 |
Photo by Jilly
Wendell
As members of the L.A. Philharmonic, music faculty Mitchell
Peters (from the left), Lou Anne Neill and Christopher Hanulik
shared the intense international excitement generated by the
opening of Disney Hall. |
THE AWESOME SOUND OF MUSIC
Music faculty at home in Disney Hall
BY WENDY SODERBURG
UCLA Today Staff
Sparkling new Walt Disney Concert Hall — 293,000 square
feet of glistening, curved steel, glass and hardwood designed by
Frank Gehry and located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles —
is finally open for business.
The new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles
Master Chorale was 16 long years in the making, so it’s no
surprise that the hall’s gala opening ceremonies on Oct. 23-25
came as a welcome relief to many.
Among the most pleased were four members of the L.A. Philharmonic
who are also UCLA music department faculty: Lecturer Lou Anne Neill,
harp; Adjunct Professor Christopher Hanulik, principal bass; Adjunct
Professor Marion Kuszyk, associate principal oboe; and Lecturer
Mitchell Peters, principal timpani and percussion.
Their first visit to the glimmering hall during the summer was
an emotional experience, especially for Neill. When she walked in,
she couldn’t help crying. “It’s been a long time,”
she said softly. “It’s breathtaking.” Playing
there for the first time was like “hearing a recording and
then remixing it. It’s up to us to make the sound that we
want. And we’re still working on it. It’s a process.”
Hanulik added: “The sound is much clearer, much more defined,
and it has a wonderful presence that the Dorothy Chandler just wasn’t
able to project to the audience. In an inferior hall, the mid-to-low
range of the orchestra gets swallowed up. At Disney, that’s
not the case. There is now a very real bass presence, and it’s
very exciting.”
All four were incredibly busy last month, performing with the
Philharmonic at several preview concerts that tested the acoustics
of the new hall. The orchestra played for members’ families,
senior citizen groups, Music Center employees and Disney Hall construction
crews in preparation for the three inaugural gala celebrations.
Each gala featured a different program. On the first night, the
theme was classical; on the second night, the orchestra played modern
music, featuring a piece by Philharmonic music director Esa-Pekka
Salonen; and on the third night, the program consisted of Hollywood
movie music.
“It was such a thrill to play for a full audience every
night,” Kuszyk said. “All the enthusiasm, the TV cameras
and the attention — it was incredible.” The Philharmonic
musicians are getting used to being, literally, the center of attention.
Rather than sitting on a stage facing out, the orchestra is now
surrounded by the audience. “I like the intimacy of it. It
just feels more like the audience is involved,” Kuszyk said.
“At the Dorothy Chandler, it felt like the audience was so
far away — were they even there? Now it feels like we’re
playing for real, live people.”
Neill added, “We haven’t ever been able to be heard
the way we want to be heard. We’d go out on tour and play
in some of these great halls all over the world, and we’d
sound fabulous. And we’d say, ‘Too bad we don’t
have a place like this at home.’ And now we do.” |
