Please ZOOM in for a better view | I prefer the real life heroics of people to the reel life heroics of Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan. The reality of the road is infinitely more interesting than the illusion of the screen.

The Postcard

 

A postcard that was published by Gordon Fraser with photography by Eric de Maré. The image is a glossy real photograph.

 

On the back of the card the publishers provide the following information:

 

'London Westminster - The

Royal Albert Hall.

Captain Francis Fowke, R.E. designed the

Royal Albert Hall which was built in 1867-

1881. The interior comprises one vast, oval

amphitheatre in which 8,000 people can

be seated.

Mecca for concerts, choral events and

festivals, it is nevertheless notorious for its

poor acoustic properties.

The frieze, encircling the building below

the dome, by Armitage, Pickersgill. Marks

and Poynter, is in terracotta and represents

the Triumph of Arts and Letters'.

 

The card was posted in Kensington, London W8 on Tuesday the 20th. July 1965 to:

 

Martin,

Dalnaglar Castle,

Glenshee,

Perthshire,

Scotland.

 

The message on the divided back was as follows:

 

"More of the wonders of

London.

We are in the middle of a

tropical storm here.

Have bought Queen so am

expecting some 'In' love

tokens!

Love,

Sarah".

 

The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272 people.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has been affectionately named "The Nation's Village Hall".

 

Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941.

 

It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium areas.

 

The hall was originally supposed to have been called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed to the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier.

 

History of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1800's

 

In 1851 the Great Exhibition, organised by Prince Albert, was held in Hyde Park, London. The Exhibition was a success, and this led Prince Albert to propose the creation of a group of permanent facilities for the public benefit, which came to be known as Albertopolis.

 

The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House, but it was slow to act, and in 1861 Prince Albert died without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.

 

The proposal was approved, and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. The Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, and built by Lucas Brothers.

 

The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum.

 

The recently opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo.

 

The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red Brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Ltd. of Tamworth.

 

The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was a trial assembly of the dome's iron framework in Manchester; then it was taken apart and transported to London by horse and cart.

 

When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ, only volunteers remained on-site in case the structure collapsed. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch (8 mm).

 

The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870, and Queen Victoria visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.

 

The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on the 29th. March 1871. A welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales because Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak;

 

"Her only recorded comment on the

Hall was that it reminded her of the

British constitution".

 

In the concert that followed, the Hall's acoustic problems immediately became apparent. Engineers first tried to remove the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome. This helped, and also sheltered concert-goers from the sun, but the problem was not solved - it used to be jokingly said:

 

"The Hall is the only place where

a British composer could be sure

of hearing his work twice".

 

In July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from Faust by Charles Gounod; The Orchestra described him as:

 

"An exceptional and distinguished

performer ... the effect was most

marvellous."

 

Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a special system by which thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888. During an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times, declaring it to be:

 

"A very ghastly and unpleasant

innovation".

 

In May 1877, Richard Wagner conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival. After his turn with the baton, he handed it over to conductor Hans Richter and sat in a large armchair on the corner of the stage for the rest of each concert. Wagner's wife Cosima, the daughter of Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt, was among the audience.

 

The Wine Society was founded at the Hall on the 4th. August 1874, after large quantities of cask wine were found in the cellars. A series of lunches were held to publicise the wines, and General Henry Scott proposed a co-operative company to buy and sell wines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1900's

 

In 1906 Elsie Fogerty founded the Central School of Speech and Drama at the Hall, using its West Theatre, now the Elgar Room. The school moved to Swiss Cottage in north London in 1957. Whilst the school was based at the Royal Albert Hall, students who graduated from its classes included Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Harold Pinter, Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft.

 

In 1911 Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff performed at the Hall. The recital included his 'Prelude in C-sharp minor' and 'Elegie in E-flat minor'.

 

In 1933 German physicist Albert Einstein led the 'Einstein Meeting' at the hall for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, a British charity.

 

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire on the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.

 

In October 1942, the Hall suffered minor damage during World War II bombing, but in general was left mostly untouched as German pilots used the distinctive structure as a landmark.

 

In 1949 the canvas awning was removed and replaced with fluted aluminium panels below the glass roof, in a new attempt to cure the echo. However the acoustics were not properly tackled until 1969 when large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed below the ceiling.

 

In 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, and from 1969–1988 the Miss World contest was staged at the venue.

 

In 1995, Greek keyboardist Yanni performed a concert there for his World Tour; the concert was recorded under the name of Live at Royal Albert Hall.

 

From 1996 until 2004, the Hall underwent a programme of renovation and development supported by a £20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £20m from Arts Council England to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances.

 

Thirty "discreet projects" were designed and supervised by the architecture and engineering firm BDP without disrupting events. These projects included improved ventilation to the auditorium, more bars and restaurants, improved seating, better technical facilities, and improved backstage areas. Internally, the Circle seating was rebuilt during June 1996 to provide more legroom, better access, and improved sightlines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2000's

 

The largest project of the ongoing renovation and development was the building of a new south porch – door 12, accommodating a first-floor restaurant, a new ground floor box office and a below-ground loading bay.

 

Although the exterior of the building was largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow the construction of underground vehicle access and a loading bay with accommodation for three HGVs carrying all the equipment brought by shows.

 

The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch, named The Meitar Foyer after a significant donation from Mr & Mrs Meitar. The porch was built on a similar scale and style to the three pre-existing porches at Doors 3, 6 and 9: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow.

 

The original steps featured in the early scenes of the 1965 film The Ipcress File. On the 4th. June 2004, the project received the Europa Nostra Award for remarkable achievement.

 

The East (Door 3) and West (Door 9) porches were glazed, and new bars opened along with ramps to improve disabled access. The Stalls were rebuilt in a four-week period in 2000 using steel supports, thereby allowing more space underneath for two new bars.

 

1,534 unique pivoting seats were installed, with an addition of 180 prime seats. The Choirs were rebuilt at the same time.

 

The whole building was redecorated in a style that reinforces its Victorian identity. 43,000 sq. ft (4,000 m2) of new carpets were laid in the rooms, stairs, and corridors – specially woven with a border that follows the oval curve of the building.

 

Between 2002 and 2004, there was a major rebuilding of the great organ (known as the Voice of Jupiter), built by "Father" Henry Willis in 1871 and rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison in 1924 and 1933.

 

The rebuilding was performed by Mander Organs, and it is now the second-largest pipe organ in the British Isles with 9,997 pipes in 147 stops. The largest is the Grand Organ in Liverpool Cathedral which has 10,268 pipes.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2010's

 

During the first half of 2011, changes were made to the backstage areas in order to relocate and increase the size of crew catering areas under the South Steps away from the stage and to create additional dressing rooms nearer to the stage.

 

During the summer of 2012, the staff canteen and some changing areas were expanded and refurbished. From January to May the Box Office area at Door 12 underwent further modernisation to include a new Café Bar on the ground floor, a new Box Office with shop counters, and additional toilets.

 

Upon opening it was renamed 'The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Porch and Foyer.' owing to a large donation from the couple.

 

In Autumn 2013, work began on replacing the Victorian steam heating system over three years and improving and cooling across the building. This work followed the summer Proms season during which temperatures were unusually high.

 

From January the Cafe Consort on the Grand Tier was closed permanently in preparation for a new restaurant at a cost of £1 million. Verdi – Italian Kitchen was officially opened on the 15th. April with a lunch or dinner menu of stone baked pizzas, pasta, and classic desserts.

 

Design of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Hall, a Grade I listed building, is an ellipse in plan, with its external major and minor axis of 272 and 236 feet (83 and 72 meters. The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the Hall is 135 ft (41 m) high.

 

Below the Arena floor there is room for two 4000 gallon water tanks, which are used for shows that flood the arena like Madame Butterfly.

 

The Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people, and has accommodated as many as 12,000 (although present-day safety restrictions mean the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,272, including standing in the Gallery.

 

Around the outside of the building is an 800–foot–long terracotta mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Above the frieze is an inscription in 12-inch-high (30 cm) terracotta letters that combine historical fact and Biblical quotations:

 

"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 twentieth day

of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her

Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year

MDCCCLXXI.

Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the victory and the majesty.

For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is

Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand

of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth

peace".

 

Events at The Royal Albert Hall

 

The first concert at the Hall was Arthur Sullivan's cantata On Shore and Sea, performed on the 1st. May 1871.

 

Many events are promoted by the Hall, and since the early 1970's promoter Raymond Gubbay has brought a range of events to the Hall including opera, ballet and classical music.

 

Events also include rock concerts, conferences, banquets, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, educational talks, motor shows, ballet, opera, film screenings and circus shows.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, squash, table tennis, basketball, wrestling (including the first Sumo wrestling tournament to be held in London) as well as UFC 38 (the first UFC event to be held in the UK), tennis, and even a marathon.

 

The Hall first hosted boxing in 1918, when it hosted a tournament between British and American servicemen. There was a colour bar in place at the Hall, preventing black boxers from fighting there, between 1923 and 1932.

 

Greats of British boxing such as Frank Bruno, Prince Naseem Hamed, Henry Cooper and Lennox Lewis have all appeared at the venue. The Hall's boxing history was halted in 1999 when a court ordered that boxing and wrestling matches could no longer be held at the venue. In 2011 that decision was overturned. In 2019 Nicola Adams won the WBO Flyweight title which was the first fight for a world title at the venue since Marco Antonio Barrera took on Paul Lloyd in 1999.

 

On the 6th. April 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest which was broadcast in colour for the first time. The first Miss World contest broadcast in colour was also staged at the venue in 1969, and remained at the Hall every year until 1989.

 

One notable event was a Pink Floyd concert held on the 26th. June 1969. On that night they were banned from ever playing at the Hall again after shooting cannons, nailing things to the stage, and having a man in a gorilla suit roam the audience.

 

At one point, Rick Wright went to the pipe organ and began to play "The End of the Beginning", the final part of "Saucerful of Secrets", joined by the brass section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (led by the conductor, Norman Smith) and the ladies of the Ealing Central Amateur Choir. A portion of the pipe organ recording is included on Pink Floyd's album The Endless River.

 

On the 18th. June 1985, British Gothic rock band The Sisters of Mercy recorded their live video album Wake at the Hall.

 

Between 1996 and 2008, the Hall hosted the annual National Television Awards, all of which were hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.

 

Benefit concerts include the 1997 Music for Montserrat concert, arranged and produced by George Martin. The event featured artists such as Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney.

 

In 2006, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed at the Hall for the first time since Pink Floyd's 1969 ban. He performed as part of his On an Island Tour. The shows were filmed and used for the live video release, Remember That Night (2007).

 

Rock band The Killers recorded their first live album, Live from the Royal Albert Hall in July 2009.

 

On the 5th. April 2010, Swedish progressive metal band Opeth recorded In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, as they became the first Death metal band ever to perform at the Hall. The concert was part of the band's Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology tour, made in celebration of their 20th. anniversary.

 

In July 2011, Janet Jackson performed three sold-out shows as part of her Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour.

 

On the 2nd. October 2011, the Hall staged the 25th.-anniversary performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which was broadcast live to cinemas across the world and filmed for DVD.

 

Lloyd Webber, the original London cast including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, and four previous actors of the titular character, among others, were in attendance – Brightman and the previous Phantoms (aside from Crawford) performed an encore.

 

On the 22nd. September 2011, Adele performed a one-night-only concert as part of her tour. The concert was filmed for DVD, and screened at cinemas in 26 cities around the world.

 

Her performance debuted at number one in the United States with 96,000 copies sold, the highest one-week tally for a music DVD in four years. After one week, it became the best-selling music DVD of 2011. As of the 28th. November 2012, it had surpassed sales of one million copies in the United States and sales of three million copies worldwide.

 

It was the first music DVD to surpass sales of one million in the USA since the Eagles' Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne in 2005.

 

The 2012 Sunflower Jam charity concert featured Queen guitarist Brian May performing alongside bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple, and vocalists Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper.

 

On the 24th. September 2012, Classic FM celebrated the 20th. anniversary of their launch with a concert at the Hall. The program featured live performances of works by Handel, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky and Karl Jenkins who conducted his piece The Benedictus from The Armed Man.

 

On the 19th. November 2012, the Hall hosted the 100th.-anniversary performance of the Royal Variety Performance, attended by the HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Duke of Edinburgh, with boy-band One Direction among the performers.

 

During his Rattle That Lock Tour, David Gilmour performed at the Royal Albert Hall eleven times between September 2015 and September 2016, once in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

 

On the 13th. November 2015, Canadian musician Devin Townsend recorded his second live album Ziltoid Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

 

Kylie Minogue performed at the Royal Albert Hall on the 11th. December 2015 and the 9th. - 10th. December 2016 as part of her "A Kylie Christmas" concert series.

 

On the 3rd. May 2016, singer-songwriter and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell played at the Hall in what would become the last UK show of his life as part of his "Higher Truth" European tour.

 

Cornell performed stripped-back acoustic renditions from his back-catalogue to rave reviews, including songs from the likes of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and his solo work. Cornell died on the 18th. May 2017.

 

On the 22nd. April 2016, British rock band Bring Me the Horizon performed and recorded their Live at the Royal Albert Hall album, with accompaniment from the Parallax Orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson.

 

At a press conference held at the Hall in October 2016, Phil Collins announced his return to live performing with his Not Dead Yet Tour, which began in June 2017. The tour included five nights at the Hall which sold out in fifteen seconds.

 

In October 2017, American rock band Alter Bridge also recorded a live album accompanied by the Parallax Orchestra with Simon Dobson.

 

Also in 2017, the Hall hosted the 70th. British Academy Film Awards, often referred to as the BAFTAs, for the first time in 20 years, replacing the Royal Opera House at which the event had been held since 2008.

 

In 2018, WWE held its second United Kingdom Championship Tournament on the 18th. and 19th. June.

 

Also in 2018, the world premiere of PlayStation in Concert was organised at the Hall. It featured PlayStation game music from the 1990's up until then. It was arranged by Jim Fowler and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

In May 2019, Mariah Carey performed 3 shows as part of her Caution World Tour. Comedian Bill Burr filmed his 2019 special Paper Tiger at the Hall. In November 2020, One Direction member Niall Horan performed a one off live-streamed show in an empty Hall (during the COVID-19 pandemic) to raise money for charity.

 

Regular Events at the Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Choral Society

 

The Royal Choral Society is the longest-running regular performer at the Hall, having given its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on the 8th. May 1872. From 1876, it established the annual Good Friday performance of Handel's Messiah.

 

BBC Proms

 

The BBC Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, known as "The Proms", is a popular annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts and other events at the Hall.

 

In 1942, following the destruction of the Queen's Hall in an air raid, the Hall was chosen as the new venue for the proms. In 1944 with increased danger to the Hall, part of the proms were held in the Bedford Corn Exchange.

 

Following the end of World War II the proms continued in the Hall, and have done so annually every summer since. The event was founded in 1895, and now each season consists of over 70 concerts, in addition to a series of events at other venues across the United Kingdom on the last night.

 

In 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. Jiří Bělohlávek described The Proms as:

 

"The world's largest and most

democratic musical festival".

 

Proms is a term which arose from the original practice of the audience promenading, or strolling, in some areas during the concert. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes described as "Promenaders", but are most commonly referred to as "Prommers".

 

Tennis

 

Tennis was first played at the Hall in March 1970, and the ATP Champions Tour Masters has been played annually every December since 1997.

 

Classical Spectacular

 

Classical Spectacular, a Raymond Gubbay production, has been coming to the Hall since 1988. It combines popular classical music, lights and special effects.

 

Cirque du Soleil

 

Cirque du Soleil has performed annually, with a show being staged every January, since 2003. Cirque has had to adapt many of their touring shows to perform at the venue, modifying the set, usually built for arenas or big top tents instead.

 

Classic Brit Awards

 

Since 2000, the Classic Brit Awards has been hosted annually in May at the Hall. It is organised by the British Phonographic Industry.

 

Festival of Remembrance

 

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance is held annually the day before Remembrance Sunday.

 

Institute of Directors

 

For 60 years the Institute of Directors' Annual Convention has been synonymous with the Hall, although in 2011 and 2012 it was held at indigO2.

 

The English National Ballet

 

Since 1998 the English National Ballet has had several specially staged arena summer seasons in partnership with the Hall and Raymond Gubbay. These include Strictly Gershwin, June 2008 and 2011, Swan Lake, June 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013, Romeo & Juliet, June 2001 and 2005, and The Sleeping Beauty, April - June 2000.

 

Teenage Cancer Trust

 

Starting in the year 2000 the Teenage Cancer Trust has held annual charity concerts (with the exception of 2001). They started as a one-off event, but have expanded over the years to a week or more of evening events. Roger Daltrey of the Who has been intimately involved with the planning of the events.

 

Graduation Ceremonies

 

The Hall is used annually by the neighbouring Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art for graduation ceremonies. For several years the University of London and Kingston University also held their graduation ceremonies at the Hall.

 

Films, Premières and Live Orchestra Screenings

 

The venue has screened several films since the early silent days. It was the only London venue to show William Fox's The Queen of Sheba in the 1920's.

 

The Hall has hosted many premières, including the UK première of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, 101 Dalmatians on the 4th. December 1996, the European première of Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys of the Western World, and three James Bond royal world premières - Die Another Day on the 18th. November 2002 (attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip), Skyfall on the 23rd. October 2012 (attended by Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall), and Spectre on the 26th. October 2015 (attended by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge).

 

The Hall held the first 3D world première of Titanic 3D, on the 27th. March 2012, with James Cameron and Kate Winslet in attendance.

 

Since 2009, the Hall has also curated regular seasons of English-language film-and-live-orchestra screenings, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Interstellar, The Matrix, West Side Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Back to the Future, Jaws, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the world première of Titanic Live in Concert.

 

The only non-English-language movie to have been screened at the Hall is Baahubali: The Beginning (an Indian movie in Telugu and Tamil, but premiered with the Hindi dubbed version).

 

National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

 

The National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, one of the most prestigious prizes in the annual brass band contesting calendar, holds the Final of the Championship section at the Royal Albert Hall each October.

 

Beyond the Main Stage

 

The Hall hosts hundreds of events and activities beyond its main auditorium. There are regular free art exhibitions in the ground floor Amphi corridor, which can be viewed when attending events or on dedicated viewing dates.

 

Visitors can take a guided tour of the Hall on most days. The most common is the one-hour Grand Tour which includes most front-of-house areas, the auditorium, the Gallery and the Royal Retiring Room.

 

Other tours include Story of the Proms, Behind the Scenes, Inside Out and School tours.

 

Children's events include Storytelling and Music Sessions for ages four and under. These take place in the Door 9 Porch and Albert's Band sessions in the Elgar Room during school holidays.

 

"Live Music in Verdi" takes place in the Italian restaurant on a Friday night featuring different artists each week.

 

"Late Night Jazz" events in the Elgar Room, generally on a Thursday night, feature cabaret-style seating and a relaxed atmosphere with drinks available.

 

"Classical Coffee Mornings" are held on Sundays in the Elgar Room with musicians from the Royal College of Music accompanied with drinks and pastries.

 

Sunday brunch events take place in Verdi Italian restaurant and feature different genres of music.

