The Hollywood Bowl
History
In July 11, 1922, with the audience
seated on simple wooden benches placed on the natural
hillsides of Bolton Canyon, conductor Alfred Hertz
and the Los Angeles Philharmonic inaugurated the first
season of music under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl.
While much has changed in the ensuing years, the tradition
of presenting the world's greatest musicians and striving
for musical excellence has remained a constant goal
of this famed Los Angeles cultural landmark.
One of the largest natural amphitheaters
in the world, with a current seating capacity of just
under 18,000, the Hollywood Bowl has been the summer
home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official
opening in 1922, and, in 1991 gave its name to a resident
ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical
life of Southern California, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
In spite of wars, depression on a national
scale, financial stress, and internal dissension,
the Bowl's summer music festivals have gone on, becoming
as much a part of a Southern California summer as
beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers and Disneyland.
Thanks to the area's magnificent climate, only a handful
of concerts during the Bowl's history have had to
be postponed due to rain. The Bowl grounds themselves
-- one of Los Angeles County's most renowned parks
-- are open year-round for visitors to enjoy free
of charge.
Visitors today may have difficulty believing
that the Bowl is, indeed, 79 years old. The theatre
itself-- visually not much different from the way
it looked in the 1930s when Leopold Stokowski (pictured
at right) conducted the Philharmonic or in 1964 when
The Beatles played the Bowl-- seems ageless thanks
to careful upkeep which maintains its architectural
integrity. The grounds become more inviting each year,
with added amenities to enhance the concert-going
experience. Since the passage of County Proposition
A in 1992, a major renovation plan has been implemented
at the Bowl. Beginning with completion of Phase 1
in 1995, Bowl patrons and performers alike have benefited
from significant improvements to the facility, including
more comfortable seating; enhanced dining options;
increased accessibility to all areas of the amphitheater;
an updated box-office plaza, backstage area, and parking
lots; substantially expanded restroom facilities;
and much more. In addition, Hollywood Bowl concerts,
dining, and other attractions are completely handicapped-accessible.
As a physical presence, the Bowl has
come to symbolize Southern California -- its glamour,
romance, fun, and great performing tradition. The
magnificent amphitheater, with its signature arched
proscenium, known worldwide, has evolved through the
years with the creative assistance of three of architecture's
luminaries. In 1926 Myron Hunt, famed for his design
of another Southern California landmark -- the Rose
Bowl in Pasadena -- designed the balloon-shaped seating
area that seems to rise from the stage and embrace
the hillside. Enlisting some of the most talented
architects and designers in Los Angeles, the Bowl's
music shell would see four incarnations between 1926
and 1929. Lloyd Wright, the oldest son of Frank Lloyd
Wright, designed two of these shells for the Bowl
in 1927 and 1928 , the second of which (pictured above)
provided the inspiration for the current shell. In
1980, the internationally-renowned Los Angeles architect
Frank Gehry created the fiberglass spheres that hang
from the Bowl's shell to enhance the acoustics.
Of course, it is the incomparable performances
that have truly made the Hollywood Bowl's history
unique. Legendary artists have appeared at the Bowl
throughout the years: Sinatra ... Pavarotti ... Streisand
... Stravinsky ... Heifetz. So have F.D.R., The Beatles,
Mickey Rooney, and Edward G. Robinson, as well as
such renowned "teams" as Fonteyn and Nureyev,
Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, Simon and Garfunkel,
and Abbott and Costello. Baryshnikov has danced there,
as has Fred Astaire. Garth Brooks, Nat "King"
Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Elton John,
Al Jolson, and Judy Garland have headlined star-studded
shows at the Bowl, but the all-time attendance record
of 26,410 paid admissions was set on August 7, 1936,
for a performance by the diminutive French opera star,
Lily Pons.
As the site of a classical music festival,
the Bowl has provided a showcase for the world's greatest
musicians. Bernstein, Walter, Monteux, Koussevitzky,
Stokowski, Karajan, Klemperer (pictured at right),
and Leinsdorf, as well as Mehta, Giulini, Rattle,
and Salonen are just a few of the renowned conductors
who have led the Los Angeles Philharmonic in summertime
concerts over the past seven decades. Itzhak Perlman,
Gregor Piatigorsky, Artur Rubinstein, Alfred Brendel,
Vladimir Horowitz, Jessye Norman, Plácido Domingo,
Beverly Sills, Isaac Stern -- and other distinguished
vocal and instrumental soloists too numerous to mention
-- have graced the stage for Philharmonic concerts.
But never during its long and illustrious history
has the Bowl's programming been limited solely to
symphonic events; fully staged operas were a regular
part of the season in the early years, and the famed
Bolshoi Ballet appeared during the 1950s.
Activities at the Bowl are not even
necessarily of a musical nature. It is the scene of
commencement exercises for Hollywood High School and
other educational institutions. To the thousands of
pre-concert picnickers who enjoy balmy summer evenings
there it has become the place to dine. For innumerable
film and TV producers, the 120-acre grounds have provided
the perfect setting for dancing, romancing ... and
even an occasional mystery! And on at least one recorded
occasion the Hollywood Bowl was a romantic wedding
chapel. On August 9, 1928, composer/conductor/pianist
Percy Grainger and Ella Viola Strom were married on
stage immediately after he conducted the world premiere
of his tone poem To A Nordic Princess, dedicated to
his bride.
A "hit" from its very first
season (1922), the Hollywood Bowl has remained popular
and accessible to a wide cross-section of Southern
California's diverse population. Individual concert
tickets were priced at under 50 cents during those
early years, and to this day $1 buys a seat at the
top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's
concerts during the Summer Festival season. In addition
to subscription concerts of classical and popular
music performed by the Bowl's resident orchestras,
the summer schedule includes an ever-growing variety
of musical presentations, including jazz programs,
recitals, and performances by visiting ensembles,
Fireworks Spectaculars, and big-screen movies-plus-music.
During the day, the Bowl's youngest patrons enjoy
Open House at the Bowl, the Southland's most popular
summer arts festival for children, now in its 30th
season.
Attendance figures over the past several
decades have soared; in 1980 the Bowl first topped
the half-million mark. Close to one million admissions
were recorded for events at Summer Festival 97. This
number also includes those who attended a variety
of events that are independently produced, such as
the annual Playboy Jazz Festival, the Mariachi USA
Festival, and pop and country concerts.
In the future, the Hollywood Bowl will
continue to expand the scope of its concert activities
while also continuing its regimen of facility maintenance
and upgrades that will enhance the concert-going experience
for audiences at the world-famous concert center today
and in the future.
The Bowl history is from the Hollywood
Bowl Website at www.hollywoodbowl.org.
