The Athens Concert Hall (
Greek: Μέγαρον Μουσικής Αθηνών, ''Mégaron Mousikis Athinon'') is a concert hall located on
Vasilissis Sofias Avenue in
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, Greece.
The Hall was inaugurated in 1991 with two halls. Since then it has been augmented with two more halls and now has a total of four: two large and two smaller ones. The Hall has optimal facilities for opera performances, and some operas are presented every season.
The
Megaro Moussikis station of the
Athens Metro is just outside the Hall, on Line 3.
The design of the 8,000 square meters floor was performed by
Christopher Alexander; the process of designing and laying the floor and its result are described in his work ''
The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe''.
[Christopher Alexander, ''The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe'', , see photo and description on page 264.]
Performance venues and other facilities
*The Christos Lambrakis Hall (named after the ex-president of the "Friends of Music" Society,
Christos Lambrakis, and previously called "Friends of Music" Hall) was designed by
Heinrich Keilholz whose plan was altered later to its existing by architect Helias Skourbelos and the acoustics were developed by Theodore Timagenis. It has a capacity of 1,961, and is used for concerts and recitals. It also holds the biggest
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...
in Greece, with 6,080 pipes, constructed by
Klais Orgelbau.
*The Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall (named after the
conductor,
Dimitri Mitropoulos), which has a capacity of 494 and is usually used for
Chamber Music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
and dance performances.
In 2004 the International Conference Centre opened at the Athens Concert Hall, adding:
*The Alexandra Trianti Hall (named after
lieder singer Alexándra Triántē), which has a capacity of 1,750 and is used for
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
s,
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
and other musical performances,
*The Nikos Skalkottas Hall (named after composer
Nikos Skalkottas), a smaller hall for concerts and conferences, and
*The
Lilian Voudouri Music Library of Greece, established in 1995. It currently incorporates 126,000 titles and multimedia resources.
See also
*
List of concert halls
References
External links
Athens Concert Hall, official website
{{Coord, 37, 58, 52, N, 23, 45, 15, E, display=title, region:GR_type:landmark
Concert halls in Athens
Music venues completed in 1991
1991 establishments in Greece