Concert halls and opera houses

by Leo Leroy Beranek

"This illustrated guide to one hundred of the world's important concert halls and opera houses examines their architecture and engineering and discusses their acoustical quality as judged by conductors and music critics. The descriptions and photographs will serve as a valuable guide for today's peripatetic performers and music lovers. With technical discussions relegated to appendices, the book can be read with pleasure by anyone interested in musical performance." "In addition, Beranek tells how composers adapt the style of their music to particular halls and how musicians adjust their playing to complement the acoustics. He also proposes a common language for musicians and acousticians." "The photographs (specially commissioned for this book) and architectural drawings (all to the same scale), together with modern acoustical data on each of the halls, provide a resource on the design of halls for presenting musical performances. Together with the technical appendices, the data and d