Hilary Hahn, Beethoven and the Pacific Symphony at the newish hall in Orange County

Saturday was the first time that I heard a full classical concert at the Renee and Henry Segerstron Concert Hall, the Orange County Performing Arts Center's 2-year-old venue in Costa Mesa. The Pacific Symphony calls this shiny new building home, but for some reason I as never got around to actually hearing a classical concert there. (I’ve been inside for the open house way at the beginning, when they only played xylophone music as a demonstration, and then last May for the Merce Cunningham event, where the music was amplified. Considering that the hall was built with acoustic classical music in mind, not having heard an orchestra in the space is a big gap of experience!) Hilary Hahn was playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto at this concert, and being in desperate need of something familiar this weekend, I used my friend Goldstar to procure a cheap ticket for the concert.

In the very top level of the theater - a level that is rather euphemistically called the "Grand" Tier despite its clearly nosebleed status - the acoustics were wonderfully warm and bright. The sound had an immediacy to it that belied the orchestra's actual location four stories down. The visuals are another story, however: from the Grand Tier, the drop downwards is very steep. It does feel like you are observing the concert from the attic, and it doesn't help that the tier is located above the stage's acoustical canopy. About the only thing grand about the view is your clear shot of the industrial rigging system.

How does the Segerstrom Concert Hall experience stack up to the giant silver elephant up the coast? Well, Walt Disney Concert Hall's acoustics are just as bright and warm up in the balcony. However, the view up top is spectacularly more grand and democratic at Disney Hall, with the hall's elegant bowl shape and the crazy organ at the back of the stage. And the chairs at Disney don't squeak. Still, Segerstrom Hall is still good where it counts, in the sound department. It's great that Southern California has two good concert halls for its largest symphony orchestras. One thing I do like about Segerstrom Hall is the lobby area, which is large, open and welcoming. Before the concert and at intermission, the entire audience shares the same air space (even if its on four levels), with bright lighting and a huge window overlooking the plaza. In Disney Hall, the lobby space is separated into daft alcoves with hard white lighting against blank white walls; the feeling is cold and more austere compared to the wonderful auditorium inside.

Oh, and the concert? That was pretty good, too. Today's cultural landscape is dominated by stars and celebrities, and Hilary Hahn was one of the stars that drew me into an understanding of classical music: from her CDs, I became familiar with much of the standard orchestra and violin repertoire. And even if I eventually grew away from her playing as my favorites, it was still a pretty strong place to start. Hahn's playing has a very recognizable, clear, sharp sound. (I randomly heard one of her recent recordings on the radio once, without knowing it was hers, and correctly guessed that she was the soloist just by the sound of her playing.) On Saturday, her playing of the Beethoven Violin Concerto was exactly as expected: blazingly precise and consistent, an accurate and perfectly agreeable delivery of the concerto in all of its grandeur. Understated yet accomplished, one might describe it. Since I do like this concerto, it was still wonderful to hear it played well as it was.

Though I think what made this playing truly enjoyable was the Pacific Symphony and music director Carl St. Clair's orchestral playing in it. Their sound was fantastically lush and warm (I know I've overusing the word "warm" in this post, but it fits so well here), the playing vigorous and attentive. Very much the same can be said about the Symphony's playing of the other two pieces on the program, Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses and Pacific Symphony tubist John Self's Tour de Force, composed especially for the Pacific Symphony. It sounds like they are still reveling in their new hall.

Next time, though, I'll close my eyes and just listen when I am sitting in the Grand Tier, so as to avoid the neck cramps from staring straight down for two hours. :-)

Hilary Hahn.