Arsenal de Metz
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The Arsenal | |
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Arsenal Ney | |
General information | |
Type | Music venue |
Architectural style | Military architecture; Post-modern |
Location | Avenue Ney, Metz, France, Europe |
Construction started | 1859 |
Completed | 1864 |
Inaugurated | 1989 |
Owner | Municipality of Metz |
Technical details | |
Floor area | 10,000 m2 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura |
The Arsenal Concert Hall is a cultural venue dedicated specially to
The Arsenal is part of a cultural complex along with the chapel of the
Architecture and urbanization
In 1978, the municipality of Metz decided to build a concert hall, and the site chosen was the citadel, occupied by the ancient Arsenal Ney. Built beginning in 1859 under Napoleon III, the Arsenal Ney was a store for weapons and ammunition. It remained in use until the end of World War II. The realization of the concert hall was the subject of an international competition, started in 1983. In 1985, the project was awarded to the architect Ricardo Bofill. Work began in May 1987 and the inauguration took place in February 1989 with a performance by Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who stated that the venue was "an instrument of music on its own."
The arsenal was originally arranged as a quadrangle. The design by
Size and acoustic
The facility consists of a concert hall that seats 1,500 (the Grande Salle), a room with that seats 350 (the Esplanade hall), two reception rooms (Governor and Orangerie halls), an exhibition gallery, a shop selling art, and a restaurant. The dimensions are comparable to those of the Musikverein of Vienna and the volume of the room is about 13,600 cubic meters. Ceilings were established by boxes in staff finalized by the acousticians. Since its inauguration, the Arsenal has gained wide recognition for the quality of its musical acoustics.
Performance and cultural policy
Numerous musicians of repute have performed in the venue, including Yevgeny Svetlanov, Sergiu Celibidache, Lorin Maazel, Evgeny Kissin, William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Jordi Savall, Philippe Jaroussky, Lang Lang, or Grigory Sokolov. Dances take equally part to the programing and emblematic figures of contemporary dance have performed there, such as Angelin Preljocaj, Sasha Waltz, Merce Cunningham, or Trisha Brown.
The music venue was used in several artistic productions, such as the soundtrack of the film, Farinelli, or the Live At the Arsenal in Metz album of Michel Petrucciani. The concert hall held in 2009 and 2020 the Victoires de la Musique Classique, the annual French award ceremony that recognizes classical musicians.
See also
References
- ^ Classica magazine, Special Issue, September 2010