 

Regular Performers at the Royal Albert Hall

 

Eric Clapton is a regular performer at the Hall. Since 1964, Clapton has performed at the Hall over 200 times, and has stated that performing at the venue is: "Like playing in my front room".

 

In December 1964, Clapton made his first appearance at the Hall with the Yardbirds. It was also the venue for his band Cream's farewell concerts in 1968 and reunion shows in 2005. He also instigated the Concert for George, which was held at the Hall on the 29th. November 2002 to pay tribute to Clapton's lifelong friend, former Beatle George Harrison. Clapton passed 200 shows at the Hall in 2015.

 

David Gilmour played at the Hall in support of two solo albums, while also releasing a live concert on September 2006 entitled Remember That Night which was recorded during his three nights playing at the Hall for his 2006 On an Island tour.

 

Notable guests were Robert Wyatt and David Bowie (who sang lead for "Arnold Layne" and "Comfortably Numb"). The live concert was televised by BBC One on the 9th. September 2007.

 

Gilmour returned to the Hall for four nights in September 2016 (where he was joined on stage by Benedict Cumberbatch for "Comfortably Numb"), having previously played five nights in 2015, to end his 34-day Rattle That Lock Tour. He also made an appearance on the 24th. April 2016 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust event.

 

Shirley Bassey is one of the Hall's most prolific female headline performers, having appeared many times at the Hall since the 1970's. In 2001, she sang "Happy Birthday" for the Duke of Edinburgh's 80th. birthday concert. In 2007, she sang at Fashion Rocks in aid of the Prince's Trust.

 

On the 30th. March 2011, she sang at a gala celebrating the 80th. birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev. In May 2011, she performed at the Classic Brit Awards, singing "Goldfinger" in tribute to the recently deceased composer John Barry. On the 20th. June 2011, she returned and sang "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Goldfinger", accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as the climax to the memorial concert for Barry.

 

James Last appeared 90 times at the Hall between 1973 and 2015, making him the most frequent non–British performer to have played the venue.

 

Education and Outreach Programme

 

The Hall's education and outreach programme engages with more than 200,000 people a year. It includes workshops for local teenagers led by musicians such as Foals, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Nicola Benedetti, Alison Balsom and First Aid Kit, innovative science and maths lessons, visits to local residential homes from the venue's in-house group, Albert's Band, under the 'Songbook' banner, and the Friendship Matinee: an orchestral concert for community groups, with £5 admission.

 

Mis-labellings

 

A famous and widely bootlegged concert by Bob Dylan at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on the 17th. May 1966 was mistakenly labelled the "Royal Albert Hall Concert".

 

In 1998, Columbia Records released an official recording, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. It maintains the erroneous title but does include details of the actual location.

 

Recordings from the Royal Albert Hall concerts on the 26th. and 27th. May 1966 were finally released by the artist in 2016 as The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert.

 

Another concert mislabelled as being at the Hall was by Creedence Clearwater Revival. An album by them entitled The Royal Albert Hall Concert was released in 1980. When Fantasy Records discovered the show on the album actually took place at the Oakland Coliseum, it retitled the album The Concert.

 

Pop Culture References

 

A large mural by Peter Blake, entitled Appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, is displayed in the Hall's Café Bar. Unveiled in April 2014, it shows more than 400 famous figures who have appeared on the stage.

 

In 1955, English film director Alfred Hitchcock filmed the climax of The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Hall. The 15-minute sequence featured James Stewart, Doris Day and composer Bernard Herrmann, and was filmed partly in the Queen's Box.

 

Hitchcock was a long-time patron of the Hall and had already set the finale of his 1927 film, The Ring at the Hall, as well as his initial version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre.

 

Other notable films shot at the Hall include Major Barbara, Love Story, The Seventh Veil, The Ipcress File, A Touch of Class, Shine, and Spice World.

 

In the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, the Albert Hall is mentioned. The verse goes as follows:

 

"I read the news today, oh boy

four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire

and though the holes were rather small

they had to count them all

now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

I'd love to turn you on".

 

The song "Session Man" by The Kinks references the Hall:

 

"He never will forget at all

The day he played at Albert Hall".

 

In the song "Shame" by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, Barlow mentions the Hall in his verse:

 

"I read your mind and tried to call,

my tears could fill the Albert Hall".

 

'Like a Rolling Stone'

 

So what else happened on the day that Sarah posted the card?

 

Well, the 20th. July 1965 marked the release of 'Like a Rolling Stone'.

 

'Like a Rolling Stone' is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a gruelling tour of England.

 

Dylan distilled this draft into four verses and a chorus. 'Like a Rolling Stone' was recorded a few weeks later as part of the sessions for the forthcoming album Highway 61 Revisited.

 

During a difficult two-day pre-production, Dylan struggled to find the essence of the song, which was demoed without success in 3/4 time. A breakthrough was made when it was tried in a rock music format, and rookie session musician Al Kooper improvised the organ riff for which the track is known.

 

Columbia Records were unhappy with both the song's length at over six minutes and its heavy electric sound, and were hesitant to release it.

 

It was only when, a month later, a copy was leaked to a new popular music club and heard by influential DJs that the song was put out as a single. Although radio stations were reluctant to play such a long track, 'Like a Rolling Stone' reached No. 2 in the US Billboard charts and became a worldwide hit.

 

Critics have described the track as revolutionary in its combination of different musical elements, the youthful, cynical sound of Dylan's voice, and the directness of the question "How does it feel?"

 

"Like a Rolling Stone" completed the transformation of Dylan's image from folk singer to rock star, and is considered one of the most influential compositions in postwar popular music.

 

According to review aggregator Acclaimed Music, 'Like a Rolling Stone' is the statistically most acclaimed song of all time.

 

Rolling Stone magazine listed the song at No. 1 in their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. The song has been covered by many artists, from the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Rolling Stones to the Wailers and Green Day.

 

At an auction in 2014, Dylan's handwritten lyrics to the song fetched $2 million, a world record for a popular music manuscript.

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The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard bearing no publisher's name. The publishers have printed on the divided back of the card:

 

"London Royal Albert Hall.

The largest concert hall on

London, seating 10,000.

Also used for political and

other meetings".

 

The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272 people.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has been affectionately named "The Nation's Village Hall".

 

Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941.

 

It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium areas.

 

The hall was originally supposed to have been called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed to the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier.

 

History of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1800's

 

In 1851 the Great Exhibition, organised by Prince Albert, was held in Hyde Park, London. The Exhibition was a success, and this led Prince Albert to propose the creation of a group of permanent facilities for the public benefit, which came to be known as Albertopolis.

 

The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House, but it was slow to act, and in 1861 Prince Albert died without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.

 

The proposal was approved, and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. The Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, and built by Lucas Brothers.

 

The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum.

 

The recently opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo.

 

The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red Brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Ltd. of Tamworth.

 

The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was a trial assembly of the dome's iron framework in Manchester; then it was taken apart and transported to London by horse and cart.

 

When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ, only volunteers remained on-site in case the structure collapsed. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch (8 mm).

 

The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870, and Queen Victoria visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.

 

The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on the 29th. March 1871. A welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales because Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak;

 

"Her only recorded comment on the

Hall was that it reminded her of the

British constitution".

 

In the concert that followed, the Hall's acoustic problems immediately became apparent. Engineers first tried to remove the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome. This helped, and also sheltered concert-goers from the sun, but the problem was not solved - it used to be jokingly said:

 

"The Hall is the only place where

a British composer could be sure

of hearing his work twice".

 

In July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from Faust by Charles Gounod; The Orchestra described him as:

 

"An exceptional and distinguished

performer ... the effect was most

marvellous."

 

Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a special system by which thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888. During an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times, declaring it to be:

 

"A very ghastly and unpleasant

innovation".

 

In May 1877, Richard Wagner conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival. After his turn with the baton, he handed it over to conductor Hans Richter and sat in a large armchair on the corner of the stage for the rest of each concert. Wagner's wife Cosima, the daughter of Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt, was among the audience.

 

The Wine Society was founded at the Hall on the 4th. August 1874, after large quantities of cask wine were found in the cellars. A series of lunches were held to publicise the wines, and General Henry Scott proposed a co-operative company to buy and sell wines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1900's

 

In 1906 Elsie Fogerty founded the Central School of Speech and Drama at the Hall, using its West Theatre, now the Elgar Room. The school moved to Swiss Cottage in north London in 1957. Whilst the school was based at the Royal Albert Hall, students who graduated from its classes included Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Harold Pinter, Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft.

 

In 1911 Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff performed at the Hall. The recital included his 'Prelude in C-sharp minor' and 'Elegie in E-flat minor'.

 

In 1933 German physicist Albert Einstein led the 'Einstein Meeting' at the hall for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, a British charity.

 

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire on the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.

 

In October 1942, the Hall suffered minor damage during World War II bombing, but in general was left mostly untouched as German pilots used the distinctive structure as a landmark.

 

In 1949 the canvas awning was removed and replaced with fluted aluminium panels below the glass roof, in a new attempt to cure the echo. However the acoustics were not properly tackled until 1969 when large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed below the ceiling.

 

In 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, and from 1969–1988 the Miss World contest was staged at the venue.

 

In 1995, Greek keyboardist Yanni performed a concert there for his World Tour; the concert was recorded under the name of Live at Royal Albert Hall.

 

From 1996 until 2004, the Hall underwent a programme of renovation and development supported by a £20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £20m from Arts Council England to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances.

 

Thirty "discreet projects" were designed and supervised by the architecture and engineering firm BDP without disrupting events. These projects included improved ventilation to the auditorium, more bars and restaurants, improved seating, better technical facilities, and improved backstage areas. Internally, the Circle seating was rebuilt during June 1996 to provide more legroom, better access, and improved sightlines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2000's

 

The largest project of the ongoing renovation and development was the building of a new south porch – door 12, accommodating a first-floor restaurant, a new ground floor box office and a below-ground loading bay.

 

Although the exterior of the building was largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow the construction of underground vehicle access and a loading bay with accommodation for three HGVs carrying all the equipment brought by shows.

 

The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch, named The Meitar Foyer after a significant donation from Mr & Mrs Meitar. The porch was built on a similar scale and style to the three pre-existing porches at Doors 3, 6 and 9: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow.

 

The original steps featured in the early scenes of the 1965 film The Ipcress File. On the 4th. June 2004, the project received the Europa Nostra Award for remarkable achievement.

 

The East (Door 3) and West (Door 9) porches were glazed, and new bars opened along with ramps to improve disabled access. The Stalls were rebuilt in a four-week period in 2000 using steel supports, thereby allowing more space underneath for two new bars.

 

1,534 unique pivoting seats were installed, with an addition of 180 prime seats. The Choirs were rebuilt at the same time.

 

The whole building was redecorated in a style that reinforces its Victorian identity. 43,000 sq. ft (4,000 m2) of new carpets were laid in the rooms, stairs, and corridors – specially woven with a border that follows the oval curve of the building.

 

Between 2002 and 2004, there was a major rebuilding of the great organ (known as the Voice of Jupiter), built by "Father" Henry Willis in 1871 and rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison in 1924 and 1933.

 

The rebuilding was performed by Mander Organs, and it is now the second-largest pipe organ in the British Isles with 9,997 pipes in 147 stops. The largest is the Grand Organ in Liverpool Cathedral which has 10,268 pipes.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2010's

 

During the first half of 2011, changes were made to the backstage areas in order to relocate and increase the size of crew catering areas under the South Steps away from the stage and to create additional dressing rooms nearer to the stage.

 

During the summer of 2012, the staff canteen and some changing areas were expanded and refurbished. From January to May the Box Office area at Door 12 underwent further modernisation to include a new Café Bar on the ground floor, a new Box Office with shop counters, and additional toilets.

 

Upon opening it was renamed 'The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Porch and Foyer.' owing to a large donation from the couple.

 

In Autumn 2013, work began on replacing the Victorian steam heating system over three years and improving and cooling across the building. This work followed the summer Proms season during which temperatures were unusually high.

 

From January the Cafe Consort on the Grand Tier was closed permanently in preparation for a new restaurant at a cost of £1 million. Verdi – Italian Kitchen was officially opened on the 15th. April with a lunch or dinner menu of stone baked pizzas, pasta, and classic desserts.

 

Design of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Hall, a Grade I listed building, is an ellipse in plan, with its external major and minor axis of 272 and 236 feet (83 and 72 meters. The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the Hall is 135 ft (41 m) high.

 

Below the Arena floor there is room for two 4000 gallon water tanks, which are used for shows that flood the arena like Madame Butterfly.

 

The Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people, and has accommodated as many as 12,000 (although present-day safety restrictions mean the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,272, including standing in the Gallery.

 

Around the outside of the building is an 800–foot–long terracotta mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Above the frieze is an inscription in 12-inch-high (30 cm) terracotta letters that combine historical fact and Biblical quotations:

 

"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 twentieth day

of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her

Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year

MDCCCLXXI.

Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the victory and the majesty.

For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is

Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand

of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth

peace".

 

Events at The Royal Albert Hall

 

The first concert at the Hall was Arthur Sullivan's cantata On Shore and Sea, performed on the 1st. May 1871.

 

Many events are promoted by the Hall, and since the early 1970's promoter Raymond Gubbay has brought a range of events to the Hall including opera, ballet and classical music.

 

Events also include rock concerts, conferences, banquets, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, educational talks, motor shows, ballet, opera, film screenings and circus shows.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, squash, table tennis, basketball, wrestling (including the first Sumo wrestling tournament to be held in London) as well as UFC 38 (the first UFC event to be held in the UK), tennis, and even a marathon.

 

The Hall first hosted boxing in 1918, when it hosted a tournament between British and American servicemen. There was a colour bar in place at the Hall, preventing black boxers from fighting there, between 1923 and 1932.

 

Greats of British boxing such as Frank Bruno, Prince Naseem Hamed, Henry Cooper and Lennox Lewis have all appeared at the venue. The Hall's boxing history was halted in 1999 when a court ordered that boxing and wrestling matches could no longer be held at the venue. In 2011 that decision was overturned. In 2019 Nicola Adams won the WBO Flyweight title which was the first fight for a world title at the venue since Marco Antonio Barrera took on Paul Lloyd in 1999.

 

On the 6th. April 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest which was broadcast in colour for the first time. The first Miss World contest broadcast in colour was also staged at the venue in 1969, and remained at the Hall every year until 1989.

 

One notable event was a Pink Floyd concert held on the 26th. June 1969. On that night they were banned from ever playing at the Hall again after shooting cannons, nailing things to the stage, and having a man in a gorilla suit roam the audience.

 

At one point, Rick Wright went to the pipe organ and began to play "The End of the Beginning", the final part of "Saucerful of Secrets", joined by the brass section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (led by the conductor, Norman Smith) and the ladies of the Ealing Central Amateur Choir. A portion of the pipe organ recording is included on Pink Floyd's album The Endless River.

 

On the 18th. June 1985, British Gothic rock band The Sisters of Mercy recorded their live video album Wake at the Hall.

 

Between 1996 and 2008, the Hall hosted the annual National Television Awards, all of which were hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.

 

Benefit concerts include the 1997 Music for Montserrat concert, arranged and produced by George Martin. The event featured artists such as Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney.

 

In 2006, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed at the Hall for the first time since Pink Floyd's 1969 ban. He performed as part of his On an Island Tour. The shows were filmed and used for the live video release, Remember That Night (2007).

 

Rock band The Killers recorded their first live album, Live from the Royal Albert Hall in July 2009.

 

On the 5th. April 2010, Swedish progressive metal band Opeth recorded In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, as they became the first Death metal band ever to perform at the Hall. The concert was part of the band's Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology tour, made in celebration of their 20th. anniversary.

 

In July 2011, Janet Jackson performed three sold-out shows as part of her Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour.

 

On the 2nd. October 2011, the Hall staged the 25th.-anniversary performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which was broadcast live to cinemas across the world and filmed for DVD.

 

Lloyd Webber, the original London cast including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, and four previous actors of the titular character, among others, were in attendance – Brightman and the previous Phantoms (aside from Crawford) performed an encore.

 

On the 22nd. September 2011, Adele performed a one-night-only concert as part of her tour. The concert was filmed for DVD, and screened at cinemas in 26 cities around the world.

 

Her performance debuted at number one in the United States with 96,000 copies sold, the highest one-week tally for a music DVD in four years. After one week, it became the best-selling music DVD of 2011. As of the 28th. November 2012, it had surpassed sales of one million copies in the United States and sales of three million copies worldwide.

 

It was the first music DVD to surpass sales of one million in the USA since the Eagles' Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne in 2005.

 

The 2012 Sunflower Jam charity concert featured Queen guitarist Brian May performing alongside bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple, and vocalists Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper.

 

On the 24th. September 2012, Classic FM celebrated the 20th. anniversary of their launch with a concert at the Hall. The program featured live performances of works by Handel, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky and Karl Jenkins who conducted his piece The Benedictus from The Armed Man.

 

On the 19th. November 2012, the Hall hosted the 100th.-anniversary performance of the Royal Variety Performance, attended by the HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Duke of Edinburgh, with boy-band One Direction among the performers.

 

During his Rattle That Lock Tour, David Gilmour performed at the Royal Albert Hall eleven times between September 2015 and September 2016, once in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

 

On the 13th. November 2015, Canadian musician Devin Townsend recorded his second live album Ziltoid Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

 

Kylie Minogue performed at the Royal Albert Hall on the 11th. December 2015 and the 9th. - 10th. December 2016 as part of her "A Kylie Christmas" concert series.

 

On the 3rd. May 2016, singer-songwriter and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell played at the Hall in what would become the last UK show of his life as part of his "Higher Truth" European tour.

 

Cornell performed stripped-back acoustic renditions from his back-catalogue to rave reviews, including songs from the likes of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and his solo work. Cornell died on the 18th. May 2017.

 

On the 22nd. April 2016, British rock band Bring Me the Horizon performed and recorded their Live at the Royal Albert Hall album, with accompaniment from the Parallax Orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson.

 

At a press conference held at the Hall in October 2016, Phil Collins announced his return to live performing with his Not Dead Yet Tour, which began in June 2017. The tour included five nights at the Hall which sold out in fifteen seconds.

 

In October 2017, American rock band Alter Bridge also recorded a live album accompanied by the Parallax Orchestra with Simon Dobson.

 

Also in 2017, the Hall hosted the 70th. British Academy Film Awards, often referred to as the BAFTAs, for the first time in 20 years, replacing the Royal Opera House at which the event had been held since 2008.

 

In 2018, WWE held its second United Kingdom Championship Tournament on the 18th. and 19th. June.

 

Also in 2018, the world premiere of PlayStation in Concert was organised at the Hall. It featured PlayStation game music from the 1990's up until then. It was arranged by Jim Fowler and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

In May 2019, Mariah Carey performed 3 shows as part of her Caution World Tour. Comedian Bill Burr filmed his 2019 special Paper Tiger at the Hall. In November 2020, One Direction member Niall Horan performed a one off live-streamed show in an empty Hall (during the COVID-19 pandemic) to raise money for charity.

 

Regular Events at the Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Choral Society

 

The Royal Choral Society is the longest-running regular performer at the Hall, having given its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on the 8th. May 1872. From 1876, it established the annual Good Friday performance of Handel's Messiah.

