Here are some
of the famous concert halls of London.
The
Royal Albert Hall.

The Royal Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria on March 29, 1871. It
is an arts venue dedicated to Queen Victoria's husband and consort, Prince
Albert. It is situated in the royal borough of Westminster. It forms the
practical part of a national memorial to the Prince Consort. The hall also
accommodates the largest pipe organ in the UK, and is the home of The
Proms. The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) on top was made of
steel and glazed.

When the hall opened, its acoustic problems became immediately apparent.
These were not properly tackled until 1969 when a series of large
fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms"
or "flying saucers") were installed in the roof to cut down the notorious
echo.
The Proms (also more formally known as The
BBC Proms, or The Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC)
is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music
concerts held annually. Founded over 110 years ago, each season now
consists of over 70 concerts in the Albert Hall. It is the biggest
classical music festival in the world.
(Proms is short for promenade concerts. The
term promenade concert arose from the original.)
The London Coliseum

The Coliseum Theatre is one of London's largest and
best equipped theatres, opening in 1904. It was designed by Frank Matcham,
a famous theatrical architect who also designed the London Palladium. It
is the home of the English National Opera.
Back to Index of London pages |
The Royal
Festival Hall

The Royal Festival Hall, one of London's premier concert halls. Opened in
1951.
The Royal College of Music

The Royal College of Music is a prestigious music
school located in Kensington, London. This photograph was taken from the
steps of the Royal Albert Hall.
It was founded in 1882 as a successor to the
National Training School for Music by the Prince of Wales (later Edward
VII). The concert hall has very fine acoustic properties. The College's
Museum of Instruments has a collection of 800 items, mainly Western, but
including some from Africa and Asia. It is housed in purpose built
premises dating from 1970 and is open to the public two afternoons a week.
It includes about a dozen Stradivarius violins.
|