Word: keilholz
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Last week Steinberg led the orchestra through a program of Shostakovich and Mozart that, besides being musically rewarding, demonstrated that the auditorium is an acoustical gem. Heinz Hall has what is called a good throw. Its sound reaches the audience in smooth, vibrant, evenly distributed waves. German Acoustician Heinrich Keilholz removed a lot of old velvet, surrounded the stage with reflector panels (removable for opera and ballet), then hung a larger, fan-shaped reflector out over the main floor. "In the old days," says Steinberg, "Pittsburghers had no way of telling what their orchestra really sounded like. To find...
...German Acoustician Heinrich Keilholz takes over. Clouds are raised and further patched up. Their function is now described as "decorative." Undulating, floor-to-ceiling panels of plywood constructed around stage. Auditorium walls reshaped. Two-foot-deep "reflector box" constructed around stage apron. Air-conditioning units are muffled. Total cost: $335,000. Critics say echoes persist and bass has developed thudding sound. Consensus is that sound is warmer, but still nothing approaching that of Vienna's Grosser Musikvereinssaal, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw or Boston's Symphony Hall-all built before acoustics became a science...
...Keilholz decides plush interior is absorbing too much sound. Hall's deep-pile gold carpeting is rolled up and replaced with black vinyl. All 1,384 thick-cushioned seats on main floor are removed and replaced with 1,502 skinnier wood-back models. Rivulet-shaped panels are tacked on side walls to reflect flow of sound from stage. Hall looks like it was just given permanent wave. Total cost: $470,000. Acoustically, critics happier. Musicians too. Sound is livelier. Bass and high strengthened, echoes reduced. But visually, verdict is negative. Hall looks completely different. Blue walls now recreation-room...
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