“Organists, and those who love the natural, visceral sound of mighty pipe organs, have long lamented that both of New York’s premier concert halls, Carnegie Hall and Geffen, got rid of their old pipe organs decades ago and went electric,” writes Michael Cooper in Sunday’s (12/15) New York Times. “They see the coming renovation of Geffen Hall as a chance to right a historical wrong, especially at a time when many of the world’s most glamorous new halls—including Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Philharmonie in Paris and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg—have installed mammoth new pipe organs. But the Philharmonic and Lincoln Center must weigh the desires of organ aficionados against other competing needs.… No decision has yet been made, said Deborah Borda, the president and chief executive officer of the Philharmonic…. The Philharmonic used to have [a] floor-shaking, 45,000-pound Aeolian-Skinner organ … built for it when it moved to Lincoln Center in 1962…. But the organ was removed during a renovation of the hall in 1976, in part to free up space backstage … The design team for the new Geffen Hall is weighing its options … to rebuild the auditorium while staying within its existing footprint.”
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