) theater may have been the coldest, ugliest performing arts space in the US. All in all, the original Lincoln Center designs were a flop--the worst the 60s had to offer. Thank God, they weren't the final word. Now fix the lobbies, stairs and washrooms of the gddm opera house. The theater is okay--ragged, but okay. but the rest of the place? Sheesh. No reason on earth for Met patrons to have to put up with it.

[timothymacdonnell]

They should have done this years ago. I would have been at those cafes watching the free performances. I remember the acoustics at Avery Fisher Hall were not very good.