 

BBC Proms

 

The BBC Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, known as "The Proms", is a popular annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts and other events at the Hall.

 

In 1942, following the destruction of the Queen's Hall in an air raid, the Hall was chosen as the new venue for the proms. In 1944 with increased danger to the Hall, part of the proms were held in the Bedford Corn Exchange.

 

Following the end of World War II the proms continued in the Hall, and have done so annually every summer since. The event was founded in 1895, and now each season consists of over 70 concerts, in addition to a series of events at other venues across the United Kingdom on the last night.

 

In 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. Jiří Bělohlávek described The Proms as:

 

"The world's largest and most

democratic musical festival".

 

Proms is a term which arose from the original practice of the audience promenading, or strolling, in some areas during the concert. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes described as "Promenaders", but are most commonly referred to as "Prommers".

 

Tennis

 

Tennis was first played at the Hall in March 1970, and the ATP Champions Tour Masters has been played annually every December since 1997.

 

Classical Spectacular

 

Classical Spectacular, a Raymond Gubbay production, has been coming to the Hall since 1988. It combines popular classical music, lights and special effects.

 

Cirque du Soleil

 

Cirque du Soleil has performed annually, with a show being staged every January, since 2003. Cirque has had to adapt many of their touring shows to perform at the venue, modifying the set, usually built for arenas or big top tents instead.

 

Classic Brit Awards

 

Since 2000, the Classic Brit Awards has been hosted annually in May at the Hall. It is organised by the British Phonographic Industry.

 

Festival of Remembrance

 

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance is held annually the day before Remembrance Sunday.

 

Institute of Directors

 

For 60 years the Institute of Directors' Annual Convention has been synonymous with the Hall, although in 2011 and 2012 it was held at indigO2.

 

The English National Ballet

 

Since 1998 the English National Ballet has had several specially staged arena summer seasons in partnership with the Hall and Raymond Gubbay. These include Strictly Gershwin, June 2008 and 2011, Swan Lake, June 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013, Romeo & Juliet, June 2001 and 2005, and The Sleeping Beauty, April - June 2000.

 

Teenage Cancer Trust

 

Starting in the year 2000 the Teenage Cancer Trust has held annual charity concerts (with the exception of 2001). They started as a one-off event, but have expanded over the years to a week or more of evening events. Roger Daltrey of the Who has been intimately involved with the planning of the events.

 

Graduation Ceremonies

 

The Hall is used annually by the neighbouring Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art for graduation ceremonies. For several years the University of London and Kingston University also held their graduation ceremonies at the Hall.

 

Films, Premières and Live Orchestra Screenings

 

The venue has screened several films since the early silent days. It was the only London venue to show William Fox's The Queen of Sheba in the 1920's.

 

The Hall has hosted many premières, including the UK première of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, 101 Dalmatians on the 4th. December 1996, the European première of Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys of the Western World, and three James Bond royal world premières - Die Another Day on the 18th. November 2002 (attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip), Skyfall on the 23rd. October 2012 (attended by Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall), and Spectre on the 26th. October 2015 (attended by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge).

 

The Hall held the first 3D world première of Titanic 3D, on the 27th. March 2012, with James Cameron and Kate Winslet in attendance.

 

Since 2009, the Hall has also curated regular seasons of English-language film-and-live-orchestra screenings, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Interstellar, The Matrix, West Side Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Back to the Future, Jaws, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the world première of Titanic Live in Concert.

 

The only non-English-language movie to have been screened at the Hall is Baahubali: The Beginning (an Indian movie in Telugu and Tamil, but premiered with the Hindi dubbed version).

 

National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

 

The National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, one of the most prestigious prizes in the annual brass band contesting calendar, holds the Final of the Championship section at the Royal Albert Hall each October.

 

Beyond the Main Stage

 

The Hall hosts hundreds of events and activities beyond its main auditorium. There are regular free art exhibitions in the ground floor Amphi corridor, which can be viewed when attending events or on dedicated viewing dates.

 

Visitors can take a guided tour of the Hall on most days. The most common is the one-hour Grand Tour which includes most front-of-house areas, the auditorium, the Gallery and the Royal Retiring Room.

 

Other tours include Story of the Proms, Behind the Scenes, Inside Out and School tours.

 

Children's events include Storytelling and Music Sessions for ages four and under. These take place in the Door 9 Porch and Albert's Band sessions in the Elgar Room during school holidays.

 

"Live Music in Verdi" takes place in the Italian restaurant on a Friday night featuring different artists each week.

 

"Late Night Jazz" events in the Elgar Room, generally on a Thursday night, feature cabaret-style seating and a relaxed atmosphere with drinks available.

 

"Classical Coffee Mornings" are held on Sundays in the Elgar Room with musicians from the Royal College of Music accompanied with drinks and pastries.

 

Sunday brunch events take place in Verdi Italian restaurant and feature different genres of music.

 

Regular Performers at the Royal Albert Hall

 

Eric Clapton is a regular performer at the Hall. Since 1964, Clapton has performed at the Hall over 200 times, and has stated that performing at the venue is: "Like playing in my front room".

 

In December 1964, Clapton made his first appearance at the Hall with the Yardbirds. It was also the venue for his band Cream's farewell concerts in 1968 and reunion shows in 2005. He also instigated the Concert for George, which was held at the Hall on the 29th. November 2002 to pay tribute to Clapton's lifelong friend, former Beatle George Harrison. Clapton passed 200 shows at the Hall in 2015.

 

David Gilmour played at the Hall in support of two solo albums, while also releasing a live concert on September 2006 entitled Remember That Night which was recorded during his three nights playing at the Hall for his 2006 On an Island tour.

 

Notable guests were Robert Wyatt and David Bowie (who sang lead for "Arnold Layne" and "Comfortably Numb"). The live concert was televised by BBC One on the 9th. September 2007.

 

Gilmour returned to the Hall for four nights in September 2016 (where he was joined on stage by Benedict Cumberbatch for "Comfortably Numb"), having previously played five nights in 2015, to end his 34-day Rattle That Lock Tour. He also made an appearance on the 24th. April 2016 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust event.

 

Shirley Bassey is one of the Hall's most prolific female headline performers, having appeared many times at the Hall since the 1970's. In 2001, she sang "Happy Birthday" for the Duke of Edinburgh's 80th. birthday concert. In 2007, she sang at Fashion Rocks in aid of the Prince's Trust.

 

On the 30th. March 2011, she sang at a gala celebrating the 80th. birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev. In May 2011, she performed at the Classic Brit Awards, singing "Goldfinger" in tribute to the recently deceased composer John Barry. On the 20th. June 2011, she returned and sang "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Goldfinger", accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as the climax to the memorial concert for Barry.

 

James Last appeared 90 times at the Hall between 1973 and 2015, making him the most frequent non–British performer to have played the venue.

 

Education and Outreach Programme

 

The Hall's education and outreach programme engages with more than 200,000 people a year. It includes workshops for local teenagers led by musicians such as Foals, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Nicola Benedetti, Alison Balsom and First Aid Kit, innovative science and maths lessons, visits to local residential homes from the venue's in-house group, Albert's Band, under the 'Songbook' banner, and the Friendship Matinee: an orchestral concert for community groups, with £5 admission.

 

Mis-labellings

 

A famous and widely bootlegged concert by Bob Dylan at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on the 17th. May 1966 was mistakenly labelled the "Royal Albert Hall Concert".

 

In 1998, Columbia Records released an official recording, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. It maintains the erroneous title but does include details of the actual location.

 

Recordings from the Royal Albert Hall concerts on the 26th. and 27th. May 1966 were finally released by the artist in 2016 as The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert.

 

Another concert mislabelled as being at the Hall was by Creedence Clearwater Revival. An album by them entitled The Royal Albert Hall Concert was released in 1980. When Fantasy Records discovered the show on the album actually took place at the Oakland Coliseum, it retitled the album The Concert.

 

Pop Culture References

 

A large mural by Peter Blake, entitled Appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, is displayed in the Hall's Café Bar. Unveiled in April 2014, it shows more than 400 famous figures who have appeared on the stage.

 

In 1955, English film director Alfred Hitchcock filmed the climax of The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Hall. The 15-minute sequence featured James Stewart, Doris Day and composer Bernard Herrmann, and was filmed partly in the Queen's Box.

 

Hitchcock was a long-time patron of the Hall and had already set the finale of his 1927 film, The Ring at the Hall, as well as his initial version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre.

 

Other notable films shot at the Hall include Major Barbara, Love Story, The Seventh Veil, The Ipcress File, A Touch of Class, Shine, and Spice World.

 

In the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, the Albert Hall is mentioned. The verse goes as follows:

 

"I read the news today, oh boy

four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire

and though the holes were rather small

they had to count them all

now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

I'd love to turn you on".

 

The song "Session Man" by The Kinks references the Hall:

 

"He never will forget at all

The day he played at Albert Hall".

 

In the song "Shame" by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, Barlow mentions the Hall in his verse:

 

"I read your mind and tried to call,

my tears could fill the Albert Hall".

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The Postcard

 

A postcard that was published by F. F. & Co.. It was posted in Bideford, Devon on Saturday the 9th. June 1906 to:

 

Mrs. C. H. Poole,

55 Upper Kincraig Street,

Roath,

Cardiff.

 

The message on the divided back was as follows:

 

"Moorhead.

Dear Nellie,

Have you received

the basket we sent

on Tuesday?

We have not heard

from you, so don't

know if you had it or

not.

Please write.

Hope you are all well

as it leaves us for the

present.

Goodbye from

Ethel".

 

The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272 people.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has been affectionately named "The Nation's Village Hall".

 

Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941.

 

It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium areas.

 

The hall was originally supposed to have been called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed to the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier.

 

History of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1800's

 

In 1851 the Great Exhibition, organised by Prince Albert, was held in Hyde Park, London. The Exhibition was a success, and this led Prince Albert to propose the creation of a group of permanent facilities for the public benefit, which came to be known as Albertopolis.

 

The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House, but it was slow to act, and in 1861 Prince Albert died without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.

 

The proposal was approved, and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. The Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, and built by Lucas Brothers.

 

The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum.

 

The recently opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo.

 

The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red Brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Ltd. of Tamworth.

 

The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was a trial assembly of the dome's iron framework in Manchester; then it was taken apart and transported to London by horse and cart.

 

When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ, only volunteers remained on-site in case the structure collapsed. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch (8 mm).

 

The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870, and Queen Victoria visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.

 

The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on the 29th. March 1871. A welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales because Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak;

 

"Her only recorded comment on the

Hall was that it reminded her of the

British constitution".

 

In the concert that followed, the Hall's acoustic problems immediately became apparent. Engineers first tried to remove the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome. This helped, and also sheltered concert-goers from the sun, but the problem was not solved - it used to be jokingly said:

 

"The Hall is the only place where

a British composer could be sure

of hearing his work twice".

 

In July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from Faust by Charles Gounod; The Orchestra described him as:

 

"An exceptional and distinguished

performer ... the effect was most

marvellous."

 

Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a special system by which thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888. During an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times, declaring it to be:

 

"A very ghastly and unpleasant

innovation".

 

In May 1877, Richard Wagner conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival. After his turn with the baton, he handed it over to conductor Hans Richter and sat in a large armchair on the corner of the stage for the rest of each concert. Wagner's wife Cosima, the daughter of Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt, was among the audience.

 

The Wine Society was founded at the Hall on the 4th. August 1874, after large quantities of cask wine were found in the cellars. A series of lunches were held to publicise the wines, and General Henry Scott proposed a co-operative company to buy and sell wines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1900's

 

In 1906 Elsie Fogerty founded the Central School of Speech and Drama at the Hall, using its West Theatre, now the Elgar Room. The school moved to Swiss Cottage in north London in 1957. Whilst the school was based at the Royal Albert Hall, students who graduated from its classes included Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Harold Pinter, Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft.

 

In 1911 Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff performed at the Hall. The recital included his 'Prelude in C-sharp minor' and 'Elegie in E-flat minor'.

 

In 1933 German physicist Albert Einstein led the 'Einstein Meeting' at the hall for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, a British charity.

 

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire on the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.

 

In October 1942, the Hall suffered minor damage during World War II bombing, but in general was left mostly untouched as German pilots used the distinctive structure as a landmark.

 

In 1949 the canvas awning was removed and replaced with fluted aluminium panels below the glass roof, in a new attempt to cure the echo. However the acoustics were not properly tackled until 1969 when large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed below the ceiling.

 

In 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, and from 1969–1988 the Miss World contest was staged at the venue.

 

In 1995, Greek keyboardist Yanni performed a concert there for his World Tour; the concert was recorded under the name of Live at Royal Albert Hall.

 

From 1996 until 2004, the Hall underwent a programme of renovation and development supported by a £20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £20m from Arts Council England to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances.

 

Thirty "discreet projects" were designed and supervised by the architecture and engineering firm BDP without disrupting events. These projects included improved ventilation to the auditorium, more bars and restaurants, improved seating, better technical facilities, and improved backstage areas. Internally, the Circle seating was rebuilt during June 1996 to provide more legroom, better access, and improved sightlines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2000's

 

The largest project of the ongoing renovation and development was the building of a new south porch – door 12, accommodating a first-floor restaurant, a new ground floor box office and a below-ground loading bay.

 

Although the exterior of the building was largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow the construction of underground vehicle access and a loading bay with accommodation for three HGVs carrying all the equipment brought by shows.

 

The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch, named The Meitar Foyer after a significant donation from Mr & Mrs Meitar. The porch was built on a similar scale and style to the three pre-existing porches at Doors 3, 6 and 9: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow.

 

The original steps featured in the early scenes of the 1965 film The Ipcress File. On the 4th. June 2004, the project received the Europa Nostra Award for remarkable achievement.

 

The East (Door 3) and West (Door 9) porches were glazed, and new bars opened along with ramps to improve disabled access. The Stalls were rebuilt in a four-week period in 2000 using steel supports, thereby allowing more space underneath for two new bars.

 

1,534 unique pivoting seats were installed, with an addition of 180 prime seats. The Choirs were rebuilt at the same time.

 

The whole building was redecorated in a style that reinforces its Victorian identity. 43,000 sq. ft (4,000 m2) of new carpets were laid in the rooms, stairs, and corridors – specially woven with a border that follows the oval curve of the building.

 

Between 2002 and 2004, there was a major rebuilding of the great organ (known as the Voice of Jupiter), built by "Father" Henry Willis in 1871 and rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison in 1924 and 1933.

 

The rebuilding was performed by Mander Organs, and it is now the second-largest pipe organ in the British Isles with 9,997 pipes in 147 stops. The largest is the Grand Organ in Liverpool Cathedral which has 10,268 pipes.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2010's

 

During the first half of 2011, changes were made to the backstage areas in order to relocate and increase the size of crew catering areas under the South Steps away from the stage and to create additional dressing rooms nearer to the stage.

 

During the summer of 2012, the staff canteen and some changing areas were expanded and refurbished. From January to May the Box Office area at Door 12 underwent further modernisation to include a new Café Bar on the ground floor, a new Box Office with shop counters, and additional toilets.

 

Upon opening it was renamed 'The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Porch and Foyer.' owing to a large donation from the couple.

 

In Autumn 2013, work began on replacing the Victorian steam heating system over three years and improving and cooling across the building. This work followed the summer Proms season during which temperatures were unusually high.

 

From January the Cafe Consort on the Grand Tier was closed permanently in preparation for a new restaurant at a cost of £1 million. Verdi – Italian Kitchen was officially opened on the 15th. April with a lunch or dinner menu of stone baked pizzas, pasta, and classic desserts.

 

Design of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Hall, a Grade I listed building, is an ellipse in plan, with its external major and minor axis of 272 and 236 feet (83 and 72 meters. The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the Hall is 135 ft (41 m) high.

 

Below the Arena floor there is room for two 4000 gallon water tanks, which are used for shows that flood the arena like Madame Butterfly.

 

The Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people, and has accommodated as many as 12,000 (although present-day safety restrictions mean the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,272, including standing in the Gallery.

 

Around the outside of the building is an 800–foot–long terracotta mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Above the frieze is an inscription in 12-inch-high (30 cm) terracotta letters that combine historical fact and Biblical quotations:

 

"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 twentieth day

of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her

Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year

MDCCCLXXI.

Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the victory and the majesty.

For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is

Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand

of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth

peace".

 

Events at The Royal Albert Hall

 

The first concert at the Hall was Arthur Sullivan's cantata On Shore and Sea, performed on the 1st. May 1871.

 

Many events are promoted by the Hall, and since the early 1970's promoter Raymond Gubbay has brought a range of events to the Hall including opera, ballet and classical music.

 

Events also include rock concerts, conferences, banquets, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, educational talks, motor shows, ballet, opera, film screenings and circus shows.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, squash, table tennis, basketball, wrestling (including the first Sumo wrestling tournament to be held in London) as well as UFC 38 (the first UFC event to be held in the UK), tennis, and even a marathon.

 

The Hall first hosted boxing in 1918, when it hosted a tournament between British and American servicemen. There was a colour bar in place at the Hall, preventing black boxers from fighting there, between 1923 and 1932.

 

Greats of British boxing such as Frank Bruno, Prince Naseem Hamed, Henry Cooper and Lennox Lewis have all appeared at the venue. The Hall's boxing history was halted in 1999 when a court ordered that boxing and wrestling matches could no longer be held at the venue. In 2011 that decision was overturned. In 2019 Nicola Adams won the WBO Flyweight title which was the first fight for a world title at the venue since Marco Antonio Barrera took on Paul Lloyd in 1999.

 

On the 6th. April 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest which was broadcast in colour for the first time. The first Miss World contest broadcast in colour was also staged at the venue in 1969, and remained at the Hall every year until 1989.

 

One notable event was a Pink Floyd concert held on the 26th. June 1969. On that night they were banned from ever playing at the Hall again after shooting cannons, nailing things to the stage, and having a man in a gorilla suit roam the audience.

 

At one point, Rick Wright went to the pipe organ and began to play "The End of the Beginning", the final part of "Saucerful of Secrets", joined by the brass section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (led by the conductor, Norman Smith) and the ladies of the Ealing Central Amateur Choir. A portion of the pipe organ recording is included on Pink Floyd's album The Endless River.

 

On the 18th. June 1985, British Gothic rock band The Sisters of Mercy recorded their live video album Wake at the Hall.

 

Between 1996 and 2008, the Hall hosted the annual National Television Awards, all of which were hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.

 

Benefit concerts include the 1997 Music for Montserrat concert, arranged and produced by George Martin. The event featured artists such as Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney.

 

In 2006, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed at the Hall for the first time since Pink Floyd's 1969 ban. He performed as part of his On an Island Tour. The shows were filmed and used for the live video release, Remember That Night (2007).

 

Rock band The Killers recorded their first live album, Live from the Royal Albert Hall in July 2009.

 

On the 5th. April 2010, Swedish progressive metal band Opeth recorded In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, as they became the first Death metal band ever to perform at the Hall. The concert was part of the band's Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology tour, made in celebration of their 20th. anniversary.

 

In July 2011, Janet Jackson performed three sold-out shows as part of her Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour.

 

On the 2nd. October 2011, the Hall staged the 25th.-anniversary performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which was broadcast live to cinemas across the world and filmed for DVD.

