Petronas Filharmonik Hall
| Petronas Filharmonik Hall | |
|---|---|
| Location | Petronas Twin Towers KLCC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Owner | KLCC Property Holdings Berhad |
| Operator | Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra |
| Built | 1 January 1996 |
| Inaugurated | 31 August 1999 |
| Opened | 1 January 1998 |
| Renovated | 1 January 1997 |
| Enclosed space | |
| Website |
www |
Petronas Filharmonik Hall (Malay: Dewan Filharmonik Petronas) is Malaysia's first purpose built concert hall for classical music by Malaysia's oil company, Petronas. It is the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then, this hall has hosted many of the world's leading artists and orchestras. DFP also presents international jazz performances as well as traditional Malaysian music and dance cultural productions. Through its wide variety of musical presentations, it provides significant cultural enrichment opportunities for all Malaysians to experience.
The concert hall is an 885-seat jewel box shaped room. The space is designed to serve every kind of music from orchestra with chorus, to Malaysian dance, to solo violin. The room is fully equipped for professional recording and fully isolated from the surrounding office towers, science center, and shopping mall. Its most unusual feature is a concealed movable ceiling that can change the acoustic volume of the room from as little as 470,000 f2 (13300 m2) for meetings and chamber music concerts to as much as 670,000 f2 (18975 m2) for large orchestra concerts and organ recitals. This feature was designed by acoustic consultant Kirkegaard Associates.
History
Official construction began on 1 January 1995 with its base in Petronas Towers. The construction completed a years later on the same date in 1996 while further renovations were done until 1997.
The hall was officially opened to public on 1 January 1998. It was however not officially inaugurated until 31st August, or Merdeka Day, of 1999 at exactly 8:30 pm by Mahathir Mohamad, the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
The Klais Pipe Organ
The Klais Pipe Organ in this hall was designed and built by eminent organ builders Johannes Klais in Bonn, Germany. A façade inspired by the angklung, a traditional Sundanese music instrument, the organ adds a further dimension to the range of musical performances presented in the concert hall. The 44-stop tracker action organ has three manuals and a pedal division, mechanical couplers, electric stop action, and an electronic memory system for the pre-selection of registration combinations. There are 2,977 pipes ranging in length from the smallest (a little over an inch) to the towering 32 ft rank in the pedal division.
The inaugural performance of the pipe organ was held on 29 January 1999 by renowned organist Simon Preston.
Recording Studios
Designed by Abbey Road Studios of EMI Group (UK) and constructed by Audio Design Group, the recording studio allows for the commercial-quality recording of performances in the concert hall.