Going to concerts

[Musician]

I have a debate going on with someone who said you should not go to a concert because of the venue, you should go to a concert because of the music.

Personally I do both.   But I think they have a point because if you really want to hear a piece of music or a particular artist that much you will to to hear them perform in a shoe box lol

[TheGSMoeller]

I'll go for artist and program, I'm not too concerned with venue, I've seen some outdoor concerts by good bands that lose a little balance, but good performers can overcome that with quality playing.

[Musician]

But the venue does help.  Some venues provide better acoustics

[PaulR]

But the venue does help.  Some venues provide better acoustics

True, but venues I don't think should be the main reason to go to concerts (with some exceptions).  Concerts should be primarily about the music one finds interesting. 

(Though, if one is on vacation and there's a fantastic venue that you want to visit for a concert, then I'd think the venue would be as important.)

[bhodges]

I go to lots of concerts, and yes, generally the artists are more important: repertoire, musicians, conductor (if there is one). But some halls are acoustic marvels and worth paying attention to - no matter who is performing. One acoustics company thinks the three best halls in the world are: Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Boston Symphony Hall and Vienna Musikverein (interestingly, all of a similar shape). Having been to the first two, I can say that I'd hear almost anything in them. (I would also say the same for Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall, among others.)

But that said, I've had some magnificent evenings in say, Avery Fisher Hall (not often cited for its sound) with the New York Philharmonic, and in some much smaller venues not known for their acoustics. Sometimes the artists can trump everything.

True, but venues I don't think should be the main reason to go to concerts (with some exceptions).  Concerts should be primarily about the music one finds interesting. 

(Though, if one is on vacation and there's a fantastic venue that you want to visit for a concert, then I'd think the venue would be as important.)

Basically agree, with the venues above as "exceptions" worth traveling for.

--Bruce

[mc ukrneal]

I've never really considered the acoustics of a venue when deciding what concert to see. I suppose it could decide things if I had two equally interesting concerts from which to choose. I have gone to some concerts just so I could see the inside of the building (for example, the old Opera in Paris or the Musikverein in Vienna), but I also heard wonderful music there (and the visit had little to do with acoustics per se). But I also don't see a problem if someone chooses based on acoustics. I just hope they enjoy what is being played too!

[North Star]

If I get a chance to hear another concert hall, with reputable acoustics, the performers or repertoire don't matter too much. Otherwise performers and repertoire are much more important.
A great performance in lousy acoustic conditions is by far preferable to a lousy performance in great acoustics.

[Karl Henning]

... Concerts should be primarily about the music one finds interesting.

It were hard to argue agin this.  Yet....

Two corollaries:

1) Part of how one discovers music one is interested in, is occasional (perhaps periodic, even) exposure to music which is simply unknown to one. Questions of one's interest then follow.

2) More than once (well, quite a lot over the years, really) there has been a piece or a composer in which/whom I had reckoned I was not interested, but hearing a particularly sparkling live performance corrected that artistic disinterest.

[Brian]

One acoustics company thinks the three best halls in the world are: Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Boston Symphony Hall and Vienna Musikverein (interestingly, all of a similar shape). Having been to the first two, I can say that I'd hear almost anything in them.

The best acoustical environment I've been in, for orchestral music, was the Warsaw Philharmonic's concert hall, which is very similar in design to the Concertgebouw. The best acoustics I've heard for 'smaller' music, London's Wigmore Hall, is like a miniature version of these, with a much smaller balcony. (Wigmore is definitely on my "go there regardless of performers" list, along with St Luke's Church on Old Street.)