VISION QUEST

The New York Philharmonic's future depends on more than a renovated hall.

- ALEX ROSS

Sixty years ago, Leonard Bernstein Philharmonic Hall, the chief concert venue at Lincoln Center. The event was broadcast live on network television, with an estimated twenty-six million people tuning in. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy headed a procession of distinguished attendees, who exclaimed over the white-columned monumentality of the façade and the blue-and-gold opulence of the interior. Bernstein led the New York Philharmonic in a program that included the Gloria from Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, the first part of Mahler's Eighth Symphony, and-less celebratory in mood-Aaron Copland's concussively dissonant "Connotations." Mrs. Kennedy, greeting the composer afterward, was at a loss for words. "Oh, Mr. Copland," she said. "Oh, Mr. Copland." When she was asked about the acoustical achievement, she replied, ambiguously, "I never saw anything like it."

In fact, the acoustics were a failure, as Bernstein recognized. A document in the Philharmonic archives summarizes his reactions: "Mr. Bernstein said that as he listens in the auditorium the hall has an uninteresting sound except for the horns and clarinets. At no time does he feel that he is surrounded by music. He said that the general effect is like hearing music written on a blackboard a tableau effect. He said that there is no presence or warmth." Treble frequencies were too dominant; the cellos were often inaudible; the horns lorded over all.