Boettcher Concert Hall, home of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, is barely known outside of Denver these days, but it wasn’t always so. Few remember the buzz surrounding its opening in 1978. Designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (with the late acoustician Christopher Jaffe) as a key component of the downtown Denver Performing Arts Complex, Boettcher was the first concert hall in the nation with “in the round” seating, a cutting-edge idea at the time. Critics loved the place.
Paul Goldberger, writing in the New York Times, called Boettcher “a surprisingly warm room,” with sound that is “lush and smooth.” He loved its unconventional design, with the orchestra smack-dab in the middle of the hall, which allowed the audience “to feel as if it is sharing with the orchestra the role of participant in a joyous ceremony.” This magazine, which devoted 11 pages (and the cover) to the venue, raved, “The new hall is highly original in concept and executed with great style.”
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