“A visit to the striking new Elbphilharmonie concert hall, built on top of a massive brick warehouse overlooking the harbor in Hamburg, begins with a four-minute ride through a white tube sequined with thousands of reflective discs,” writes Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim in Wednesday’s (1/11) New York Times. “Initial plans by the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron were priced at 186 million euros (about $197 million), with the opening scheduled for 2010. After a succession of delays, revisions and legal disputes, the final bill for the city came to 798 million euros (about $843 million).… With the inaugural concert coming on Wednesday and featuring the NDR Symphony Orchestra, newly renamed the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the city hopes to prove both the cost and the wait were worth it.… Seats have been snapped up within hours of going on sale.” Resident ensembles include the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hamburger Symphoniker, and visitors include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during opening week and the New York Philharmonic in April. “The complex, part of the $12 billion, 400-acre HafenCity waterfront development zone, includes not only concert and recital halls, but also a hotel and luxury apartments.”
Posted January 11, 2017
