Prague, Czechia
Trawling back through my photos of concert halls that I've played in before the Coronavirus took hold and shut down music touring, I stumbled across this lovely concert hall. Prague is one of these cities that I love to visit, there is some really nice food, the people are generally friendly... and for a Western European, everything is really quite cheap in comparison to back home!
The Rudolfinum is a building that was built in the late 19th century in that era's imitation of the Renaissance style of construction. Of course, like many neo- movements, it takes inspiration from the original idea... but incorporates much of the contemporary perceptions of the original. So, looking from the front of the building, it is a beautiful construction... but there is no way that you would mistake for a purely Renaissance structure.
The Rudolfinum is the main concert hall of Prague, and is home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in addition to a modern art gallery. When I was here, I only got to see the main concert hall section of the building and not the gallery section. Entering from the artist's entrance (on the left side in the above photo), there was no real hint that there was actually a gallery attached! I just knew that the building was much bigger than the parts that I had access to!
The view of the audience area from the stage and the side walls gives a real impression of grandeur. The columns give the impression of Renaissance column-work... but from the audience point of view, tends to block out parts of the stage from sight lines.
The gilt decorations of the railings and the wallpaper-like coverings look great from a distance... but these are the sort of ornamentation that I think don't look so great from close up.
Like many concert halls that were constructed in the late 19th century, there was generally a requirement for an organ. These would often frame the stage and give a magnificent backdrop to the stage. Again, this one takes cues from a sort of Pantheon style of architecture.
Something that is missing from more modern buildings is the amount of detail that goes into decorating every surface of the interior. The walls of modern buildings tend to be austere at best, but the ceiling is often used only as a functional place to hang lights. Not so for the older styles... the ceilings are often quite marvelous to look at... a pearl like chandelier and intricate designs adorn the ceiling of the concert space.
... and speaking of modern and incredibly functional! The backstage areas of the Rudolfinum are one of the MOST confusing that I have navigated! Every corridor is almost identical and there are long stretches of empty and straight interlocking corridors. It doesn't help that I can't read Czech... so, I'm sure that there are probably very clear directions written on the walls... but I had to walk around and around for quite a bit before I first found the green room... and then the changing room... and then the stage!
