Friday, January 16, 2015

Paris' Philharmonie: first impressions


The 2,400-seat Philharmonie de Paris, designed by Jean Nouvel, is the world’s newest concert hall – and certainly its most visually intriguing, inside and out.

You can take a virtual tour of the space here: http://www.philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/

Reviews from its inaugural concert on Jan. 14 range from guardedly positive to borderline-rapturous. Here’s a sampling:

From The New York Times’ Anthony Tommasini:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/arts/music/in-paris-a-music-hall-built-for-unity-offers-stirring-first-act.html?ref=music&_r=0

From The Guardian’s Tom Service:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2015/jan/15/la-philharmonie-de-paris-new-musical-social-future-paris

And (via www.slippedisc.com) from British arts administrator/blogger Marshall Marcus:

https://marshallmarcus.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/ce-soir-nous-sommes-tous-la-philharmonie/