Tonhalle Zurich
Neo-baroque 1895 concert hall on Lake Zurich, home of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich.
The Tonhalle was inaugurated on the shore of Lake Zurich in October 1895, with opening concerts conducted by the orchestra's chief conductor Friedrich Hegar and by Johannes Brahms, who travelled to the city for the occasion. It was designed by the Viennese partnership Fellner and Helmer, who had completed Zurich's city theatre, now the opera house, only four years earlier. The neo-baroque Grosse Tonhalle seats roughly fifteen hundred listeners in a shoebox plan whose proportions are widely credited with its warm, resonant acoustic.
Between 2017 and 2021 the hall closed for one of the largest heritage building projects undertaken in Switzerland. Architects working with acousticians removed later alterations, reinstated the original 1895 colour scheme and gilding, and adjusted surfaces and seating to recover the room's historic sound. A new organ built by Orgelbau Kuhn was installed at the same time. The Tonhalle reopened in September 2021 and again hosts the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich alongside chamber concerts in the smaller Kleine Tonhalle.
Highlights
- Grosse Tonhalle, a shoebox hall opened in 1895 by Fellner and Helmer
- Restoration completed in 2021 returned the original colours and acoustics
- New concert organ built by Orgelbau Kuhn of Mannedorf
- Resident Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, directed by Paavo Jarvi
