Suntory Hall
Encyclopedia
Ark Hills
is a major office development by Mori Building in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Completed in 1986, the complex includes the ANA InterContinental Tokyo Hotel, the ARK Mori Building , the world-class Suntory Hall concert hall, a TV studio and several apartment buildings...
complex, near the U.S. Embassy and TV Asahi
TV Asahi
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
in the Akasaka
Akasaka, Tokyo
is a residential and commercial district of Minato, Tokyo, located west of the government center in Nagatachō and north of the Roppongi nightlife district....
district of northern Minato
Minato, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 1 March 2008, it had an official population of 217,335 and a population density of 10,865 persons per km². The total area is 20.34 km².Minato hosts 49 embassies...
, a ward in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Construction started in the late 1970s and it opened in October 1986.
History
The Suntory Hall opened on October 12, 1986 in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of whisky production and 20th anniversary of beer sales by SuntorySuntory
is a Japanese brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan. Its business has expanded to other fields, and the company now offers everything from soft drinks to sandwich chains...
.
The Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
plaza in front of the Suntory Hall, which was constructed in April 1998, is in remembrance of the maestro
Maestro
Maestro is a title of extreme respect given to a master musician. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera. This is associated with the ubiquitous use of Italian vocabulary for classical music terms...
, who became closely associated with the hall and who also recommended the "vineyard configuration" in which the audience surrounds the concert floor in the Main Hall. He also helped with its acoustical evaluation.
The Suntory Hall has had performers and conductors from all around the world, such as Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Andreas Juffinger, Per Tengstrand
Per Tengstrand
Per Tengstrand is a Swedish pianist.In 1995 he attained the Long-Thibaud Competition's 4th prize. He subsequently was awarded the 1996 Geneva Competition's 2nd prize and won the 1997 Cleveland Competition. He has been internationally active as a concert pianist since.In 1999 he was prized from the...
, Denis Shapovalov, Darko Brle, Graham Scott, Koichi Sugiyama
Koichi Sugiyama
is a Japanese music composer, council member of JASRAC , and honorary chairman of the Japanese Backgammon Society...
and John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
.
Performance and other facilities
Main Hall
The seats in the Main Hall are situated around the concert stage (250 m2 in 21 sections) in a "vineyard configuration", providing space for up to 2,006 people. This creates a closer acoustical sensibility for not only the audience, but for the performers and conductors as well.Also, the concert pipe organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, with 74 stops and 5,898 pipes, is located in the centre rear of the Hall. It is a large pipe organ, custom built and crafted by Rieger Orgelbau
Rieger Orgelbau
Rieger Orgelbau is an Austrian firm of organ builders, known generally as Rieger. The firm was founded by Franz Rieger. From 1873 it was known as Rieger & Söhne, and from 1879 as Gebrüder Rieger, after his sons took over. At the end of World War II, the firm was nationalised by the Czech government...
. It has been modified with computerized control mechanisms to allow remote consoles to control it from the stage.
Small Hall
The Small Hall’s seats can be moved, and the stage consists of three different sections which can be raised by up to 60 centimeters in increments of 20 centimeters. It can seat 384 to 432 people.The interior 425 m2 (25 m x 17 m) consists of wooden paneling. The Hall's main function is for chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
and solo recital
Recital
A recital is a musical performance. It can highlight a single performer, sometimes accompanied by piano, or a performance of the works of a single composer.The invention of the solo piano recital has been attributed to Franz Liszt....
s. Due to its size, (41.6 m2/62.4 m2 with 3 platforms), it has also been used for speeches, seminars and lectures.
Foyer
For enjoyment and relaxation while waiting for performances and during intermissions, the Foyer provides access to facilities such as the cocktailCocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
corner, as well as the "Bar Intermezzo" and "Cafe Intermezzo". Suntory Hall is the first to bring such facilities to Japan. In addition to the box office, there is also a gift shop and cloak room in the foyer.
Artworks in the hall include the Chandelier Symphony of Lights by Motoko Ishii
Motoko Ishii
is a Japanese lighting designer. From 1965 to 1967 she worked at lighting-design offices in Finland and Germany. Returning to Japan in 1968, she established the Ishii Motoko Design Office....
, the stained glass “Growth of Grapes” by Keiko Miura, and wall art by Teppei Ujiyama which are all located in the foyer. Outside the main entrance is a sculpture by Takenobu Igarashi.
External links
35.666615°N 139.741405°W