 

Lloyd Webber, the original London cast including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, and four previous actors of the titular character, among others, were in attendance – Brightman and the previous Phantoms (aside from Crawford) performed an encore.

 

On the 22nd. September 2011, Adele performed a one-night-only concert as part of her tour. The concert was filmed for DVD, and screened at cinemas in 26 cities around the world.

 

Her performance debuted at number one in the United States with 96,000 copies sold, the highest one-week tally for a music DVD in four years. After one week, it became the best-selling music DVD of 2011. As of the 28th. November 2012, it had surpassed sales of one million copies in the United States and sales of three million copies worldwide.

 

It was the first music DVD to surpass sales of one million in the USA since the Eagles' Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne in 2005.

 

The 2012 Sunflower Jam charity concert featured Queen guitarist Brian May performing alongside bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple, and vocalists Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper.

 

On the 24th. September 2012, Classic FM celebrated the 20th. anniversary of their launch with a concert at the Hall. The program featured live performances of works by Handel, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky and Karl Jenkins who conducted his piece The Benedictus from The Armed Man.

 

On the 19th. November 2012, the Hall hosted the 100th.-anniversary performance of the Royal Variety Performance, attended by the HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Duke of Edinburgh, with boy-band One Direction among the performers.

 

During his Rattle That Lock Tour, David Gilmour performed at the Royal Albert Hall eleven times between September 2015 and September 2016, once in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

 

On the 13th. November 2015, Canadian musician Devin Townsend recorded his second live album Ziltoid Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

 

Kylie Minogue performed at the Royal Albert Hall on the 11th. December 2015 and the 9th. - 10th. December 2016 as part of her "A Kylie Christmas" concert series.

 

On the 3rd. May 2016, singer-songwriter and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell played at the Hall in what would become the last UK show of his life as part of his "Higher Truth" European tour.

 

Cornell performed stripped-back acoustic renditions from his back-catalogue to rave reviews, including songs from the likes of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and his solo work. Cornell died on the 18th. May 2017.

 

On the 22nd. April 2016, British rock band Bring Me the Horizon performed and recorded their Live at the Royal Albert Hall album, with accompaniment from the Parallax Orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson.

 

At a press conference held at the Hall in October 2016, Phil Collins announced his return to live performing with his Not Dead Yet Tour, which began in June 2017. The tour included five nights at the Hall which sold out in fifteen seconds.

 

In October 2017, American rock band Alter Bridge also recorded a live album accompanied by the Parallax Orchestra with Simon Dobson.

 

Also in 2017, the Hall hosted the 70th. British Academy Film Awards, often referred to as the BAFTAs, for the first time in 20 years, replacing the Royal Opera House at which the event had been held since 2008.

 

In 2018, WWE held its second United Kingdom Championship Tournament on the 18th. and 19th. June.

 

Also in 2018, the world premiere of PlayStation in Concert was organised at the Hall. It featured PlayStation game music from the 1990's up until then. It was arranged by Jim Fowler and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

In May 2019, Mariah Carey performed 3 shows as part of her Caution World Tour. Comedian Bill Burr filmed his 2019 special Paper Tiger at the Hall. In November 2020, One Direction member Niall Horan performed a one off live-streamed show in an empty Hall (during the COVID-19 pandemic) to raise money for charity.

 

Regular Events at the Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Choral Society

 

The Royal Choral Society is the longest-running regular performer at the Hall, having given its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on the 8th. May 1872. From 1876, it established the annual Good Friday performance of Handel's Messiah.

 

BBC Proms

 

The BBC Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, known as "The Proms", is a popular annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts and other events at the Hall.

 

In 1942, following the destruction of the Queen's Hall in an air raid, the Hall was chosen as the new venue for the proms. In 1944 with increased danger to the Hall, part of the proms were held in the Bedford Corn Exchange.

 

Following the end of World War II the proms continued in the Hall, and have done so annually every summer since. The event was founded in 1895, and now each season consists of over 70 concerts, in addition to a series of events at other venues across the United Kingdom on the last night.

 

In 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. Jiří Bělohlávek described The Proms as:

 

"The world's largest and most

democratic musical festival".

 

Proms is a term which arose from the original practice of the audience promenading, or strolling, in some areas during the concert. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes described as "Promenaders", but are most commonly referred to as "Prommers".

 

Tennis

 

Tennis was first played at the Hall in March 1970, and the ATP Champions Tour Masters has been played annually every December since 1997.

 

Classical Spectacular

 

Classical Spectacular, a Raymond Gubbay production, has been coming to the Hall since 1988. It combines popular classical music, lights and special effects.

 

Cirque du Soleil

 

Cirque du Soleil has performed annually, with a show being staged every January, since 2003. Cirque has had to adapt many of their touring shows to perform at the venue, modifying the set, usually built for arenas or big top tents instead.

 

Classic Brit Awards

 

Since 2000, the Classic Brit Awards has been hosted annually in May at the Hall. It is organised by the British Phonographic Industry.

 

Festival of Remembrance

 

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance is held annually the day before Remembrance Sunday.

 

Institute of Directors

 

For 60 years the Institute of Directors' Annual Convention has been synonymous with the Hall, although in 2011 and 2012 it was held at indigO2.

 

The English National Ballet

 

Since 1998 the English National Ballet has had several specially staged arena summer seasons in partnership with the Hall and Raymond Gubbay. These include Strictly Gershwin, June 2008 and 2011, Swan Lake, June 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013, Romeo & Juliet, June 2001 and 2005, and The Sleeping Beauty, April - June 2000.

 

Teenage Cancer Trust

 

Starting in the year 2000 the Teenage Cancer Trust has held annual charity concerts (with the exception of 2001). They started as a one-off event, but have expanded over the years to a week or more of evening events. Roger Daltrey of the Who has been intimately involved with the planning of the events.

 

Graduation Ceremonies

 

The Hall is used annually by the neighbouring Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art for graduation ceremonies. For several years the University of London and Kingston University also held their graduation ceremonies at the Hall.

 

Films, Premières and Live Orchestra Screenings

 

The venue has screened several films since the early silent days. It was the only London venue to show William Fox's The Queen of Sheba in the 1920's.

 

The Hall has hosted many premières, including the UK première of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, 101 Dalmatians on the 4th. December 1996, the European première of Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys of the Western World, and three James Bond royal world premières - Die Another Day on the 18th. November 2002 (attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip), Skyfall on the 23rd. October 2012 (attended by Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall), and Spectre on the 26th. October 2015 (attended by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge).

 

The Hall held the first 3D world première of Titanic 3D, on the 27th. March 2012, with James Cameron and Kate Winslet in attendance.

 

Since 2009, the Hall has also curated regular seasons of English-language film-and-live-orchestra screenings, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Interstellar, The Matrix, West Side Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Back to the Future, Jaws, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the world première of Titanic Live in Concert.

 

The only non-English-language movie to have been screened at the Hall is Baahubali: The Beginning (an Indian movie in Telugu and Tamil, but premiered with the Hindi dubbed version).

 

National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

 

The National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, one of the most prestigious prizes in the annual brass band contesting calendar, holds the Final of the Championship section at the Royal Albert Hall each October.

 

Beyond the Main Stage

 

The Hall hosts hundreds of events and activities beyond its main auditorium. There are regular free art exhibitions in the ground floor Amphi corridor, which can be viewed when attending events or on dedicated viewing dates.

 

Visitors can take a guided tour of the Hall on most days. The most common is the one-hour Grand Tour which includes most front-of-house areas, the auditorium, the Gallery and the Royal Retiring Room.

 

Other tours include Story of the Proms, Behind the Scenes, Inside Out and School tours.

 

Children's events include Storytelling and Music Sessions for ages four and under. These take place in the Door 9 Porch and Albert's Band sessions in the Elgar Room during school holidays.

 

"Live Music in Verdi" takes place in the Italian restaurant on a Friday night featuring different artists each week.

 

"Late Night Jazz" events in the Elgar Room, generally on a Thursday night, feature cabaret-style seating and a relaxed atmosphere with drinks available.

 

"Classical Coffee Mornings" are held on Sundays in the Elgar Room with musicians from the Royal College of Music accompanied with drinks and pastries.

 

Sunday brunch events take place in Verdi Italian restaurant and feature different genres of music.

 

Regular Performers at the Royal Albert Hall

 

Eric Clapton is a regular performer at the Hall. Since 1964, Clapton has performed at the Hall over 200 times, and has stated that performing at the venue is: "Like playing in my front room".

 

In December 1964, Clapton made his first appearance at the Hall with the Yardbirds. It was also the venue for his band Cream's farewell concerts in 1968 and reunion shows in 2005. He also instigated the Concert for George, which was held at the Hall on the 29th. November 2002 to pay tribute to Clapton's lifelong friend, former Beatle George Harrison. Clapton passed 200 shows at the Hall in 2015.

 

David Gilmour played at the Hall in support of two solo albums, while also releasing a live concert on September 2006 entitled Remember That Night which was recorded during his three nights playing at the Hall for his 2006 On an Island tour.

 

Notable guests were Robert Wyatt and David Bowie (who sang lead for "Arnold Layne" and "Comfortably Numb"). The live concert was televised by BBC One on the 9th. September 2007.

 

Gilmour returned to the Hall for four nights in September 2016 (where he was joined on stage by Benedict Cumberbatch for "Comfortably Numb"), having previously played five nights in 2015, to end his 34-day Rattle That Lock Tour. He also made an appearance on the 24th. April 2016 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust event.

 

Shirley Bassey is one of the Hall's most prolific female headline performers, having appeared many times at the Hall since the 1970's. In 2001, she sang "Happy Birthday" for the Duke of Edinburgh's 80th. birthday concert. In 2007, she sang at Fashion Rocks in aid of the Prince's Trust.

 

On the 30th. March 2011, she sang at a gala celebrating the 80th. birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev. In May 2011, she performed at the Classic Brit Awards, singing "Goldfinger" in tribute to the recently deceased composer John Barry. On the 20th. June 2011, she returned and sang "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Goldfinger", accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as the climax to the memorial concert for Barry.

 

James Last appeared 90 times at the Hall between 1973 and 2015, making him the most frequent non–British performer to have played the venue.

 

Education and Outreach Programme

 

The Hall's education and outreach programme engages with more than 200,000 people a year. It includes workshops for local teenagers led by musicians such as Foals, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Nicola Benedetti, Alison Balsom and First Aid Kit, innovative science and maths lessons, visits to local residential homes from the venue's in-house group, Albert's Band, under the 'Songbook' banner, and the Friendship Matinee: an orchestral concert for community groups, with £5 admission.

 

Mis-labellings

 

A famous and widely bootlegged concert by Bob Dylan at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on the 17th. May 1966 was mistakenly labelled the "Royal Albert Hall Concert".

 

In 1998, Columbia Records released an official recording, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. It maintains the erroneous title but does include details of the actual location.

 

Recordings from the Royal Albert Hall concerts on the 26th. and 27th. May 1966 were finally released by the artist in 2016 as The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert.

 

Another concert mislabelled as being at the Hall was by Creedence Clearwater Revival. An album by them entitled The Royal Albert Hall Concert was released in 1980. When Fantasy Records discovered the show on the album actually took place at the Oakland Coliseum, it retitled the album The Concert.

 

Pop Culture References

 

A large mural by Peter Blake, entitled Appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, is displayed in the Hall's Café Bar. Unveiled in April 2014, it shows more than 400 famous figures who have appeared on the stage.

 

In 1955, English film director Alfred Hitchcock filmed the climax of The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Hall. The 15-minute sequence featured James Stewart, Doris Day and composer Bernard Herrmann, and was filmed partly in the Queen's Box.

 

Hitchcock was a long-time patron of the Hall and had already set the finale of his 1927 film, The Ring at the Hall, as well as his initial version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre.

 

Other notable films shot at the Hall include Major Barbara, Love Story, The Seventh Veil, The Ipcress File, A Touch of Class, Shine, and Spice World.

 

In the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, the Albert Hall is mentioned. The verse goes as follows:

 

"I read the news today, oh boy

four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire

and though the holes were rather small

they had to count them all

now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

I'd love to turn you on".

 

The song "Session Man" by The Kinks references the Hall:

 

"He never will forget at all

The day he played at Albert Hall".

 

In the song "Shame" by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, Barlow mentions the Hall in his verse:

 

"I read your mind and tried to call,

my tears could fill the Albert Hall".

 

The Melbourne Glaciarium

 

So what else happened on the day that Ethel posted the card to Nellie?

 

Well, the 9th. June 1906 marked the opening of the Melbourne Glaciarium in City Road, South Melbourne.

 

The Melbourne Glaciarium (also known as the Glaci) was the second indoor ice skating facility built in Australia after the Adelaide Glaciarium.

 

The Glaci hosted the first game of ice hockey played in Australia. At the time the Melbourne Glaciarium was opened, it was the 3rd. largest indoor ice rink in the world.

 

The rink closed in 1957 and was demolished soon after.

 

The Opening of the Melbourne Glaciarium

 

The Melbourne Glaciarium was officially opened at 3:00pm on the 9th. June 1906 with the then-Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sir Henry Weedon attending the opening ceremony.

 

2500 people, invited by the directors, attended the opening of the Glaciarium, where an exhibition of "free skating" was conducted by Professor Brewer.

 

The professor's performance was followed by 50 experienced skaters skating to orchestral music.

 

Later that evening the Glaciarium was opened to the general public and was filled to capacity. There was an exhibition of ice hockey given by Professor Brewer and other instructors.

A still from Baahubali 2: The Conclusion(English: The One with Strong Arms).Actor Prabhas as Mahendra Baahubali and Amarendra Baahubali...

Rajinikanth's Kabali box office collection is Rs 650 crore: 5 Baahubali records it shattered #Kabali, #Baahubali, #Rajinikanth, #Crore, #Box, #Shivaay, #Khan, #Salman, #Earned, #Film #Contfeed

 

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Baahubali bags national feature film in national awards.No telugu film in recent history had this kind of honor.Bahubali team celebrating this award.Well done rajamouli and team.Meanwhile many celebs congratulating rajamouli on this award

  

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2015 has been a great year for tollywood as many movies got hit while Prabhas starrer Baahubali groosed around 610 crores and currently 3rd highest grossing world wide and No1 grosser in Indian boxoffice.Prabhas name went to all over world in many Hollywood websites and Hollywood reviewers ...

 

cinemababu.com/hero-of-the-year-tollywood-baahubali-prabh...

  

www.youtube.com/channel/UCTWHJN4C_SWS-PLPDFt9LDg ift.tt/2gHOOF4 ift.tt/2fB3QQM ift.tt/2gHI89M twitter.com/Bollywoodmoviet ift.tt/2fH2Bzv ift.tt/2gNlWeE ift.tt/2fRKfac ift.tt/2gNcYxQ ift.tt/2fGZ8B8 ift.tt/2gNlLjp "Baahubali 2 ❂ Full Movie Star Cast ❂ By Prabhas | Tamannaah | Anushka-Shetty & Rana-daggubati"-"Baahubali 2 ❂ Full Movie Star Cast ❂ By Prabhas | Tamannaah | Anushka-Shetty" ================================================================================================================== ❉❉❉Please Subscribe & Share And Like Comment Please❉❉❉ bahubali 2 trailer, bahubali 2, baahubali 2 teaser, baahubali 2 songs, bahubali 2 full movie, baahubali 2 latest videos, baahubali 2 theatrical trailer, baahubali 2 first look video, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- baahubali 2 teaser trailer, baahubali 2 latest first look, baahubali 2, baahubali 2 first look, bahubali 2 leaked videos, baahubali 2 af somali, baahubali 2 action, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ baahubali 2 added scenes, bahubali 2 action, baahubali 2 action leaked, baahubali 2 budget, baahubali 2 cast, baahubali 2 clip, baahubali 2 fight, baahubali 2 first look launch, baahubali 2 footage, baahubali 2 news, bahubali 2 new, bahubali 2 new trailer, baahubali 2 sets, bahubali 2 viral, bahubali 2 video clip

It seems no stopping for allu arjun.Movie grossed more than 100 crore gross and 60 crore share and as on now in 5 th place in all time telugu films.

1.baahubali

2.srimanthudu

3.Attarintiki daredi

4.Maghadheera

5.Sarrainodu

 

  

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After baahubali,Srimanthudu bhale bhale magodivoyi is the biggest hit of year withpropfits ratio.Till now this movie grossed 55 crores with a share of 37 crores which is huge with 10 crores budget.In USA it is a big hit by a distributor share and Said to have the film collected nearly Rs.10 ...

 

cinemababu.com/after-baahubali-srimanthudu-bhale-bhale-ma...

Some collections may vary little bit but this is the list of 1st day collection and gross collections

  

Baahubali – upto 73 Cr appx (Telugu, Tamil, Hindi & 10 screen of Malayalam )

  

Lingaa 39 Cr (Tamil & Telugu)

  

Shankar’s ‘I’ upto 36 Cr (Tamil & ...

 

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Baahubali 2 Total Pre Release Business: Here we are with the updated pre release business report of the upcoming magnum opus Baahubali: The Conclusion. With huge expectations coming in from every nook and corner of the country, the post production works of Baahubali 2 are going on at brisk pace....

 

www.reviewrating.org/450-crores-baahubali-2-pre-release-b...

The Postcard

 

A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted on Monday the 15th. February 1909 to:

 

Miss E. Huxtable,

11, Upper Fleet Street,

Swansea,

South Wales.

 

The pencilled message on the divided back was as follows:

 

"Forest Gate,

London E.

Having a very pleasant

time, a whirl of excitement

in London.

Don't know when I shall

return. I will write again.

Hoping you are all well

at home.

Kind regards,

G. Hill."

 

The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272 people.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has been affectionately named "The Nation's Village Hall".

 

Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941.

 

It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium areas.

 

The hall was originally supposed to have been called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed to the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier.

 

History of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1800's

 

In 1851 the Great Exhibition, organised by Prince Albert, was held in Hyde Park, London. The Exhibition was a success, and this led Prince Albert to propose the creation of a group of permanent facilities for the public benefit, which came to be known as Albertopolis.

 

The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House, but it was slow to act, and in 1861 Prince Albert died without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.

 

The proposal was approved, and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. The Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, and built by Lucas Brothers.

 

The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum.

 

The recently opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo.

 

The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red Brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Ltd. of Tamworth.

 

The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was a trial assembly of the dome's iron framework in Manchester; then it was taken apart and transported to London by horse and cart.

 

When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ, only volunteers remained on-site in case the structure collapsed. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch (8 mm).

 

The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870, and Queen Victoria visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.

 

The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on the 29th. March 1871. A welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales because Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak;

 

"Her only recorded comment on the

Hall was that it reminded her of the

British constitution".

 

In the concert that followed, the Hall's acoustic problems immediately became apparent. Engineers first tried to remove the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome. This helped, and also sheltered concert-goers from the sun, but the problem was not solved - it used to be jokingly said:

 

"The Hall is the only place where

a British composer could be sure

of hearing his work twice".

 

In July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from Faust by Charles Gounod; The Orchestra described him as:

 

"An exceptional and distinguished

performer ... the effect was most

marvellous."

 

Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a special system by which thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888. During an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times, declaring it to be:

 

"A very ghastly and unpleasant

innovation".

