The Royal Albert Hall, London has played host to nearly 200,000 shows

03 December 2009

England has been offering up some of the world's best entertainment for centuries, and in the City of Westminster in London, the Royal Albert Hall is perhaps the area's most well known arts venue and a recognizable venue all across the globe.

Although the Hall has only been open since 1871 and has only been playing Summer Proms concerts since 1941 when they were bombed out of the Queen's Hall, its legacy is as detailed as London itself.

To date, Royal Albert Hall has played host to nearly 200,000 shows, including opera, ballet, awards shows, rock and classical concerts, school events, and even tennis matches among other events. Supposedly, the Hall was to be the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but Queen Victoria decided to change the name to honor her dead husband, Prince Albert.

It was Prince Albert who first ordered the Hall's construction, after 1851's Great Exhibition was such a success. The idea was to introduce a permanent venue to London where the public could visit and get a sense of history. Dying a decade later in 1861, Prince Albert never had a chance to see the work started on his Hall.

Royal Albert Hall opened officially on March 29, 1871, and a grand concert was played to commemorate the occasion. The Hall immediately lost some credibility as a grand concert venue, as the acoustic problems in the construction became evident. However, that really did nothing to affect the Hall's popularity.

Royal Albert Hall continued to have a wide assortment of concerts held there, even with the shoddy acoustics, until it was finally corrected in 1969. The Hall has always been considered by many to be impeccably beautiful, well laid-out in terms of seating space and intimate in that it fills the quarters through the stage's proximity with the seats.

While being extremely popular, it was only after 1969's repairs, that it would be recognized among the world's most legitimate concert halls acoustically. To fix the problem, a series of very large diffusing discs constructed of fiberglass-known as mushrooms or flying saucers to many of the Hall's visitors-were put in to cut down on the dreaded echo.

The fiberglass discs aren't the only improvements the Hall has made over the years. After it was first built, gas was used for a lighting system. Around 1900, electric lighting was installed to give Royal Albert Hall its famously “ghostly” ambiance. The great organ of the Hall was also rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison, giving it a total of 9,999 pipes, making it the second-largest pipe organ of Britain.

Many famous rock-n-roll bands have played the Royal Albert Hall, including some of the UK's most famous, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cream and, some would argue that the Hall's most famous was Led Zeppelin, as their appearance the Hall was one of their first live performances and was received extremely well.

Royal Albert Hall is still a very popular place for musicians to play today. It hosts an average of 350 shows per year, offering a wide mix that any London resident or visitor can enjoy.
Tags: london, the beatles, summer proms, opera, rock concerts, classical concerts, queen victoria, rolling stones, cream, led zeppelin,
Posted In: Architectural Icons, Entertainment Venues,

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