Break. The Munich Philharmonic rehearse the program for the opening concert of the Isarphilharmonie, you would like to listen in there, but the acoustics of the new hall are one of the best-kept secrets that you can currently sneak around to clear up. But if you are not allowed in for rehearsals, some come out afterwards, members of the orchestra who tell you how they are doing with the hall. And even if rehearsals are not yet a concert, they have experienced a lot, because the opening program ranges from Beethoven to Ravel’s impasto sound enchantment to the world premiere of a commissioned work by Thierry Escaich with the largest orchestra, together a wide-ranging acoustic test.
So now you meet Marie-Luise Modersohn (M), solo oboist in the orchestra, Konstantin Sellheim (S), viola and member of the orchestra board, Manuel von der Nahmer (N), cellist. The three are in a good mood. What is the first impression like? “It’s wonderful for me. I have a preferred seat in the middle of the orchestra anyway, the floor of the podium is pure wood, Canadian cedar, it sounds soft, just beautiful” (M). “Here the floor vibrates” (S), “yes it vibrates, especially with the lower strings” (N), “it’s like an instrument, as if I were stroking my viola” (S).
It has never occurred to anyone to call the old Philharmonic an instrument. But Valery Gergiev, whom you meet afterwards, stubbornly sticks to his attitude of not wanting to say a bad word about the Gasteig (the old one): “The conductor has to find a way to cope with it.” The conductor’s room in the Isarphilharmonie is narrow, Gergiev jokes, the choir also fits in here. More practical, however, is the automatic feeder right in front of the door; on the way to the podium Gergiev could quickly pull a Snickers or an Adelholzener. In case he has change.
“I think Munich has never had such a good hall as the Isarphilharmonie”
Gergiev reports ten days of apprenticeship. Despite its size, the Isarphilharmonie can offer a chamber music atmosphere, it is visually and acoustically comfortable for the audience – in fact, the audience seats in the Gasteig were up to 66 meters from the podium, here it is a maximum of 33. And: Here you can find peace and quiet to express that quietly. The Isarphilharmonie can best be compared with the new Philharmonie in Paris. Was something possible here that didn’t work in the Gasteig? Haydn.
That’s what the three orchestra members say too. Paris and Haydn. But you haven’t agreed with Gergiev. “Here you can play much more transparently, more clearly” (N), “more pointed” (M), “here a horn is enough, a note becomes a revelation” (S), “in Gasteig there was a certain limit under which nothing more went “(N),” but here you can play very softly “(S),” you don’t have to try to make sound first “(M),” it’s like Christmas “(N).
Apparently there are two fundamental differences to the old Philharmonic. While you always had to expend enormous energy there in order to achieve a full sound, here the musicians have to withdraw. Gergiev also worked on being quiet from the first acoustic test. The other difference: thanks to the apparently perfect orchestral setup like in an amphitheater, all musicians not only see each other very well, they also hear each other perfectly. Mutually and their own game. “It was always our dream that we hear and see each other. As the violist on the far right, I hear the entire orchestra” (S). In the Gasteig there was a vague idea of this on the podium.
One thing is clear: the Isarphilharmonie is a burden for the Gasteig renovation. “The Gasteig then has to sound at least as good” (N), “I think Munich has never had such a good hall as the Isarphilharmonie” (S), “because we are very grateful to the city and shut up what other halls do concerns “(M). “We were lucky that this was completed quickly, without Gergiev it would not have been possible” (S).
The only question that remains is how the hall sounds with the audience. The three are extremely confident. You will receive the answer on Friday evening.