 

In May 1877, Richard Wagner conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival. After his turn with the baton, he handed it over to conductor Hans Richter and sat in a large armchair on the corner of the stage for the rest of each concert. Wagner's wife Cosima, the daughter of Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt, was among the audience.

 

The Wine Society was founded at the Hall on the 4th. August 1874, after large quantities of cask wine were found in the cellars. A series of lunches were held to publicise the wines, and General Henry Scott proposed a co-operative company to buy and sell wines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1900's

 

In 1906 Elsie Fogerty founded the Central School of Speech and Drama at the Hall, using its West Theatre, now the Elgar Room. The school moved to Swiss Cottage in north London in 1957. Whilst the school was based at the Royal Albert Hall, students who graduated from its classes included Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Harold Pinter, Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft.

 

In 1911 Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff performed at the Hall. The recital included his 'Prelude in C-sharp minor' and 'Elegie in E-flat minor'.

 

In 1933 German physicist Albert Einstein led the 'Einstein Meeting' at the hall for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, a British charity.

 

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire on the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.

 

In October 1942, the Hall suffered minor damage during World War II bombing, but in general was left mostly untouched as German pilots used the distinctive structure as a landmark.

 

In 1949 the canvas awning was removed and replaced with fluted aluminium panels below the glass roof, in a new attempt to cure the echo. However the acoustics were not properly tackled until 1969 when large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed below the ceiling.

 

In 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, and from 1969–1988 the Miss World contest was staged at the venue.

 

In 1995, Greek keyboardist Yanni performed a concert there for his World Tour; the concert was recorded under the name of Live at Royal Albert Hall.

 

From 1996 until 2004, the Hall underwent a programme of renovation and development supported by a £20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £20m from Arts Council England to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances.

 

Thirty "discreet projects" were designed and supervised by the architecture and engineering firm BDP without disrupting events. These projects included improved ventilation to the auditorium, more bars and restaurants, improved seating, better technical facilities, and improved backstage areas. Internally, the Circle seating was rebuilt during June 1996 to provide more legroom, better access, and improved sightlines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2000's

 

The largest project of the ongoing renovation and development was the building of a new south porch – door 12, accommodating a first-floor restaurant, a new ground floor box office and a below-ground loading bay.

 

Although the exterior of the building was largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow the construction of underground vehicle access and a loading bay with accommodation for three HGVs carrying all the equipment brought by shows.

 

The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch, named The Meitar Foyer after a significant donation from Mr & Mrs Meitar. The porch was built on a similar scale and style to the three pre-existing porches at Doors 3, 6 and 9: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow.

 

The original steps featured in the early scenes of the 1965 film The Ipcress File. On the 4th. June 2004, the project received the Europa Nostra Award for remarkable achievement.

 

The East (Door 3) and West (Door 9) porches were glazed, and new bars opened along with ramps to improve disabled access. The Stalls were rebuilt in a four-week period in 2000 using steel supports, thereby allowing more space underneath for two new bars.

 

1,534 unique pivoting seats were installed, with an addition of 180 prime seats. The Choirs were rebuilt at the same time.

 

The whole building was redecorated in a style that reinforces its Victorian identity. 43,000 sq. ft (4,000 m2) of new carpets were laid in the rooms, stairs, and corridors – specially woven with a border that follows the oval curve of the building.

 

Between 2002 and 2004, there was a major rebuilding of the great organ (known as the Voice of Jupiter), built by "Father" Henry Willis in 1871 and rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison in 1924 and 1933.

 

The rebuilding was performed by Mander Organs, and it is now the second-largest pipe organ in the British Isles with 9,997 pipes in 147 stops. The largest is the Grand Organ in Liverpool Cathedral which has 10,268 pipes.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2010's

 

During the first half of 2011, changes were made to the backstage areas in order to relocate and increase the size of crew catering areas under the South Steps away from the stage and to create additional dressing rooms nearer to the stage.

 

During the summer of 2012, the staff canteen and some changing areas were expanded and refurbished. From January to May the Box Office area at Door 12 underwent further modernisation to include a new Café Bar on the ground floor, a new Box Office with shop counters, and additional toilets.

 

Upon opening it was renamed 'The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Porch and Foyer.' owing to a large donation from the couple.

 

In Autumn 2013, work began on replacing the Victorian steam heating system over three years and improving and cooling across the building. This work followed the summer Proms season during which temperatures were unusually high.

 

From January the Cafe Consort on the Grand Tier was closed permanently in preparation for a new restaurant at a cost of £1 million. Verdi – Italian Kitchen was officially opened on the 15th. April with a lunch or dinner menu of stone baked pizzas, pasta, and classic desserts.

 

Design of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Hall, a Grade I listed building, is an ellipse in plan, with its external major and minor axis of 272 and 236 feet (83 and 72 meters. The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the Hall is 135 ft (41 m) high.

 

Below the Arena floor there is room for two 4000 gallon water tanks, which are used for shows that flood the arena like Madame Butterfly.

 

The Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people, and has accommodated as many as 12,000 (although present-day safety restrictions mean the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,272, including standing in the Gallery.

 

Around the outside of the building is an 800–foot–long terracotta mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Above the frieze is an inscription in 12-inch-high (30 cm) terracotta letters that combine historical fact and Biblical quotations:

 

"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 twentieth day

of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her

Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year

MDCCCLXXI.

Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the victory and the majesty.

For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is

Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand

of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth

peace".

 

Events at The Royal Albert Hall

 

The first concert at the Hall was Arthur Sullivan's cantata On Shore and Sea, performed on the 1st. May 1871.

 

Many events are promoted by the Hall, and since the early 1970's promoter Raymond Gubbay has brought a range of events to the Hall including opera, ballet and classical music.

 

Events also include rock concerts, conferences, banquets, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, educational talks, motor shows, ballet, opera, film screenings and circus shows.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, squash, table tennis, basketball, wrestling (including the first Sumo wrestling tournament to be held in London) as well as UFC 38 (the first UFC event to be held in the UK), tennis, and even a marathon.

 

The Hall first hosted boxing in 1918, when it hosted a tournament between British and American servicemen. There was a colour bar in place at the Hall, preventing black boxers from fighting there, between 1923 and 1932.

 

Greats of British boxing such as Frank Bruno, Prince Naseem Hamed, Henry Cooper and Lennox Lewis have all appeared at the venue. The Hall's boxing history was halted in 1999 when a court ordered that boxing and wrestling matches could no longer be held at the venue. In 2011 that decision was overturned. In 2019 Nicola Adams won the WBO Flyweight title which was the first fight for a world title at the venue since Marco Antonio Barrera took on Paul Lloyd in 1999.

 

On the 6th. April 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest which was broadcast in colour for the first time. The first Miss World contest broadcast in colour was also staged at the venue in 1969, and remained at the Hall every year until 1989.

 

One notable event was a Pink Floyd concert held on the 26th. June 1969. On that night they were banned from ever playing at the Hall again after shooting cannons, nailing things to the stage, and having a man in a gorilla suit roam the audience.

 

At one point, Rick Wright went to the pipe organ and began to play "The End of the Beginning", the final part of "Saucerful of Secrets", joined by the brass section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (led by the conductor, Norman Smith) and the ladies of the Ealing Central Amateur Choir. A portion of the pipe organ recording is included on Pink Floyd's album The Endless River.

 

On the 18th. June 1985, British Gothic rock band The Sisters of Mercy recorded their live video album Wake at the Hall.

 

Between 1996 and 2008, the Hall hosted the annual National Television Awards, all of which were hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.

 

Benefit concerts include the 1997 Music for Montserrat concert, arranged and produced by George Martin. The event featured artists such as Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney.

 

In 2006, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed at the Hall for the first time since Pink Floyd's 1969 ban. He performed as part of his On an Island Tour. The shows were filmed and used for the live video release, Remember That Night (2007).

 

Rock band The Killers recorded their first live album, Live from the Royal Albert Hall in July 2009.

 

On the 5th. April 2010, Swedish progressive metal band Opeth recorded In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, as they became the first Death metal band ever to perform at the Hall. The concert was part of the band's Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology tour, made in celebration of their 20th. anniversary.

 

In July 2011, Janet Jackson performed three sold-out shows as part of her Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour.

 

On the 2nd. October 2011, the Hall staged the 25th.-anniversary performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which was broadcast live to cinemas across the world and filmed for DVD.

 

Lloyd Webber, the original London cast including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, and four previous actors of the titular character, among others, were in attendance – Brightman and the previous Phantoms (aside from Crawford) performed an encore.

 

On the 22nd. September 2011, Adele performed a one-night-only concert as part of her tour. The concert was filmed for DVD, and screened at cinemas in 26 cities around the world.

 

Her performance debuted at number one in the United States with 96,000 copies sold, the highest one-week tally for a music DVD in four years. After one week, it became the best-selling music DVD of 2011. As of the 28th. November 2012, it had surpassed sales of one million copies in the United States and sales of three million copies worldwide.

 

It was the first music DVD to surpass sales of one million in the USA since the Eagles' Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne in 2005.

 

The 2012 Sunflower Jam charity concert featured Queen guitarist Brian May performing alongside bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple, and vocalists Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper.

 

On the 24th. September 2012, Classic FM celebrated the 20th. anniversary of their launch with a concert at the Hall. The program featured live performances of works by Handel, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky and Karl Jenkins who conducted his piece The Benedictus from The Armed Man.

 

On the 19th. November 2012, the Hall hosted the 100th.-anniversary performance of the Royal Variety Performance, attended by the HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Duke of Edinburgh, with boy-band One Direction among the performers.

 

During his Rattle That Lock Tour, David Gilmour performed at the Royal Albert Hall eleven times between September 2015 and September 2016, once in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

 

On the 13th. November 2015, Canadian musician Devin Townsend recorded his second live album Ziltoid Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

 

Kylie Minogue performed at the Royal Albert Hall on the 11th. December 2015 and the 9th. - 10th. December 2016 as part of her "A Kylie Christmas" concert series.

 

On the 3rd. May 2016, singer-songwriter and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell played at the Hall in what would become the last UK show of his life as part of his "Higher Truth" European tour.

 

Cornell performed stripped-back acoustic renditions from his back-catalogue to rave reviews, including songs from the likes of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and his solo work. Cornell died on the 18th. May 2017.

 

On the 22nd. April 2016, British rock band Bring Me the Horizon performed and recorded their Live at the Royal Albert Hall album, with accompaniment from the Parallax Orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson.

 

At a press conference held at the Hall in October 2016, Phil Collins announced his return to live performing with his Not Dead Yet Tour, which began in June 2017. The tour included five nights at the Hall which sold out in fifteen seconds.

 

In October 2017, American rock band Alter Bridge also recorded a live album accompanied by the Parallax Orchestra with Simon Dobson.

 

Also in 2017, the Hall hosted the 70th. British Academy Film Awards, often referred to as the BAFTAs, for the first time in 20 years, replacing the Royal Opera House at which the event had been held since 2008.

 

In 2018, WWE held its second United Kingdom Championship Tournament on the 18th. and 19th. June.

 

Also in 2018, the world premiere of PlayStation in Concert was organised at the Hall. It featured PlayStation game music from the 1990's up until then. It was arranged by Jim Fowler and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

In May 2019, Mariah Carey performed 3 shows as part of her Caution World Tour. Comedian Bill Burr filmed his 2019 special Paper Tiger at the Hall. In November 2020, One Direction member Niall Horan performed a one off live-streamed show in an empty Hall (during the COVID-19 pandemic) to raise money for charity.

 

Regular Events at the Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Choral Society

 

The Royal Choral Society is the longest-running regular performer at the Hall, having given its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on the 8th. May 1872. From 1876, it established the annual Good Friday performance of Handel's Messiah.

 

BBC Proms

 

The BBC Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, known as "The Proms", is a popular annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts and other events at the Hall.

 

In 1942, following the destruction of the Queen's Hall in an air raid, the Hall was chosen as the new venue for the proms. In 1944 with increased danger to the Hall, part of the proms were held in the Bedford Corn Exchange.

 

Following the end of World War II the proms continued in the Hall, and have done so annually every summer since. The event was founded in 1895, and now each season consists of over 70 concerts, in addition to a series of events at other venues across the United Kingdom on the last night.

 

In 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. Jiří Bělohlávek described The Proms as:

 

"The world's largest and most

democratic musical festival".

 

Proms is a term which arose from the original practice of the audience promenading, or strolling, in some areas during the concert. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes described as "Promenaders", but are most commonly referred to as "Prommers".

 

Tennis

 

Tennis was first played at the Hall in March 1970, and the ATP Champions Tour Masters has been played annually every December since 1997.

 

Classical Spectacular

 

Classical Spectacular, a Raymond Gubbay production, has been coming to the Hall since 1988. It combines popular classical music, lights and special effects.

 

Cirque du Soleil

 

Cirque du Soleil has performed annually, with a show being staged every January, since 2003. Cirque has had to adapt many of their touring shows to perform at the venue, modifying the set, usually built for arenas or big top tents instead.

 

Classic Brit Awards

 

Since 2000, the Classic Brit Awards has been hosted annually in May at the Hall. It is organised by the British Phonographic Industry.

 

Festival of Remembrance

 

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance is held annually the day before Remembrance Sunday.

 

Institute of Directors

 

For 60 years the Institute of Directors' Annual Convention has been synonymous with the Hall, although in 2011 and 2012 it was held at indigO2.

 

The English National Ballet

 

Since 1998 the English National Ballet has had several specially staged arena summer seasons in partnership with the Hall and Raymond Gubbay. These include Strictly Gershwin, June 2008 and 2011, Swan Lake, June 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013, Romeo & Juliet, June 2001 and 2005, and The Sleeping Beauty, April - June 2000.

 

Teenage Cancer Trust

 

Starting in the year 2000 the Teenage Cancer Trust has held annual charity concerts (with the exception of 2001). They started as a one-off event, but have expanded over the years to a week or more of evening events. Roger Daltrey of the Who has been intimately involved with the planning of the events.

 

Graduation Ceremonies

 

The Hall is used annually by the neighbouring Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art for graduation ceremonies. For several years the University of London and Kingston University also held their graduation ceremonies at the Hall.

 

Films, Premières and Live Orchestra Screenings

 

The venue has screened several films since the early silent days. It was the only London venue to show William Fox's The Queen of Sheba in the 1920's.

 

The Hall has hosted many premières, including the UK première of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, 101 Dalmatians on the 4th. December 1996, the European première of Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys of the Western World, and three James Bond royal world premières - Die Another Day on the 18th. November 2002 (attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip), Skyfall on the 23rd. October 2012 (attended by Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall), and Spectre on the 26th. October 2015 (attended by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge).

 

The Hall held the first 3D world première of Titanic 3D, on the 27th. March 2012, with James Cameron and Kate Winslet in attendance.

 

Since 2009, the Hall has also curated regular seasons of English-language film-and-live-orchestra screenings, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Interstellar, The Matrix, West Side Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Back to the Future, Jaws, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the world première of Titanic Live in Concert.

 

The only non-English-language movie to have been screened at the Hall is Baahubali: The Beginning (an Indian movie in Telugu and Tamil, but premiered with the Hindi dubbed version).

 

National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

 

The National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, one of the most prestigious prizes in the annual brass band contesting calendar, holds the Final of the Championship section at the Royal Albert Hall each October.

 

Beyond the Main Stage

 

The Hall hosts hundreds of events and activities beyond its main auditorium. There are regular free art exhibitions in the ground floor Amphi corridor, which can be viewed when attending events or on dedicated viewing dates.

 

Visitors can take a guided tour of the Hall on most days. The most common is the one-hour Grand Tour which includes most front-of-house areas, the auditorium, the Gallery and the Royal Retiring Room.

 

Other tours include Story of the Proms, Behind the Scenes, Inside Out and School tours.

 

Children's events include Storytelling and Music Sessions for ages four and under. These take place in the Door 9 Porch and Albert's Band sessions in the Elgar Room during school holidays.

 

"Live Music in Verdi" takes place in the Italian restaurant on a Friday night featuring different artists each week.

 

"Late Night Jazz" events in the Elgar Room, generally on a Thursday night, feature cabaret-style seating and a relaxed atmosphere with drinks available.

 

"Classical Coffee Mornings" are held on Sundays in the Elgar Room with musicians from the Royal College of Music accompanied with drinks and pastries.

 

Sunday brunch events take place in Verdi Italian restaurant and feature different genres of music.

 

Regular Performers at the Royal Albert Hall

 

Eric Clapton is a regular performer at the Hall. Since 1964, Clapton has performed at the Hall over 200 times, and has stated that performing at the venue is: "Like playing in my front room".

 

In December 1964, Clapton made his first appearance at the Hall with the Yardbirds. It was also the venue for his band Cream's farewell concerts in 1968 and reunion shows in 2005. He also instigated the Concert for George, which was held at the Hall on the 29th. November 2002 to pay tribute to Clapton's lifelong friend, former Beatle George Harrison. Clapton passed 200 shows at the Hall in 2015.

 

David Gilmour played at the Hall in support of two solo albums, while also releasing a live concert on September 2006 entitled Remember That Night which was recorded during his three nights playing at the Hall for his 2006 On an Island tour.

 

Notable guests were Robert Wyatt and David Bowie (who sang lead for "Arnold Layne" and "Comfortably Numb"). The live concert was televised by BBC One on the 9th. September 2007.

 

Gilmour returned to the Hall for four nights in September 2016 (where he was joined on stage by Benedict Cumberbatch for "Comfortably Numb"), having previously played five nights in 2015, to end his 34-day Rattle That Lock Tour. He also made an appearance on the 24th. April 2016 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust event.

 

Shirley Bassey is one of the Hall's most prolific female headline performers, having appeared many times at the Hall since the 1970's. In 2001, she sang "Happy Birthday" for the Duke of Edinburgh's 80th. birthday concert. In 2007, she sang at Fashion Rocks in aid of the Prince's Trust.

 

On the 30th. March 2011, she sang at a gala celebrating the 80th. birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev. In May 2011, she performed at the Classic Brit Awards, singing "Goldfinger" in tribute to the recently deceased composer John Barry. On the 20th. June 2011, she returned and sang "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Goldfinger", accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as the climax to the memorial concert for Barry.

 

James Last appeared 90 times at the Hall between 1973 and 2015, making him the most frequent non–British performer to have played the venue.

 

Education and Outreach Programme

 

The Hall's education and outreach programme engages with more than 200,000 people a year. It includes workshops for local teenagers led by musicians such as Foals, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Nicola Benedetti, Alison Balsom and First Aid Kit, innovative science and maths lessons, visits to local residential homes from the venue's in-house group, Albert's Band, under the 'Songbook' banner, and the Friendship Matinee: an orchestral concert for community groups, with £5 admission.

 

Mis-labellings

 

A famous and widely bootlegged concert by Bob Dylan at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on the 17th. May 1966 was mistakenly labelled the "Royal Albert Hall Concert".

 

In 1998, Columbia Records released an official recording, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. It maintains the erroneous title but does include details of the actual location.

 

Recordings from the Royal Albert Hall concerts on the 26th. and 27th. May 1966 were finally released by the artist in 2016 as The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert.

