Suntory Hall

The Suntory Hall (サントリーホール) is a concert hall complex consisting of the "Main Hall" and the "Small Hall" located in the Ark Hills complex, near the U.S. Embassy and TV Asahi in the Akasaka district of northern Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Construction started in the late 1970s and it opened in October 1986. Herbert von Karajan described the hall as "a jewel box of sound".

History

The Suntory Hall opened on 12 October 1986 in commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of whisky production and twentieth of that of beer by Suntory.

The Herbert von Karajan plaza in front of the Suntory Hall, which was constructed in April 1998, is in remembrance of the maestro, who was involved in the design of the hall and who also recommended its vineyard style as used at the Berliner Philharmonie, in which the audience surrounds the concert floor in the Main Hall. He also helped with its acoustical evaluation. Architectural design was by Shoichi Sano, Yasui Architects and that of the acoustics by Nagata Acoustics and its director Yasuhisa Toyota.

Berlin Philharmonic

The Berlin Philharmonic (German: Berliner Philharmoniker), is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany and is consistently ranked as one of the best orchestras in the world.

Formerly Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester; BPO, its primary concert venue is the Philharmonie, located in the Kulturforum area of the city. Since 2002, its principal conductor is Sir Simon Rattle. Funding for the organization is subsidized by the city of Berlin and a partnership with Deutsche Bank.

In 2006, ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, while in 2008 it was voted the world's number two orchestra in a survey among leading international music critics organized by the British magazine Gramophone (behind the Concertgebouw). The BPO supports several chamber music ensembles.

History

The Berlin Philharmonic was founded in Berlin in 1882 by 54 musicians under the name Frühere Bilsesche Kapelle (literally, "Former Bilse's Band"); the group broke away from their previous conductor Benjamin Bilse after he announced his intention of taking the band on a fourth-class train to Warsaw for a concert. The orchestra was renamed and reorganized under the financial management of Hermann Wolff in 1882. Their new conductor was Ludwig von Brenner; in 1887 Hans von Bülow, one of the most esteemed conductors in the world, took over the post. This helped to establish the orchestra's international reputation, and guests Hans Richter, Felix von Weingartner, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Johannes Brahms and Edvard Grieg conducted the orchestra over the next few years. Programmes of this period show that the orchestra possessed only 46 strings, much less than the Wagnerian ideal of 64.

Hall

In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age, a mead hall was such a simple building and was the residence of a lord and his retainers. Later, rooms were partitioned from it, and the space next to the front door became the entrance hall. Today, the (entrance) hall of a house is the space next to the front door or vestibule leading to the rooms directly and/or indirectly. Where the hall inside the front door of a house is elongated, it may be called a passage, corridor (from Spanish corredor used in El Escorial and 100 years later in Castle Howard) or hallway.

Other meanings

The term hall is often used to designate a British or Irish country house such as a hall house, or specifically a Wealden hall house, and manor houses.

In later medieval Europe, the main room of a castle or manor house was the great hall. In a medieval building, the hall was where the fire was kept. With time, its functions as dormitory, kitchen, parlour and so on were divided off to separate rooms or, in the case of the kitchen, a separate building.

Stjepan Hauser

Stjepan Hauser (Croatian pronunciation: [stjêpaːn xǎuser]; born 15 June 1986) is a Croatian cellist. He is a member of 2Cellos, along with Luka Šulić.

Early life and musical training

Hauser was born in Pula into a musical family, where he began his musical education. He has a sister who is a journalist in Pula. Hauser finished secondary school in Rijeka. He studied in Zagreb, London, and later in the United States under Bernard Greenhouse.

Career

Although still in his twenties, cellist Stjepan Hauser has already performed in more than 40 countries across all the continents including successful debuts in Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Southbank Centre and many more.

He is laureate of UK's international competitions and awards such as: PLG Young Artists Auditions 2009, J & A Beare Solo Bach Competition 2009, NYOS Staffa Award 2009, Philharmonia Orchestra – Martin Musical Scholarship Fund 2009 & 2008, Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist Competition 2009 & 2007, Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition 2008 & 2006, Computers in Personnel International Concerto Competition 2008, Frankopan Fund Award 2006, and MBF Music Education Award 2006 & 2005. He is also a prize winner of international cello competitions and awards such as Adam Cello Competition in New Zealand 2009, and VTB Capital Prize for Young Cellists 2009. All together Stjepan collected a total of 21 first prizes among national and international competitions and as a consequence he was invited to perform twice on Gala concerts for H R H Prince Charles in Buckingham Palace and St. James's Palace.

Luka Šulić

Luka Šulić (Croatian pronunciation: [lǔːka ʃǔːlitɕ]; born 25 August 1987) is a Croatian and Slovenian cellist. He is a member of 2Cellos, along with Stjepan Hauser.

Early life

Šulić was born in Maribor, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia. Šulić's father, Božo, is from Dubrovnik, Croatia, and his mother, Alja, is from Izola, Slovenia. His father is also a cellist, and many members of his family are associated with music.

Career

Luka Šulić performs throughout the world combining solo classical performances and with the 2Cellos. He won series of top prizes at the prestigious international music competitions including first and special prize at the VII Lutosławski International Cello Competition in Warsaw (2009) , first prize at the European Broadcasting Union “New Talent” Competition (2006) and first prize at the Royal Academy of Music Patron’s Award in Wigmore Hall (2011).

He has given a number of solo and chamber music appearances in Europe, South America and Japan in major venues such as Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus. As a soloist he appeared with orchestras such as Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Russian Symphony Orchestra and others.