Gewandhaus

Some places become synonym with the city its built in. When you remember one, the other one automatically comes to mind. I think Leipzig and Gewandhaus has such a relationship. With its 270 year old history, Gewandhaus made a significant contribution to Leipzig’s important position in the classical music world. In fact my reason to visit Leipzig was to listen a concert.

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In 1743, 16 merchants come together and has established “Grand Concert” a society to make their own music. Over time their listeners has increased and the Three Swans Inn was not enough. In 1781 they moved to the attic of a garment building (gewand haus) which can fit 500 seats. The acoustics of the attic was quite good. For almost a century first Gewandhaus was in service, but in time it was insufficient both for orchestra and listeners. So, in 1884 they moved to the second Gewandhaus built in classical style. This building had a 1500 seat main hall and 500 seat hall for chamber music.

For 60 years second Gewandhaus was in service but in the war it was heavily damaged. For almost 40 years concerts was arranged temporarily in other halls. But thanks to Kurt Masur, the director of the Gewandhaus, the orchestra was finally able to move into a modern performance hall. 1900 seat hall has excellent acoustics. The building is aesthetically enhanced by statues and busts of musicians, and, above all, four-story-high ceiling painting “Song of Life” by the Leipzig artist Sighard Gille is remarkable.

Over 600 events take place every year at the Gewandhaus. Of these, the 70 Grand Concerts are the focal point. Leipzig Chorus also uses Gewandhaus, so their concerts can be seen here.

So lets talk about the concert. I must say this I have been to some 10 halls, including Philharmonie of Berlin Philharmonic, in Germany and England, and acoustics is best in Gewandhaus. This concert made be sure once again that, hall acoustics is as important as the artists. Because only in a hall with good acoustics, the technical and musical quality of the artists’ reach to listeners perfectly. Hillary Hahn who is playing in this concert as a soloist, has the technical and musical skills; this concert was an unforgettable concert for me.