A concert hall is not a neutral container but an active participant in making music, and here the synchronicity among orchestra, conductor, repertoire and acoustics has helped shape the story of the art form, much as Notre Dame, San Marco, Vienna’s Musikverein and CBGB did. I remember hearing the opening concerts at Disney Hall and thinking that the orchestra was going to have to ratchet itself up a handful of notches to meet the demands of its new home. It has: Today there is no nimbler or more influential orchestra, or one more confident in its artistic identity, than the L.A. Phil. Acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota deserves plenty of credit for that, and so does Gehry, who embedded those sonic qualities in such an ebullient building.

Source: Los Angeles Times May 22, 2019 10:03 UTC