Music Hall: a delicate balance
What to preserve? What to enhance?
The capacity and also the scale of the auditorium mean that the CSO is limited in the types of compositions and performances it can present. They have to fill this big hall and they have to do so 30 weekends a year. This affects their ability to expand their offerings, to try new repertoire or experiment with varied configurations. It is more difficult to keep things fresh and interesting for regular attendees and to keep the art form from being just a musical museum.
One thing Music Hall will never be called is intimate. The sheer distance between stage and the back of the hall demand a certain scope of presentation in order to effectively engage the listener. Anything less than a full orchestra can be less than satisfying from a sheer aural perspective. Also, there is a lack of visual connection with the performers for many in the audience.
The Cincinnati Pops, appealing to a broader audience, has been more likely to fill the hall in the past, but who knows how the loss of Erich Kunzel will affect attendance going forward.
Cincinnati Opera
ROLE: The summer tenant of Music Hall, Cincinnati Opera utilizes the auditorium, set shop and rehearsal space during June and July each year. Their newly-remodeled office space is in the North Wing of the complex.
ISSUES: The Opera’s situation differs from the CSO in that their limited season (low supply = high demand) affords a better chance to fill Music Hall seats. For popular, well-known operas, the Opera is frequently at or near capacity. They like having so many seats to fill. On the other hand, there is the burden of having to choose repertoire that is popular enough to draw big crowds. As with the CSO, this restricts the range of options and discourages risk-taking, and pushing boundaries is part of what the arts are all about.
All of the other aural and visual issues apply here, as well, and seating and sightline challenges are even more heightened due to the visual nature of the art form.
There are also significant needs for upgrading and updating the set shop, backstage, fly space and rehearsal areas of Music Hall to meet 21st century needs and standards, save on labor costs, and bring a greater level of overall efficiency.
Posted: September 29th, 2009 under Arts & Culture Blog.
Comment from gibson60
Time October 2, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Express deserves applause for Thom Mariner’s timely column on the future of Music Hall. It’s a well-organized and easy-to-understand rundown of an extremely complicated and important issue. The column needs to be read by anyone who cares about Greater Cincinnati – arts fan or not – and I hope that happens.
Many of us remember in the 1960s, when conservative Cincinnati confronted a high-stakes, far-reaching choice about the need for a new sports stadium on the riverfront. Since then, it seems that every generation has had to face the same fundamental question: do we want to remain a “big league” city? Do we, and can we, try to keep pace with “large market” cities when they raise the ante with bigger and better arenas, stadiums and performance venues?
Factor in our aesthetic, civic and historic responsibility to maintain Music Hall – our “secular cathedral,” as Thom so aptly put it – and things get REALLY complicated!
Today’s harsh economy underscores the fact that there are plenty of worthwhile ways to spend our money. But the discussion has to start somewhere and must include Music Hall.