 

Another concert mislabelled as being at the Hall was by Creedence Clearwater Revival. An album by them entitled The Royal Albert Hall Concert was released in 1980. When Fantasy Records discovered the show on the album actually took place at the Oakland Coliseum, it retitled the album The Concert.

 

Pop Culture References

 

A large mural by Peter Blake, entitled Appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, is displayed in the Hall's Café Bar. Unveiled in April 2014, it shows more than 400 famous figures who have appeared on the stage.

 

In 1955, English film director Alfred Hitchcock filmed the climax of The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Hall. The 15-minute sequence featured James Stewart, Doris Day and composer Bernard Herrmann, and was filmed partly in the Queen's Box.

 

Hitchcock was a long-time patron of the Hall and had already set the finale of his 1927 film, The Ring at the Hall, as well as his initial version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre.

 

Other notable films shot at the Hall include Major Barbara, Love Story, The Seventh Veil, The Ipcress File, A Touch of Class, Shine, and Spice World.

 

In the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, the Albert Hall is mentioned. The verse goes as follows:

 

"I read the news today, oh boy

four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire

and though the holes were rather small

they had to count them all

now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

I'd love to turn you on".

 

The song "Session Man" by The Kinks references the Hall:

 

"He never will forget at all

The day he played at Albert Hall".

 

In the song "Shame" by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, Barlow mentions the Hall in his verse:

 

"I read your mind and tried to call,

my tears could fill the Albert Hall".

 

Arizona and New Mexico

 

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

 

Well, on the 15th. February 1909, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill for statehood for the territories of Arizona and New Mexico.

 

The Senate Territories Committee tabled the bill on the 27th. February 1909 after Minnesota's Senator Knute Nelson charged that New Mexican officials were corrupt. The two states were admitted in 1912.

 

The Arizona Rangers

 

Also on that day, the Arizona Territorial Legislature voted to abolish the eight-year old Arizona Rangers, a law enforcement body modeled after the Texas Rangers.

 

Since the creation of the Arizona Rangers on the 13th. March 1901, 107 men had served as Rangers.

 

Miep Gies

 

The 15th. February 1909 also marked the birth in Vienna of Miep Gies.

 

Miep was an Austrian-born Dutch humanitarian who helped hide Anne Frank and preserved her diary. Miep died in 2010.

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The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard that was published by C. W. Faulkner & Co. of London E.C. The card was printed in Germany.

 

Although the card was not posted, someone has written the following on the divided back:

 

"Dear Mary,

Thank you very much.

From M. Arnold.

22-8-05."

 

The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272 people.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has been affectionately named "The Nation's Village Hall".

 

Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941.

 

It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium areas.

 

The hall was originally supposed to have been called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed to the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier.

 

History of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1800's

 

In 1851 the Great Exhibition, organised by Prince Albert, was held in Hyde Park, London. The Exhibition was a success, and this led Prince Albert to propose the creation of a group of permanent facilities for the public benefit, which came to be known as Albertopolis.

 

The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House, but it was slow to act, and in 1861 Prince Albert died without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.

 

The proposal was approved, and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. The Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, and built by Lucas Brothers.

 

The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum.

 

The recently opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo.

 

The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red Brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Ltd. of Tamworth.

 

The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was a trial assembly of the dome's iron framework in Manchester; then it was taken apart and transported to London by horse and cart.

 

When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ, only volunteers remained on-site in case the structure collapsed. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch (8 mm).

 

The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870, and Queen Victoria visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.

 

The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on the 29th. March 1871. A welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales because Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak;

 

"Her only recorded comment on the

Hall was that it reminded her of the

British constitution".

 

In the concert that followed, the Hall's acoustic problems immediately became apparent. Engineers first tried to remove the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome. This helped, and also sheltered concert-goers from the sun, but the problem was not solved - it used to be jokingly said:

 

"The Hall is the only place where

a British composer could be sure

of hearing his work twice".

 

In July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from Faust by Charles Gounod; The Orchestra described him as:

 

"An exceptional and distinguished

performer ... the effect was most

marvellous."

 

Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a special system by which thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888. During an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times, declaring it to be:

 

"A very ghastly and unpleasant

innovation".

 

In May 1877, Richard Wagner conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival. After his turn with the baton, he handed it over to conductor Hans Richter and sat in a large armchair on the corner of the stage for the rest of each concert. Wagner's wife Cosima, the daughter of Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt, was among the audience.

 

The Wine Society was founded at the Hall on the 4th. August 1874, after large quantities of cask wine were found in the cellars. A series of lunches were held to publicise the wines, and General Henry Scott proposed a co-operative company to buy and sell wines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1900's

 

In 1906 Elsie Fogerty founded the Central School of Speech and Drama at the Hall, using its West Theatre, now the Elgar Room. The school moved to Swiss Cottage in north London in 1957. Whilst the school was based at the Royal Albert Hall, students who graduated from its classes included Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Harold Pinter, Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft.

 

In 1911 Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff performed at the Hall. The recital included his 'Prelude in C-sharp minor' and 'Elegie in E-flat minor'.

 

In 1933 German physicist Albert Einstein led the 'Einstein Meeting' at the hall for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, a British charity.

 

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire on the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.

 

In October 1942, the Hall suffered minor damage during World War II bombing, but in general was left mostly untouched as German pilots used the distinctive structure as a landmark.

 

In 1949 the canvas awning was removed and replaced with fluted aluminium panels below the glass roof, in a new attempt to cure the echo. However the acoustics were not properly tackled until 1969 when large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed below the ceiling.

 

In 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, and from 1969–1988 the Miss World contest was staged at the venue.

 

In 1995, Greek keyboardist Yanni performed a concert there for his World Tour; the concert was recorded under the name of Live at Royal Albert Hall.

 

From 1996 until 2004, the Hall underwent a programme of renovation and development supported by a £20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £20m from Arts Council England to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances.

 

Thirty "discreet projects" were designed and supervised by the architecture and engineering firm BDP without disrupting events. These projects included improved ventilation to the auditorium, more bars and restaurants, improved seating, better technical facilities, and improved backstage areas. Internally, the Circle seating was rebuilt during June 1996 to provide more legroom, better access, and improved sightlines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2000's

 

The largest project of the ongoing renovation and development was the building of a new south porch – door 12, accommodating a first-floor restaurant, a new ground floor box office and a below-ground loading bay.

 

Although the exterior of the building was largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow the construction of underground vehicle access and a loading bay with accommodation for three HGVs carrying all the equipment brought by shows.

 

The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch, named The Meitar Foyer after a significant donation from Mr & Mrs Meitar. The porch was built on a similar scale and style to the three pre-existing porches at Doors 3, 6 and 9: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow.

 

The original steps featured in the early scenes of the 1965 film The Ipcress File. On the 4th. June 2004, the project received the Europa Nostra Award for remarkable achievement.

 

The East (Door 3) and West (Door 9) porches were glazed, and new bars opened along with ramps to improve disabled access. The Stalls were rebuilt in a four-week period in 2000 using steel supports, thereby allowing more space underneath for two new bars.

 

1,534 unique pivoting seats were installed, with an addition of 180 prime seats. The Choirs were rebuilt at the same time.

 

The whole building was redecorated in a style that reinforces its Victorian identity. 43,000 sq. ft (4,000 m2) of new carpets were laid in the rooms, stairs, and corridors – specially woven with a border that follows the oval curve of the building.

 

Between 2002 and 2004, there was a major rebuilding of the great organ (known as the Voice of Jupiter), built by "Father" Henry Willis in 1871 and rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison in 1924 and 1933.

 

The rebuilding was performed by Mander Organs, and it is now the second-largest pipe organ in the British Isles with 9,997 pipes in 147 stops. The largest is the Grand Organ in Liverpool Cathedral which has 10,268 pipes.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2010's

 

During the first half of 2011, changes were made to the backstage areas in order to relocate and increase the size of crew catering areas under the South Steps away from the stage and to create additional dressing rooms nearer to the stage.

 

During the summer of 2012, the staff canteen and some changing areas were expanded and refurbished. From January to May the Box Office area at Door 12 underwent further modernisation to include a new Café Bar on the ground floor, a new Box Office with shop counters, and additional toilets.

 

Upon opening it was renamed 'The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Porch and Foyer.' owing to a large donation from the couple.

 

In Autumn 2013, work began on replacing the Victorian steam heating system over three years and improving and cooling across the building. This work followed the summer Proms season during which temperatures were unusually high.

 

From January the Cafe Consort on the Grand Tier was closed permanently in preparation for a new restaurant at a cost of £1 million. Verdi – Italian Kitchen was officially opened on the 15th. April with a lunch or dinner menu of stone baked pizzas, pasta, and classic desserts.

 

Design of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Hall, a Grade I listed building, is an ellipse in plan, with its external major and minor axis of 272 and 236 feet (83 and 72 meters. The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the Hall is 135 ft (41 m) high.

 

Below the Arena floor there is room for two 4000 gallon water tanks, which are used for shows that flood the arena like Madame Butterfly.

 

The Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people, and has accommodated as many as 12,000 (although present-day safety restrictions mean the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,272, including standing in the Gallery.

 

Around the outside of the building is an 800–foot–long terracotta mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Above the frieze is an inscription in 12-inch-high (30 cm) terracotta letters that combine historical fact and Biblical quotations:

 

"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 twentieth day

of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her

Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year

MDCCCLXXI.

Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the victory and the majesty.

For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is

Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand

of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth

peace".

 

Events at The Royal Albert Hall

 

The first concert at the Hall was Arthur Sullivan's cantata On Shore and Sea, performed on the 1st. May 1871.

 

Many events are promoted by the Hall, and since the early 1970's promoter Raymond Gubbay has brought a range of events to the Hall including opera, ballet and classical music.

 

Events also include rock concerts, conferences, banquets, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, educational talks, motor shows, ballet, opera, film screenings and circus shows.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, squash, table tennis, basketball, wrestling (including the first Sumo wrestling tournament to be held in London) as well as UFC 38 (the first UFC event to be held in the UK), tennis, and even a marathon.

 

The Hall first hosted boxing in 1918, when it hosted a tournament between British and American servicemen. There was a colour bar in place at the Hall, preventing black boxers from fighting there, between 1923 and 1932.

 

Greats of British boxing such as Frank Bruno, Prince Naseem Hamed, Henry Cooper and Lennox Lewis have all appeared at the venue. The Hall's boxing history was halted in 1999 when a court ordered that boxing and wrestling matches could no longer be held at the venue. In 2011 that decision was overturned. In 2019 Nicola Adams won the WBO Flyweight title which was the first fight for a world title at the venue since Marco Antonio Barrera took on Paul Lloyd in 1999.

 

On the 6th. April 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest which was broadcast in colour for the first time. The first Miss World contest broadcast in colour was also staged at the venue in 1969, and remained at the Hall every year until 1989.

 

One notable event was a Pink Floyd concert held on the 26th. June 1969. On that night they were banned from ever playing at the Hall again after shooting cannons, nailing things to the stage, and having a man in a gorilla suit roam the audience.

 

At one point, Rick Wright went to the pipe organ and began to play "The End of the Beginning", the final part of "Saucerful of Secrets", joined by the brass section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (led by the conductor, Norman Smith) and the ladies of the Ealing Central Amateur Choir. A portion of the pipe organ recording is included on Pink Floyd's album The Endless River.

 

On the 18th. June 1985, British Gothic rock band The Sisters of Mercy recorded their live video album Wake at the Hall.

 

Between 1996 and 2008, the Hall hosted the annual National Television Awards, all of which were hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.

 

Benefit concerts include the 1997 Music for Montserrat concert, arranged and produced by George Martin. The event featured artists such as Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney.

 

In 2006, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed at the Hall for the first time since Pink Floyd's 1969 ban. He performed as part of his On an Island Tour. The shows were filmed and used for the live video release, Remember That Night (2007).

 

Rock band The Killers recorded their first live album, Live from the Royal Albert Hall in July 2009.

 

On the 5th. April 2010, Swedish progressive metal band Opeth recorded In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, as they became the first Death metal band ever to perform at the Hall. The concert was part of the band's Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology tour, made in celebration of their 20th. anniversary.

 

In July 2011, Janet Jackson performed three sold-out shows as part of her Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour.

 

On the 2nd. October 2011, the Hall staged the 25th.-anniversary performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which was broadcast live to cinemas across the world and filmed for DVD.

 

Lloyd Webber, the original London cast including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, and four previous actors of the titular character, among others, were in attendance – Brightman and the previous Phantoms (aside from Crawford) performed an encore.

 

On the 22nd. September 2011, Adele performed a one-night-only concert as part of her tour. The concert was filmed for DVD, and screened at cinemas in 26 cities around the world.

 

Her performance debuted at number one in the United States with 96,000 copies sold, the highest one-week tally for a music DVD in four years. After one week, it became the best-selling music DVD of 2011. As of the 28th. November 2012, it had surpassed sales of one million copies in the United States and sales of three million copies worldwide.

 

It was the first music DVD to surpass sales of one million in the USA since the Eagles' Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne in 2005.

 

The 2012 Sunflower Jam charity concert featured Queen guitarist Brian May performing alongside bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple, and vocalists Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper.

 

On the 24th. September 2012, Classic FM celebrated the 20th. anniversary of their launch with a concert at the Hall. The program featured live performances of works by Handel, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky and Karl Jenkins who conducted his piece The Benedictus from The Armed Man.

 

On the 19th. November 2012, the Hall hosted the 100th.-anniversary performance of the Royal Variety Performance, attended by the HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Duke of Edinburgh, with boy-band One Direction among the performers.

 

During his Rattle That Lock Tour, David Gilmour performed at the Royal Albert Hall eleven times between September 2015 and September 2016, once in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

 

On the 13th. November 2015, Canadian musician Devin Townsend recorded his second live album Ziltoid Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

 

Kylie Minogue performed at the Royal Albert Hall on the 11th. December 2015 and the 9th. - 10th. December 2016 as part of her "A Kylie Christmas" concert series.

 

On the 3rd. May 2016, singer-songwriter and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell played at the Hall in what would become the last UK show of his life as part of his "Higher Truth" European tour.

 

Cornell performed stripped-back acoustic renditions from his back-catalogue to rave reviews, including songs from the likes of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and his solo work. Cornell died on the 18th. May 2017.

 

On the 22nd. April 2016, British rock band Bring Me the Horizon performed and recorded their Live at the Royal Albert Hall album, with accompaniment from the Parallax Orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson.

 

At a press conference held at the Hall in October 2016, Phil Collins announced his return to live performing with his Not Dead Yet Tour, which began in June 2017. The tour included five nights at the Hall which sold out in fifteen seconds.

 

In October 2017, American rock band Alter Bridge also recorded a live album accompanied by the Parallax Orchestra with Simon Dobson.

 

Also in 2017, the Hall hosted the 70th. British Academy Film Awards, often referred to as the BAFTAs, for the first time in 20 years, replacing the Royal Opera House at which the event had been held since 2008.

 

In 2018, WWE held its second United Kingdom Championship Tournament on the 18th. and 19th. June.

 

Also in 2018, the world premiere of PlayStation in Concert was organised at the Hall. It featured PlayStation game music from the 1990's up until then. It was arranged by Jim Fowler and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

In May 2019, Mariah Carey performed 3 shows as part of her Caution World Tour. Comedian Bill Burr filmed his 2019 special Paper Tiger at the Hall. In November 2020, One Direction member Niall Horan performed a one off live-streamed show in an empty Hall (during the COVID-19 pandemic) to raise money for charity.

 

Regular Events at the Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Choral Society

 

The Royal Choral Society is the longest-running regular performer at the Hall, having given its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on the 8th. May 1872. From 1876, it established the annual Good Friday performance of Handel's Messiah.

 

BBC Proms

 

The BBC Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, known as "The Proms", is a popular annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts and other events at the Hall.

 

In 1942, following the destruction of the Queen's Hall in an air raid, the Hall was chosen as the new venue for the proms. In 1944 with increased danger to the Hall, part of the proms were held in the Bedford Corn Exchange.

 

Following the end of World War II the proms continued in the Hall, and have done so annually every summer since. The event was founded in 1895, and now each season consists of over 70 concerts, in addition to a series of events at other venues across the United Kingdom on the last night.

 

In 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. Jiří Bělohlávek described The Proms as:

 

"The world's largest and most

democratic musical festival".

 

Proms is a term which arose from the original practice of the audience promenading, or strolling, in some areas during the concert. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes described as "Promenaders", but are most commonly referred to as "Prommers".

 

Tennis

 

Tennis was first played at the Hall in March 1970, and the ATP Champions Tour Masters has been played annually every December since 1997.

 

Classical Spectacular

 

Classical Spectacular, a Raymond Gubbay production, has been coming to the Hall since 1988. It combines popular classical music, lights and special effects.

 

Cirque du Soleil

 

Cirque du Soleil has performed annually, with a show being staged every January, since 2003. Cirque has had to adapt many of their touring shows to perform at the venue, modifying the set, usually built for arenas or big top tents instead.

 

Classic Brit Awards

 

Since 2000, the Classic Brit Awards has been hosted annually in May at the Hall. It is organised by the British Phonographic Industry.

 

Festival of Remembrance

 

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance is held annually the day before Remembrance Sunday.

 

Institute of Directors

 

For 60 years the Institute of Directors' Annual Convention has been synonymous with the Hall, although in 2011 and 2012 it was held at indigO2.

 

The English National Ballet

 

Since 1998 the English National Ballet has had several specially staged arena summer seasons in partnership with the Hall and Raymond Gubbay. These include Strictly Gershwin, June 2008 and 2011, Swan Lake, June 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013, Romeo & Juliet, June 2001 and 2005, and The Sleeping Beauty, April - June 2000.

 

Teenage Cancer Trust

 

Starting in the year 2000 the Teenage Cancer Trust has held annual charity concerts (with the exception of 2001). They started as a one-off event, but have expanded over the years to a week or more of evening events. Roger Daltrey of the Who has been intimately involved with the planning of the events.

 

Graduation Ceremonies

 

The Hall is used annually by the neighbouring Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art for graduation ceremonies. For several years the University of London and Kingston University also held their graduation ceremonies at the Hall.

 

Films, Premières and Live Orchestra Screenings

 

The venue has screened several films since the early silent days. It was the only London venue to show William Fox's The Queen of Sheba in the 1920's.

 

The Hall has hosted many premières, including the UK première of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, 101 Dalmatians on the 4th. December 1996, the European première of Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys of the Western World, and three James Bond royal world premières - Die Another Day on the 18th. November 2002 (attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip), Skyfall on the 23rd. October 2012 (attended by Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall), and Spectre on the 26th. October 2015 (attended by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge).

 

The Hall held the first 3D world première of Titanic 3D, on the 27th. March 2012, with James Cameron and Kate Winslet in attendance.

 

Since 2009, the Hall has also curated regular seasons of English-language film-and-live-orchestra screenings, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Interstellar, The Matrix, West Side Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Back to the Future, Jaws, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the world première of Titanic Live in Concert.

 

The only non-English-language movie to have been screened at the Hall is Baahubali: The Beginning (an Indian movie in Telugu and Tamil, but premiered with the Hindi dubbed version).

 

National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

 

The National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, one of the most prestigious prizes in the annual brass band contesting calendar, holds the Final of the Championship section at the Royal Albert Hall each October.

