The Tourist
Information UK website [visit
link] tells us:
"The Royal
Albert Hall is one of London's most famous art venues. Each year, the venue is
host to more than 350 performances ranging from local and community events to
rock concerts, opera and lavish banquets.
The Hall is
also a famous landmark due to its distinctive oval shape. It has a seating
capacity of over 5,500 allowing large audiences to see the likes of The Who,
Dusty Springfield, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd.
There are
tours open to the public from 10:30 to 15:30 everyday except Wednesday. Times
can vary depending on performance times so it is best to enquire in
advance.
A full list of
events can be found at the Albert Hall website."
The building is Grade I listed and the
entry at the English Heritage website [visit
link] tells us:
"Royal Albert Hall. GV I Public
hall. 1867-1871. Designed by Captain Fowke; completed by Major-General H Y D
Scott. Red brick, buff terracotta, glazed domed roof. Italian Renaissance style.
Eliptical plan. Five stages with two main tiers of windows, the lower
square-headed, the upper round-headed, with decorative pilasters between. Mosaic
frieze of figures. Entrances to north, south, east and west within projecting
two-storey porches with elaborate moulded pilasters. Balustrades and cornice.
Good arcaded interior. Altered ceiling."
The Royal Albert Halls' website [visit
link] tells us of some of the well known famous people that have performed
there:
"The list of famous performers,
sportspeople and world figures who have appeared at the Royal Albert Hall since
it opened in 1871 is unrivalled.
Wagner, Verdi and Elgar conducted
the first UK performance of their own works on its concert platform, Rachmaninov
played his own compositions and nearly every major classical solo artist and
leading orchestra has performed at the Hall.
The list of popular music artists
includes Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Oscar
Peterson, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Sting and Elton John and from a
younger generation Adele, Jay Z, Kaiser Chiefs and the Killers.
Sportsmen and women from a wide
array of disciplines, including boxing legend Mohammed Ali, tennis player John
McEnroe and Sumo grand champions, have entertained the Hall's audiences.
Among leading world figures who
have spoken at the Hall are Her Majesty The Queen, Sir Winston Churchill, Nelson
Mandela, His Holiness The Dalai Lama and former President of the United States
of America, Bill Clinton."
The same website [visit
link] also advises us:
"'This Hall was erected for the
advancement of the Arts and Sciences and works of industry of all nations in
fulfilment of the intention of Albert Prince Consort. The site was purchased
with the proceeds of the Great Exhibition of the year MDCCCLI. The first stone
of the Hall was laid by Her Majesty Queen Victoria on the 20th day of May
MDCCCLXVII and was opened by Her Majesty the 29th day of March in the year
MDCCCLXXI.'"
It further adds [visit
link] that:
"A great Central Hall, dedicated to
the promotion of Art and Science, was a key part of Prince Albert's vision for
the South Kensington estate, which was developed on land purchased with the
profits of the Great Exhibition of 1851.
With Prince Albert's premature
death from typhoid, the realisation of this vision was largely due to the energy
and determination of Henry Cole. The design and robust structure of the Hall
were inspired by Cole's visits to ruined Roman Amphitheatres. Detailed design of
the building was started by Captain Francis Fowke of the Royal Engineers and
completed, following Fowke's death, by Lieutenant Colonel (subsequently General)
Henry Darracott Scott.
The original plan that the Hall
should accommodate 30,000 was, for financial and practical reasons, reduced to
approximately 7,000. Much of the money originally intended for the construction
had been diverted to the building of the Albert Memorial. Cole raised the
necessary money for building the Hall by selling 'permanent' seats in the Hall
for £100 each. Preliminary work on the Hall by the contractors Lucas Brothers
started in April 1867 and the foundation stone was laid the following month by
Queen Victoria. The Queen opened the Hall four years later on 29 March
1871."
And that [visit
link]:
"The heart of the Hall is the vast
internal auditorium 185 feet wide by 219 feet long covered by a glazed dome
constructed of wrought iron girders which, at the time, was the largest
structure of its kind in the world.
Other notable features include the
great Henry Willis Organ also, at the time, the largest in the world and, in
tribute to its power and volume, described by a contemporary as 'The Voice of
Jupiter'. Between 1921 – 1933 it was substantially modified and enlarged by the
Durham-based organ firm of Harrisons and it was comprehensively restored by the
London firm, Manders, between 2003 – 2004.
The distinctive exterior of the
Hall, inspired by the architecture of Northern Italy, was built from some 6
million red bricks and eighty thousand blocks of decorative terracotta.
Surmounting the exterior walls and above the balustraded smoking gallery, runs a
continuous 800 foot long terracotta frieze composed of allegorical groups of
figures engaged in a range of artistic endeavours, crafts, scientific and
other cultural pursuits."