VENUE 071
NOKIA CONCERT HALL
NOKIA CONCERT HALL IS SET WITHIN AN EXTENSIVE DEVELOPMENT IN TALLINN’S CITY CENTRE, WHICH INCORPORATES RETAIL SPACES, RESTAURANTS AND A LARGE CINEMA COMPLEX. THE 1,829-SEAT HALL HAS BEEN DESIGNED WITH A WIDE FOCUS, THE ABILITY TO ACCOMMODATE A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT PERFORMANCE STYLES WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE CRITICAL TO ITS COMMERCIAL SUCCESS. BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING, BALTIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP WANTED TO GIVE ESTONIA A VENUE IT COULD BE PROUD OF AND ENJOY. MICHAEL NICHOLSON TRAVELLED EAST TO EXPERIENCE THE VENUE FIRSTHAND.
TALLINN, ESTONIA EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
As I take my seat for the Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance in Nokia Concert Hall, I cast my eye over a stage populated by some of the world’s finest musicians, each of them anticipative of Principal Conductor, Vladimir Spivakov’s arrival. Mr Spivakov will use the best part of the next two hours expertly directing his finely tuned artistes through a flawless performance, transforming the audience from intent listener to vivacious applauder. The performance will completely catch the moment, marrying audience with stage, leaving both with the rosy glow of success. Bows will gratefully meet rapturous applause, performers will take their plaudits, and most will go home none the wiser about what it is they have actually just experienced. Three hours before curtain call, I am sat on the same stage with Grammy Award winning engineer, John Pellowe. John joined Meyer Sound in 2006 as Consultant Engineer, his task: ‘to work on installations of the company’s new Constellation electro-acoustic architecture’. At the time, Meyer Sound’s President / CEO, John Meyer lauded: “John Pellowe has an extraordinary sense of what constitutes good acoustics, how music should sound to an audience in a venue, and what performers like to hear. These things are at the heart of Constellation, and no one is better qualified than John to help us meet those aesthetic goals.” The first Constellation installation had been completed at California Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, and John Pellowe has played a role in its ongoing success. A more permanent coalition was a natural move
for both parties. Meyer Sound got a man who trained in classical music recording at Decca Records and subsequently embarked on a career that brought him into contact with nearly every current major classical and opera star. It enabled him to work with the world’s top conductors and orchestras in many of the world’s great concert halls. His recordings have garnered eight Grammy nominations and five Grammy Awards, including four nominations and a Best Engineering Grammy Award for John himself. Beyond his recording career, John was Sound Engineering Director for Luciano Pavarotti and The 3 Tenors for over 20 years, engineering concerts that often played to audiences numbering in the hundreds of thousands. From there, John looked for the next exciting project. “I’ve always been lucky enough to be at the front lines of sound engineering,” he said at the time of his appointment. “From the golden days of the classical record industry to travelling around the world with Pavarotti and The 3 Tenors. Constellation now constitutes the forefront of audio, and all my past experience equips me to make a contribution to it that I think is important: helping to build a bridge between the technical aspects and the artistic concerns. I find it quite exhilarating to work with Meyer Sound’s brilliant team of scientists and engineers on the development, design and installation of this exciting new advance in electro-acoustics.” Five years have passed, but judging by the enthusiasm which emanates from John, the excitement hasn’t faded. Without as much as a prompt, he begins to scan the auditorium and consider the
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