 

Beyond the Main Stage

 

The Hall hosts hundreds of events and activities beyond its main auditorium. There are regular free art exhibitions in the ground floor Amphi corridor, which can be viewed when attending events or on dedicated viewing dates.

 

Visitors can take a guided tour of the Hall on most days. The most common is the one-hour Grand Tour which includes most front-of-house areas, the auditorium, the Gallery and the Royal Retiring Room.

 

Other tours include Story of the Proms, Behind the Scenes, Inside Out and School tours.

 

Children's events include Storytelling and Music Sessions for ages four and under. These take place in the Door 9 Porch and Albert's Band sessions in the Elgar Room during school holidays.

 

"Live Music in Verdi" takes place in the Italian restaurant on a Friday night featuring different artists each week.

 

"Late Night Jazz" events in the Elgar Room, generally on a Thursday night, feature cabaret-style seating and a relaxed atmosphere with drinks available.

 

"Classical Coffee Mornings" are held on Sundays in the Elgar Room with musicians from the Royal College of Music accompanied with drinks and pastries.

 

Sunday brunch events take place in Verdi Italian restaurant and feature different genres of music.

 

Regular Performers at the Royal Albert Hall

 

Eric Clapton is a regular performer at the Hall. Since 1964, Clapton has performed at the Hall over 200 times, and has stated that performing at the venue is: "Like playing in my front room".

 

In December 1964, Clapton made his first appearance at the Hall with the Yardbirds. It was also the venue for his band Cream's farewell concerts in 1968 and reunion shows in 2005. He also instigated the Concert for George, which was held at the Hall on the 29th. November 2002 to pay tribute to Clapton's lifelong friend, former Beatle George Harrison. Clapton passed 200 shows at the Hall in 2015.

 

David Gilmour played at the Hall in support of two solo albums, while also releasing a live concert on September 2006 entitled Remember That Night which was recorded during his three nights playing at the Hall for his 2006 On an Island tour.

 

Notable guests were Robert Wyatt and David Bowie (who sang lead for "Arnold Layne" and "Comfortably Numb"). The live concert was televised by BBC One on the 9th. September 2007.

 

Gilmour returned to the Hall for four nights in September 2016 (where he was joined on stage by Benedict Cumberbatch for "Comfortably Numb"), having previously played five nights in 2015, to end his 34-day Rattle That Lock Tour. He also made an appearance on the 24th. April 2016 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust event.

 

Shirley Bassey is one of the Hall's most prolific female headline performers, having appeared many times at the Hall since the 1970's. In 2001, she sang "Happy Birthday" for the Duke of Edinburgh's 80th. birthday concert. In 2007, she sang at Fashion Rocks in aid of the Prince's Trust.

 

On the 30th. March 2011, she sang at a gala celebrating the 80th. birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev. In May 2011, she performed at the Classic Brit Awards, singing "Goldfinger" in tribute to the recently deceased composer John Barry. On the 20th. June 2011, she returned and sang "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Goldfinger", accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as the climax to the memorial concert for Barry.

 

James Last appeared 90 times at the Hall between 1973 and 2015, making him the most frequent non–British performer to have played the venue.

 

Education and Outreach Programme

 

The Hall's education and outreach programme engages with more than 200,000 people a year. It includes workshops for local teenagers led by musicians such as Foals, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Nicola Benedetti, Alison Balsom and First Aid Kit, innovative science and maths lessons, visits to local residential homes from the venue's in-house group, Albert's Band, under the 'Songbook' banner, and the Friendship Matinee: an orchestral concert for community groups, with £5 admission.

 

Mis-labellings

 

A famous and widely bootlegged concert by Bob Dylan at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on the 17th. May 1966 was mistakenly labelled the "Royal Albert Hall Concert".

 

In 1998, Columbia Records released an official recording, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. It maintains the erroneous title but does include details of the actual location.

 

Recordings from the Royal Albert Hall concerts on the 26th. and 27th. May 1966 were finally released by the artist in 2016 as The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert.

 

Another concert mislabelled as being at the Hall was by Creedence Clearwater Revival. An album by them entitled The Royal Albert Hall Concert was released in 1980. When Fantasy Records discovered the show on the album actually took place at the Oakland Coliseum, it retitled the album The Concert.

 

Pop Culture References

 

A large mural by Peter Blake, entitled Appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, is displayed in the Hall's Café Bar. Unveiled in April 2014, it shows more than 400 famous figures who have appeared on the stage.

 

In 1955, English film director Alfred Hitchcock filmed the climax of The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Hall. The 15-minute sequence featured James Stewart, Doris Day and composer Bernard Herrmann, and was filmed partly in the Queen's Box.

 

Hitchcock was a long-time patron of the Hall and had already set the finale of his 1927 film, The Ring at the Hall, as well as his initial version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre.

 

Other notable films shot at the Hall include Major Barbara, Love Story, The Seventh Veil, The Ipcress File, A Touch of Class, Shine, and Spice World.

 

In the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, the Albert Hall is mentioned. The verse goes as follows:

 

"I read the news today, oh boy

four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire

and though the holes were rather small

they had to count them all

now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

I'd love to turn you on".

 

The song "Session Man" by The Kinks references the Hall:

 

"He never will forget at all

The day he played at Albert Hall".

 

In the song "Shame" by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, Barlow mentions the Hall in his verse:

 

"I read your mind and tried to call,

my tears could fill the Albert Hall".

 

The Minox Subminiature Camera

 

So what else happened on Tuesday the 22nd. August 1905?

 

Well, the day marked the birth in Riga, Russian Empire (now Latvia), of Walter Zapp.

 

Walter was an inventor whose greatest creation was the Minox subminiature camera.

 

In 1932, while living in Estonia, Walter began developing the subminiature camera by first creating wooden models, which led to the first prototype in 1936. It was introduced to the market in 1938.

 

Minox cameras were made by VEF (Valsts Elektrotehniskā Fabrika) in Latvia. VEF ultimately made 17,000 Minox cameras.

 

During the Spring 1941 Resettlement of Baltic Germans, Walter Zapp moved to Germany. From 1941 to 1945, he worked on the development of electron microscopy for AEG in Berlin.

 

After World War II, in 1945, he founded the Minox GmbH in Wetzlar, Germany. The company still exists.

 

The innovative design and technical solutions of Zapp's camera were patented around the world. VEF received 66 patents in 18 countries for Zapp's inventions.

 

Later in the 1960's, Zapp was named as the inventor in several patents granted to Minox GmbH for improvements and modifications to a subminiature camera. In the beginning of the 1990's, Zapp patented his last invention, the Minox T8 pocket telescope.

 

Eesti Post issued a Europa postage stamp in 1994 to commemorate Walter Zapp and his patented invention (Estonian patent No. 2628), the Minox subminiature camera.

 

In 2001, Walter Zapp received an honorary doctorate of the Latvian Academy of Sciences and was decorated with the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana for his special services to the Republic of Estonia.

 

The Death of Walter Zapp

 

Walter died at the age of 97 in Binningen near Basel, Switzerland on the 17th. July 2003.

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The Postcard

 

A postally unused Valentine's Series postcard. Having modestly stated on the back of the card that they are 'Famous Throughout the World' and that the image is a real photograph, they go on to say:

 

'The Albert Hall, Kensington,

capable of holding 8,000

persons, is the scene of many

great concerts and gatherings'.

 

Although the card was not posted, someone has written "April 1942" on the back, which is presumably the month in which they visited the Albert Hall.

 

Note the poster for Hiawatha. This was a dramatised version of Scenes from the Song of Hiawatha (1898-1900) by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912). The text was by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and it was produced by T.C. Fairbairn.

 

For fourteen years between 1924 and 1939, this spectacular production of Hiawatha was an essential attraction of the London summer season.

 

First mounted as a fund-raising exercise for the Royal National Institute for the Blind, the run of eight performances in May 1924 was so successful that Fairbairn re-booked the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Choral Society for a fortnight the following year - and then, after a two-year gap, every year until 1939.

 

From 1925 the cast ran to 1,000 performers, including 200 dancers, and Fairbairn's skill in handling these vast forces and imaginative use of the hall's huge arena have passed into history.

 

There is also a poster featuring an Empire Ball. Empire Balls were held at the Albert Hall in 1920, 1924 and 1930, and saw guests dress as nations from around the British Empire.

 

The photograph was therefore taken in either 1924 or 1930. Further research into the other posters would probably narrow it down to a specific year.

 

The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272 people.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has been affectionately named "The Nation's Village Hall".

 

Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941.

 

It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium areas.

 

The hall was originally supposed to have been called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed to the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier.

 

History of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1800's

 

In 1851 the Great Exhibition, organised by Prince Albert, was held in Hyde Park, London. The Exhibition was a success, and this led Prince Albert to propose the creation of a group of permanent facilities for the public benefit, which came to be known as Albertopolis.

 

The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House, but it was slow to act, and in 1861 Prince Albert died without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.

 

The proposal was approved, and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. The Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, and built by Lucas Brothers.

 

The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum.

 

The recently opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo.

 

The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red Brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Ltd. of Tamworth.

 

The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was a trial assembly of the dome's iron framework in Manchester; then it was taken apart and transported to London by horse and cart.

 

When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ, only volunteers remained on-site in case the structure collapsed. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch (8 mm).

 

The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870, and Queen Victoria visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.

 

The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on the 29th. March 1871. A welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales because Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak;

 

"Her only recorded comment on the

Hall was that it reminded her of the

British constitution".

 

In the concert that followed, the Hall's acoustic problems immediately became apparent. Engineers first tried to remove the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome. This helped, and also sheltered concert-goers from the sun, but the problem was not solved - it used to be jokingly said:

 

"The Hall is the only place where

a British composer could be sure

of hearing his work twice".

 

In July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from Faust by Charles Gounod; The Orchestra described him as:

 

"An exceptional and distinguished

performer ... the effect was most

marvellous."

 

Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a special system by which thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888. During an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times, declaring it to be:

 

"A very ghastly and unpleasant

innovation".

 

In May 1877, Richard Wagner conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival. After his turn with the baton, he handed it over to conductor Hans Richter and sat in a large armchair on the corner of the stage for the rest of each concert. Wagner's wife Cosima, the daughter of Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt, was among the audience.

 

The Wine Society was founded at the Hall on the 4th. August 1874, after large quantities of cask wine were found in the cellars. A series of lunches were held to publicise the wines, and General Henry Scott proposed a co-operative company to buy and sell wines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1900's

 

In 1906 Elsie Fogerty founded the Central School of Speech and Drama at the Hall, using its West Theatre, now the Elgar Room. The school moved to Swiss Cottage in north London in 1957. Whilst the school was based at the Royal Albert Hall, students who graduated from its classes included Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Harold Pinter, Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft.

 

In 1911 Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff performed at the Hall. The recital included his 'Prelude in C-sharp minor' and 'Elegie in E-flat minor'.

 

In 1933 German physicist Albert Einstein led the 'Einstein Meeting' at the hall for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, a British charity.

 

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire on the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.

 

In October 1942, the Hall suffered minor damage during World War II bombing, but in general was left mostly untouched as German pilots used the distinctive structure as a landmark.

 

In 1949 the canvas awning was removed and replaced with fluted aluminium panels below the glass roof, in a new attempt to cure the echo. However the acoustics were not properly tackled until 1969 when large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed below the ceiling.

 

In 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, and from 1969–1988 the Miss World contest was staged at the venue.

 

In 1995, Greek keyboardist Yanni performed a concert there for his World Tour; the concert was recorded under the name of Live at Royal Albert Hall.

 

From 1996 until 2004, the Hall underwent a programme of renovation and development supported by a £20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £20m from Arts Council England to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances.

 

Thirty "discreet projects" were designed and supervised by the architecture and engineering firm BDP without disrupting events. These projects included improved ventilation to the auditorium, more bars and restaurants, improved seating, better technical facilities, and improved backstage areas. Internally, the Circle seating was rebuilt during June 1996 to provide more legroom, better access, and improved sightlines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2000's

 

The largest project of the ongoing renovation and development was the building of a new south porch – door 12, accommodating a first-floor restaurant, a new ground floor box office and a below-ground loading bay.

 

Although the exterior of the building was largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow the construction of underground vehicle access and a loading bay with accommodation for three HGVs carrying all the equipment brought by shows.

 

The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch, named The Meitar Foyer after a significant donation from Mr & Mrs Meitar. The porch was built on a similar scale and style to the three pre-existing porches at Doors 3, 6 and 9: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow.

 

The original steps featured in the early scenes of the 1965 film The Ipcress File. On the 4th. June 2004, the project received the Europa Nostra Award for remarkable achievement.

 

The East (Door 3) and West (Door 9) porches were glazed, and new bars opened along with ramps to improve disabled access. The Stalls were rebuilt in a four-week period in 2000 using steel supports, thereby allowing more space underneath for two new bars.

 

1,534 unique pivoting seats were installed, with an addition of 180 prime seats. The Choirs were rebuilt at the same time.

 

The whole building was redecorated in a style that reinforces its Victorian identity. 43,000 sq. ft (4,000 m2) of new carpets were laid in the rooms, stairs, and corridors – specially woven with a border that follows the oval curve of the building.

 

Between 2002 and 2004, there was a major rebuilding of the great organ (known as the Voice of Jupiter), built by "Father" Henry Willis in 1871 and rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison in 1924 and 1933.

 

The rebuilding was performed by Mander Organs, and it is now the second-largest pipe organ in the British Isles with 9,997 pipes in 147 stops. The largest is the Grand Organ in Liverpool Cathedral which has 10,268 pipes.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2010's

 

During the first half of 2011, changes were made to the backstage areas in order to relocate and increase the size of crew catering areas under the South Steps away from the stage and to create additional dressing rooms nearer to the stage.

 

During the summer of 2012, the staff canteen and some changing areas were expanded and refurbished. From January to May the Box Office area at Door 12 underwent further modernisation to include a new Café Bar on the ground floor, a new Box Office with shop counters, and additional toilets.

 

Upon opening it was renamed 'The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Porch and Foyer.' owing to a large donation from the couple.

 

In Autumn 2013, work began on replacing the Victorian steam heating system over three years and improving and cooling across the building. This work followed the summer Proms season during which temperatures were unusually high.

 

From January the Cafe Consort on the Grand Tier was closed permanently in preparation for a new restaurant at a cost of £1 million. Verdi – Italian Kitchen was officially opened on the 15th. April with a lunch or dinner menu of stone baked pizzas, pasta, and classic desserts.

 

Design of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Hall, a Grade I listed building, is an ellipse in plan, with its external major and minor axis of 272 and 236 feet (83 and 72 meters. The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the Hall is 135 ft (41 m) high.

 

Below the Arena floor there is room for two 4000 gallon water tanks, which are used for shows that flood the arena like Madame Butterfly.

 

The Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people, and has accommodated as many as 12,000 (although present-day safety restrictions mean the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,272, including standing in the Gallery.

 

Around the outside of the building is an 800–foot–long terracotta mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Above the frieze is an inscription in 12-inch-high (30 cm) terracotta letters that combine historical fact and Biblical quotations:

 

"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 twentieth day

of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her

Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year

MDCCCLXXI.

Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the victory and the majesty.

For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is

Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand

of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth

peace".

 

Events at The Royal Albert Hall

 

The first concert at the Hall was Arthur Sullivan's cantata On Shore and Sea, performed on the 1st. May 1871.

 

Many events are promoted by the Hall, and since the early 1970's promoter Raymond Gubbay has brought a range of events to the Hall including opera, ballet and classical music.

 

Events also include rock concerts, conferences, banquets, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, educational talks, motor shows, ballet, opera, film screenings and circus shows.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, squash, table tennis, basketball, wrestling (including the first Sumo wrestling tournament to be held in London) as well as UFC 38 (the first UFC event to be held in the UK), tennis, and even a marathon.

 

The Hall first hosted boxing in 1918, when it hosted a tournament between British and American servicemen. There was a colour bar in place at the Hall, preventing black boxers from fighting there, between 1923 and 1932.

 

Greats of British boxing such as Frank Bruno, Prince Naseem Hamed, Henry Cooper and Lennox Lewis have all appeared at the venue. The Hall's boxing history was halted in 1999 when a court ordered that boxing and wrestling matches could no longer be held at the venue. In 2011 that decision was overturned. In 2019 Nicola Adams won the WBO Flyweight title which was the first fight for a world title at the venue since Marco Antonio Barrera took on Paul Lloyd in 1999.

 

On the 6th. April 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest which was broadcast in colour for the first time. The first Miss World contest broadcast in colour was also staged at the venue in 1969, and remained at the Hall every year until 1989.

 

One notable event was a Pink Floyd concert held on the 26th. June 1969. On that night they were banned from ever playing at the Hall again after shooting cannons, nailing things to the stage, and having a man in a gorilla suit roam the audience.

 

At one point, Rick Wright went to the pipe organ and began to play "The End of the Beginning", the final part of "Saucerful of Secrets", joined by the brass section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (led by the conductor, Norman Smith) and the ladies of the Ealing Central Amateur Choir. A portion of the pipe organ recording is included on Pink Floyd's album The Endless River.

 

On the 18th. June 1985, British Gothic rock band The Sisters of Mercy recorded their live video album Wake at the Hall.

 

Between 1996 and 2008, the Hall hosted the annual National Television Awards, all of which were hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.

 

Benefit concerts include the 1997 Music for Montserrat concert, arranged and produced by George Martin. The event featured artists such as Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney.

 

In 2006, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed at the Hall for the first time since Pink Floyd's 1969 ban. He performed as part of his On an Island Tour. The shows were filmed and used for the live video release, Remember That Night (2007).

 

Rock band The Killers recorded their first live album, Live from the Royal Albert Hall in July 2009.

 

On the 5th. April 2010, Swedish progressive metal band Opeth recorded In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, as they became the first Death metal band ever to perform at the Hall. The concert was part of the band's Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology tour, made in celebration of their 20th. anniversary.

 

In July 2011, Janet Jackson performed three sold-out shows as part of her Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour.

 

On the 2nd. October 2011, the Hall staged the 25th.-anniversary performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which was broadcast live to cinemas across the world and filmed for DVD.

 

Lloyd Webber, the original London cast including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, and four previous actors of the titular character, among others, were in attendance – Brightman and the previous Phantoms (aside from Crawford) performed an encore.

 

On the 22nd. September 2011, Adele performed a one-night-only concert as part of her tour. The concert was filmed for DVD, and screened at cinemas in 26 cities around the world.

 

Her performance debuted at number one in the United States with 96,000 copies sold, the highest one-week tally for a music DVD in four years. After one week, it became the best-selling music DVD of 2011. As of the 28th. November 2012, it had surpassed sales of one million copies in the United States and sales of three million copies worldwide.

 

It was the first music DVD to surpass sales of one million in the USA since the Eagles' Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne in 2005.

 

The 2012 Sunflower Jam charity concert featured Queen guitarist Brian May performing alongside bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple, and vocalists Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper.

 

On the 24th. September 2012, Classic FM celebrated the 20th. anniversary of their launch with a concert at the Hall. The program featured live performances of works by Handel, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky and Karl Jenkins who conducted his piece The Benedictus from The Armed Man.

