Stage acoustics as perceived by performers can be very different from the
acoustic of a hall as heard by the audience.  The Music Faculty concert
hall here in Cambridge is fine for the audience, but performing there in a
large ensemble (as I've done) is very difficult because you can't hear your
neighbours.  I suspect it may have been designed with chamber concerts in
mind as apparently there is less of a problem then.

Virginia Knight
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Currently on maternity leave & based in Cambridge
Personal homepage: http://www.ilrt.bris.ac.uk/~ggvhk/virginia.html