Barbican Center
ORG
Barbican Barbican Center
The South Bank's temporary loss appears to be the Barbican Center's gain. The Barbican, which opened 24 years ago, has slowly built its standing. Mr. Lynch said pointing to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam and the Vienna and Berlin philharmonics said that they're the only 2,000-seat hall in London that can bring in major international orchestras, which, though often booked at Royal Festival Hall, are at the Barbican this season. Graham Sheffield, the Barbican's artistic director, disputed that characterization, saying that those orchestras would have come to the Barbican anyway. But he acknowledged that the lack of competition allowed the Barbican to have its pick in programming a Shostakovich cycle this season, during the composer's centenary.  The South Bank's temporary loss appears to be the Barbican Center's gain. The Barbican, which opened 24 years ago, has slowly built its standing. Graham Sheffield, the Barbican's artistic director, disputed that characterization, saying that those orchestras would have come to the Barbican anyway.