An Acoustic Appraisal Of Disney

Scott Cantrell writes that while Disney is good, Dallas’ Meyerson Hall still sounds the best of the new American concert halls. “Most of the 19th- and early 20th-century concert halls regularly cited as best for symphonic music – the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Symphony Hall in Boston and Carnegie Hall in New York – are variations on a shoebox shape. Their acoustics tend to be described as ‘warm’ and ‘rich,’ but with ample clarity. ‘Full-bodied’ and ‘spacious’ weren’t adjectives that came immediately to mind at the opening of Disney Hall. What wasn’t there was the lower-midrange depth and visceral bass that you get in the great old halls.”