The Rudolph Ganz Memorial Hall

The breathtaking Ganz Hall, located just a few doors down from the Stradivari Society. Rudolph Ganz Memorial Hall, housed within the Auditorium Building on Roosevelt University’s Chicago Campus, is a little-known, yet much-revered space. It is one of Chicago’s ultimate examples of artistic and architectural collaboration – featuring the work of French painter, Albert Fleury, Louis Millet and Healy, Louis Sullivan, Dankmar Adler and their then-apprentice Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Auditorium Building, designed in 1890 by Dankmar Adler, Louis Sullivan and their apprentice Frank Lloyd Wright, was built as a 5-star hotel and opera house. During construction, one important detail was forgotten: a banquet hall. So they suspended the banquet hall over the opera house roof on the 7th floor of the hotel, and filled it with the best of their collective work: Gold-leaf stenciled arches punctuated with stunning electric chandeliers, 10 distinct mural paintings by French painter Albert Fleury which depict Midwestern and Plains activities, 12 hand-carved wooden capitols (each one unique) topping beautiful tiger maple wood columns. The room was flanked by 10 unique hand-painted murals and 17 stained glass windows. Sadly, over time, the room fell into disrepair, the beautiful electric chandeliers were replaced by large white globes, and the details of the room faded.

In 1956, Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University obtained the Hall and converted it to a recital hall. Under the direction of architect Crombie Taylor, the goal of restoring the room as closely as possible to the original ornamentation while providing an attractive hall for music recitals was begun. A stage and fixed theatre seating were installed to achieve this function. The majority of stencil patterns were recovered. Today, reproductions of the stencils remain on the back wall and in one of the arches as originally designed by Sullivan.

Work continued to restore the hall to its former splendor and provide adequately for use of the space as a recital hall. In 2001 the paintings lining the walls were removed and restored at the Art Institute. In the fall of 2002 the “electroliers” were recreated and installed, as well as a new HVAC system. Using archival photographs, the room was reconstructed and restored to its original glory. The unique steel chandeliers were fabricated to look exactly like the photographs – including the original Edison light bulbs that bathe the room in golden light. The capitols were restored, and all the gold leaf on the archways gleams once again. The back of the room was expanded to include a stage.

The Maestro The Masterpiece, The Mic List

Once all of the electronics were in place for the Guarneri recording, the only modification between takes was the change-out of the stereo bars. Barati stood before the stereo pairs which were positioned at instrument height roughly two meters in front of him, and presented the Bach piece over and over again on the stage of Ganz Hall.

Following is a list of each setup as they were recorded: