Powell Hall as the St. Louis TheaterThe St. Louis Symphony season starts in just three short weeks. Highlights this year include two works by John Adams, Berlioz's Damnation of Faust, and Beethoven's 7th and 9th Symphonies.
I missed every concert last season due to sleep apnea, including John Adams's Dr. Atomic Symphony, which I had been looking forward to since its postponement in the previous season.
Stay tuned for reviews and comments on the season, and hopefully pictures. I'm going to see if I can take my camera in for some shots of the hall. Every year, I walk into the hall hoping to see that they've freshened up the paint and added some much-needed highlights to liven up that dull 1960's minimalist treatment and pop out the hall's gorgeous Rapp & Rapp detailing. Some whites for highlights and deep browns or burgundies for contrast would change the decor from Cinderella bedroom set to palatial splendor on a 'Trading Spaces' budget.
One thing they could do that would really dress the old girl up is bring back that fabulous curtain, part of which is visible in the picture above. The St. Louis had the distinction of having the only known movie palace valances that had to be raised before the movie started. Miles of fabric swagged around a cameo of Louis IX on horseback. Fabulous! 
Photo from the Theatre Historical Society's Annunal No. 10 - 1983: 'Grand Drapes Tormentors and Teasers' by Terry Helgesen, from the author's collection of historic theater photos.
2 comments:
Hi Tim. I'm a staff member of the SLSO and found this post. Sorry you missed last season. Hope your sleep apnea is cured - what a drag!
You'll be happy to know that in Summer 2007 the foyer and public hallways of Powell Hall were repainted, and the hallways and the auditorium were recarpeted. New drapes were installed in the foyer in Summer 2006. We also have a fancy-schmancy new blade sign saying "Powell" on the outside of the building, which was designed to look like the old St. Louis Theatre blade sign. Here's a link some pics on the SLSO's blog: http://www.slso.org/blog/2007/08/official.html#more
You'll also be happy to know that the SLSO recorded Adams' "Dr. Atomic Symphony" last Feb for Nonesuch Records for CD release. It will be paired with Adams' "Guide to Strange Places," which will be recorded live during Opening Weekend. Not sure yet when the CD will be released, but my guess is it will be in the next 6-8 months. Stay tuned. I'm a John Adams fan, too, so I'm excited about it!
Hopefully you've already heard that in March the SLSO released its first Internet-exclusive recording. Another John Adams piece - the rockin' "Harmonielehre". You can buy it on iTunes, Amazon.com or your other favorite online music retailer. When it first released, it made it to #3 on Amazon's classical downloads chart!
Don't hold your breath for the return of the stage curtain. In addition to being ridiculously expensive - first to buy, then to maintain - it would have a horrible effect on acoustics. Nothing like velvet to soak up sound.
As for taking pics, you can take pics in the foyer all you want. For some reason taking pics in the auditorium is prohibited. I have no idea why. I just read it in the Playbill. You'll have to take it up with the PR dept. There are some interesting detail pics on the SLSO's Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/slso/page2/
Enjoy the season!
Stephanie
Thanks, Stephanie! I saw the blade sign on another blog while looking for pictures i could use. i was a little disconcerted that i'm so far out of touch that i didn't even know about it.
The sleep apnea is under control, tanks for your concern; I remember the night i was supposed to hear 'Dr. Atomic', it came down to a choice between sleep and trekking out to Powell Hall. Sleep won, as it did every Friday night last season [I did forget about one or two, from being out of the habit].
I can't wait to see the interior improvements. You can be sure I'll comment about them here...
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