 

On the 19th. November 2012, the Hall hosted the 100th.-anniversary performance of the Royal Variety Performance, attended by the HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Duke of Edinburgh, with boy-band One Direction among the performers.

 

During his Rattle That Lock Tour, David Gilmour performed at the Royal Albert Hall eleven times between September 2015 and September 2016, once in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

 

On the 13th. November 2015, Canadian musician Devin Townsend recorded his second live album Ziltoid Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

 

Kylie Minogue performed at the Royal Albert Hall on the 11th. December 2015 and the 9th. - 10th. December 2016 as part of her "A Kylie Christmas" concert series.

 

On the 3rd. May 2016, singer-songwriter and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell played at the Hall in what would become the last UK show of his life as part of his "Higher Truth" European tour.

 

Cornell performed stripped-back acoustic renditions from his back-catalogue to rave reviews, including songs from the likes of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and his solo work. Cornell died on the 18th. May 2017.

 

On the 22nd. April 2016, British rock band Bring Me the Horizon performed and recorded their Live at the Royal Albert Hall album, with accompaniment from the Parallax Orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson.

 

At a press conference held at the Hall in October 2016, Phil Collins announced his return to live performing with his Not Dead Yet Tour, which began in June 2017. The tour included five nights at the Hall which sold out in fifteen seconds.

 

In October 2017, American rock band Alter Bridge also recorded a live album accompanied by the Parallax Orchestra with Simon Dobson.

 

Also in 2017, the Hall hosted the 70th. British Academy Film Awards, often referred to as the BAFTAs, for the first time in 20 years, replacing the Royal Opera House at which the event had been held since 2008.

 

In 2018, WWE held its second United Kingdom Championship Tournament on the 18th. and 19th. June.

 

Also in 2018, the world premiere of PlayStation in Concert was organised at the Hall. It featured PlayStation game music from the 1990's up until then. It was arranged by Jim Fowler and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

In May 2019, Mariah Carey performed 3 shows as part of her Caution World Tour. Comedian Bill Burr filmed his 2019 special Paper Tiger at the Hall. In November 2020, One Direction member Niall Horan performed a one off live-streamed show in an empty Hall (during the COVID-19 pandemic) to raise money for charity.

 

Regular Events at the Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Choral Society

 

The Royal Choral Society is the longest-running regular performer at the Hall, having given its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on the 8th. May 1872. From 1876, it established the annual Good Friday performance of Handel's Messiah.

 

BBC Proms

 

The BBC Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, known as "The Proms", is a popular annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts and other events at the Hall.

 

In 1942, following the destruction of the Queen's Hall in an air raid, the Hall was chosen as the new venue for the proms. In 1944 with increased danger to the Hall, part of the proms were held in the Bedford Corn Exchange.

 

Following the end of World War II the proms continued in the Hall, and have done so annually every summer since. The event was founded in 1895, and now each season consists of over 70 concerts, in addition to a series of events at other venues across the United Kingdom on the last night.

 

In 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. Jiří Bělohlávek described The Proms as:

 

"The world's largest and most

democratic musical festival".

 

Proms is a term which arose from the original practice of the audience promenading, or strolling, in some areas during the concert. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes described as "Promenaders", but are most commonly referred to as "Prommers".

 

Tennis

 

Tennis was first played at the Hall in March 1970, and the ATP Champions Tour Masters has been played annually every December since 1997.

 

Classical Spectacular

 

Classical Spectacular, a Raymond Gubbay production, has been coming to the Hall since 1988. It combines popular classical music, lights and special effects.

 

Cirque du Soleil

 

Cirque du Soleil has performed annually, with a show being staged every January, since 2003. Cirque has had to adapt many of their touring shows to perform at the venue, modifying the set, usually built for arenas or big top tents instead.

 

Classic Brit Awards

 

Since 2000, the Classic Brit Awards has been hosted annually in May at the Hall. It is organised by the British Phonographic Industry.

 

Festival of Remembrance

 

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance is held annually the day before Remembrance Sunday.

 

Institute of Directors

 

For 60 years the Institute of Directors' Annual Convention has been synonymous with the Hall, although in 2011 and 2012 it was held at indigO2.

 

The English National Ballet

 

Since 1998 the English National Ballet has had several specially staged arena summer seasons in partnership with the Hall and Raymond Gubbay. These include Strictly Gershwin, June 2008 and 2011, Swan Lake, June 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013, Romeo & Juliet, June 2001 and 2005, and The Sleeping Beauty, April - June 2000.

 

Teenage Cancer Trust

 

Starting in the year 2000 the Teenage Cancer Trust has held annual charity concerts (with the exception of 2001). They started as a one-off event, but have expanded over the years to a week or more of evening events. Roger Daltrey of the Who has been intimately involved with the planning of the events.

 

Graduation Ceremonies

 

The Hall is used annually by the neighbouring Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art for graduation ceremonies. For several years the University of London and Kingston University also held their graduation ceremonies at the Hall.

 

Films, Premières and Live Orchestra Screenings

 

The venue has screened several films since the early silent days. It was the only London venue to show William Fox's The Queen of Sheba in the 1920's.

 

The Hall has hosted many premières, including the UK première of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, 101 Dalmatians on the 4th. December 1996, the European première of Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys of the Western World, and three James Bond royal world premières - Die Another Day on the 18th. November 2002 (attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip), Skyfall on the 23rd. October 2012 (attended by Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall), and Spectre on the 26th. October 2015 (attended by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge).

 

The Hall held the first 3D world première of Titanic 3D, on the 27th. March 2012, with James Cameron and Kate Winslet in attendance.

 

Since 2009, the Hall has also curated regular seasons of English-language film-and-live-orchestra screenings, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Interstellar, The Matrix, West Side Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Back to the Future, Jaws, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the world première of Titanic Live in Concert.

 

The only non-English-language movie to have been screened at the Hall is Baahubali: The Beginning (an Indian movie in Telugu and Tamil, but premiered with the Hindi dubbed version).

 

National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

 

The National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, one of the most prestigious prizes in the annual brass band contesting calendar, holds the Final of the Championship section at the Royal Albert Hall each October.

 

Beyond the Main Stage

 

The Hall hosts hundreds of events and activities beyond its main auditorium. There are regular free art exhibitions in the ground floor Amphi corridor, which can be viewed when attending events or on dedicated viewing dates.

 

Visitors can take a guided tour of the Hall on most days. The most common is the one-hour Grand Tour which includes most front-of-house areas, the auditorium, the Gallery and the Royal Retiring Room.

 

Other tours include Story of the Proms, Behind the Scenes, Inside Out and School tours.

 

Children's events include Storytelling and Music Sessions for ages four and under. These take place in the Door 9 Porch and Albert's Band sessions in the Elgar Room during school holidays.

 

"Live Music in Verdi" takes place in the Italian restaurant on a Friday night featuring different artists each week.

 

"Late Night Jazz" events in the Elgar Room, generally on a Thursday night, feature cabaret-style seating and a relaxed atmosphere with drinks available.

 

"Classical Coffee Mornings" are held on Sundays in the Elgar Room with musicians from the Royal College of Music accompanied with drinks and pastries.

 

Sunday brunch events take place in Verdi Italian restaurant and feature different genres of music.

 

Regular Performers at the Royal Albert Hall

 

Eric Clapton is a regular performer at the Hall. Since 1964, Clapton has performed at the Hall over 200 times, and has stated that performing at the venue is: "Like playing in my front room".

 

In December 1964, Clapton made his first appearance at the Hall with the Yardbirds. It was also the venue for his band Cream's farewell concerts in 1968 and reunion shows in 2005. He also instigated the Concert for George, which was held at the Hall on the 29th. November 2002 to pay tribute to Clapton's lifelong friend, former Beatle George Harrison. Clapton passed 200 shows at the Hall in 2015.

 

David Gilmour played at the Hall in support of two solo albums, while also releasing a live concert on September 2006 entitled Remember That Night which was recorded during his three nights playing at the Hall for his 2006 On an Island tour.

 

Notable guests were Robert Wyatt and David Bowie (who sang lead for "Arnold Layne" and "Comfortably Numb"). The live concert was televised by BBC One on the 9th. September 2007.

 

Gilmour returned to the Hall for four nights in September 2016 (where he was joined on stage by Benedict Cumberbatch for "Comfortably Numb"), having previously played five nights in 2015, to end his 34-day Rattle That Lock Tour. He also made an appearance on the 24th. April 2016 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust event.

 

Shirley Bassey is one of the Hall's most prolific female headline performers, having appeared many times at the Hall since the 1970's. In 2001, she sang "Happy Birthday" for the Duke of Edinburgh's 80th. birthday concert. In 2007, she sang at Fashion Rocks in aid of the Prince's Trust.

 

On the 30th. March 2011, she sang at a gala celebrating the 80th. birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev. In May 2011, she performed at the Classic Brit Awards, singing "Goldfinger" in tribute to the recently deceased composer John Barry. On the 20th. June 2011, she returned and sang "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Goldfinger", accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as the climax to the memorial concert for Barry.

 

James Last appeared 90 times at the Hall between 1973 and 2015, making him the most frequent non–British performer to have played the venue.

 

Education and Outreach Programme

 

The Hall's education and outreach programme engages with more than 200,000 people a year. It includes workshops for local teenagers led by musicians such as Foals, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Nicola Benedetti, Alison Balsom and First Aid Kit, innovative science and maths lessons, visits to local residential homes from the venue's in-house group, Albert's Band, under the 'Songbook' banner, and the Friendship Matinee: an orchestral concert for community groups, with £5 admission.

 

Mis-labellings

 

A famous and widely bootlegged concert by Bob Dylan at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on the 17th. May 1966 was mistakenly labelled the "Royal Albert Hall Concert".

 

In 1998, Columbia Records released an official recording, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. It maintains the erroneous title but does include details of the actual location.

 

Recordings from the Royal Albert Hall concerts on the 26th. and 27th. May 1966 were finally released by the artist in 2016 as The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert.

 

Another concert mislabelled as being at the Hall was by Creedence Clearwater Revival. An album by them entitled The Royal Albert Hall Concert was released in 1980. When Fantasy Records discovered the show on the album actually took place at the Oakland Coliseum, it retitled the album The Concert.

 

Pop Culture References

 

A large mural by Peter Blake, entitled Appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, is displayed in the Hall's Café Bar. Unveiled in April 2014, it shows more than 400 famous figures who have appeared on the stage.

 

In 1955, English film director Alfred Hitchcock filmed the climax of The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Hall. The 15-minute sequence featured James Stewart, Doris Day and composer Bernard Herrmann, and was filmed partly in the Queen's Box.

 

Hitchcock was a long-time patron of the Hall and had already set the finale of his 1927 film, The Ring at the Hall, as well as his initial version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre.

 

Other notable films shot at the Hall include Major Barbara, Love Story, The Seventh Veil, The Ipcress File, A Touch of Class, Shine, and Spice World.

 

In the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, the Albert Hall is mentioned. The verse goes as follows:

 

"I read the news today, oh boy

four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire

and though the holes were rather small

they had to count them all

now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

I'd love to turn you on".

 

The song "Session Man" by The Kinks references the Hall:

 

"He never will forget at all

The day he played at Albert Hall".

 

In the song "Shame" by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, Barlow mentions the Hall in his verse:

 

"I read your mind and tried to call,

my tears could fill the Albert Hall".

 

 

As per the bollywood sources YRF made an 150 crore for the world-wide distribution rights, Hindi version rights and the satellite rights of the movie.

As baahubali collected 127 crors in hindi itself , Thy offered this huge amount . Already karan johar is interested in baahubali 2 so def...

 

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Baahubali Actress Anushka Shetty Hot Images For More pycker.com/gallery/bollywood-anushka-shetty-hot-images

The Postcard

 

A postcard bearing no publisher's name which was posted in London on Thursday the 23rd. August 1906 to:

 

Miss Humm,

Evelyn House,

Witham,

Essex.

 

The message on the back of the card was as follows:

 

"Dear N,

You will be surprised to know

I came home tonight (Thursday)

by the 5 o'clock train as mother

is very ill.

I shall return to Witham tomorrow

(Friday) by the 7.45.

Hope to see you at the station

if you are disengaged.

Tell you all when I see you.

Love from Gert".

 

The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272 people.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has been affectionately named "The Nation's Village Hall".

 

Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941.

 

It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium areas.

 

The hall was originally supposed to have been called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed to the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier.

 

History of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1800's

 

In 1851 the Great Exhibition, organised by Prince Albert, was held in Hyde Park, London. The Exhibition was a success, and this led Prince Albert to propose the creation of a group of permanent facilities for the public benefit, which came to be known as Albertopolis.

 

The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House, but it was slow to act, and in 1861 Prince Albert died without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.

 

The proposal was approved, and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. The Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, and built by Lucas Brothers.

 

The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum.

 

The recently opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo.

 

The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red Brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Ltd. of Tamworth.

 

The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was a trial assembly of the dome's iron framework in Manchester; then it was taken apart and transported to London by horse and cart.

 

When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ, only volunteers remained on-site in case the structure collapsed. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch (8 mm).

 

The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870, and Queen Victoria visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.

 

The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on the 29th. March 1871. A welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales because Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak;

 

"Her only recorded comment on the

Hall was that it reminded her of the

British constitution".

 

In the concert that followed, the Hall's acoustic problems immediately became apparent. Engineers first tried to remove the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome. This helped, and also sheltered concert-goers from the sun, but the problem was not solved - it used to be jokingly said:

 

"The Hall is the only place where

a British composer could be sure

of hearing his work twice".

 

In July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from Faust by Charles Gounod; The Orchestra described him as:

 

"An exceptional and distinguished

performer ... the effect was most

marvellous."

 

Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a special system by which thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888. During an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times, declaring it to be:

 

"A very ghastly and unpleasant

innovation".

 

In May 1877, Richard Wagner conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival. After his turn with the baton, he handed it over to conductor Hans Richter and sat in a large armchair on the corner of the stage for the rest of each concert. Wagner's wife Cosima, the daughter of Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt, was among the audience.

 

The Wine Society was founded at the Hall on the 4th. August 1874, after large quantities of cask wine were found in the cellars. A series of lunches were held to publicise the wines, and General Henry Scott proposed a co-operative company to buy and sell wines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 1900's

 

In 1906 Elsie Fogerty founded the Central School of Speech and Drama at the Hall, using its West Theatre, now the Elgar Room. The school moved to Swiss Cottage in north London in 1957. Whilst the school was based at the Royal Albert Hall, students who graduated from its classes included Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Harold Pinter, Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft.

 

In 1911 Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff performed at the Hall. The recital included his 'Prelude in C-sharp minor' and 'Elegie in E-flat minor'.

 

In 1933 German physicist Albert Einstein led the 'Einstein Meeting' at the hall for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, a British charity.

 

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire on the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.

 

In October 1942, the Hall suffered minor damage during World War II bombing, but in general was left mostly untouched as German pilots used the distinctive structure as a landmark.

 

In 1949 the canvas awning was removed and replaced with fluted aluminium panels below the glass roof, in a new attempt to cure the echo. However the acoustics were not properly tackled until 1969 when large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed below the ceiling.

 

In 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, and from 1969–1988 the Miss World contest was staged at the venue.

 

In 1995, Greek keyboardist Yanni performed a concert there for his World Tour; the concert was recorded under the name of Live at Royal Albert Hall.

 

From 1996 until 2004, the Hall underwent a programme of renovation and development supported by a £20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £20m from Arts Council England to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances.

 

Thirty "discreet projects" were designed and supervised by the architecture and engineering firm BDP without disrupting events. These projects included improved ventilation to the auditorium, more bars and restaurants, improved seating, better technical facilities, and improved backstage areas. Internally, the Circle seating was rebuilt during June 1996 to provide more legroom, better access, and improved sightlines.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2000's

 

The largest project of the ongoing renovation and development was the building of a new south porch – door 12, accommodating a first-floor restaurant, a new ground floor box office and a below-ground loading bay.

 

Although the exterior of the building was largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow the construction of underground vehicle access and a loading bay with accommodation for three HGVs carrying all the equipment brought by shows.

 

The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch, named The Meitar Foyer after a significant donation from Mr & Mrs Meitar. The porch was built on a similar scale and style to the three pre-existing porches at Doors 3, 6 and 9: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow.

 

The original steps featured in the early scenes of the 1965 film The Ipcress File. On the 4th. June 2004, the project received the Europa Nostra Award for remarkable achievement.

 

The East (Door 3) and West (Door 9) porches were glazed, and new bars opened along with ramps to improve disabled access. The Stalls were rebuilt in a four-week period in 2000 using steel supports, thereby allowing more space underneath for two new bars.

 

1,534 unique pivoting seats were installed, with an addition of 180 prime seats. The Choirs were rebuilt at the same time.

 

The whole building was redecorated in a style that reinforces its Victorian identity. 43,000 sq. ft (4,000 m2) of new carpets were laid in the rooms, stairs, and corridors – specially woven with a border that follows the oval curve of the building.

 

Between 2002 and 2004, there was a major rebuilding of the great organ (known as the Voice of Jupiter), built by "Father" Henry Willis in 1871 and rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison in 1924 and 1933.

 

The rebuilding was performed by Mander Organs, and it is now the second-largest pipe organ in the British Isles with 9,997 pipes in 147 stops. The largest is the Grand Organ in Liverpool Cathedral which has 10,268 pipes.

 

The Royal Albert Hall in the 2010's

 

During the first half of 2011, changes were made to the backstage areas in order to relocate and increase the size of crew catering areas under the South Steps away from the stage and to create additional dressing rooms nearer to the stage.

 

During the summer of 2012, the staff canteen and some changing areas were expanded and refurbished. From January to May the Box Office area at Door 12 underwent further modernisation to include a new Café Bar on the ground floor, a new Box Office with shop counters, and additional toilets.

 

Upon opening it was renamed 'The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Porch and Foyer.' owing to a large donation from the couple.

 

In Autumn 2013, work began on replacing the Victorian steam heating system over three years and improving and cooling across the building. This work followed the summer Proms season during which temperatures were unusually high.

 

From January the Cafe Consort on the Grand Tier was closed permanently in preparation for a new restaurant at a cost of £1 million. Verdi – Italian Kitchen was officially opened on the 15th. April with a lunch or dinner menu of stone baked pizzas, pasta, and classic desserts.

 

Design of The Royal Albert Hall

 

The Hall, a Grade I listed building, is an ellipse in plan, with its external major and minor axis of 272 and 236 feet (83 and 72 meters. The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the Hall is 135 ft (41 m) high.

 

Below the Arena floor there is room for two 4000 gallon water tanks, which are used for shows that flood the arena like Madame Butterfly.

 

The Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people, and has accommodated as many as 12,000 (although present-day safety restrictions mean the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,272, including standing in the Gallery.

 

Around the outside of the building is an 800–foot–long terracotta mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Above the frieze is an inscription in 12-inch-high (30 cm) terracotta letters that combine historical fact and Biblical quotations:

 

"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 twentieth day

of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her

Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year

MDCCCLXXI.

Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the victory and the majesty.

For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is

Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand

of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth

peace".

 

Events at The Royal Albert Hall

 

The first concert at the Hall was Arthur Sullivan's cantata On Shore and Sea, performed on the 1st. May 1871.

 

Many events are promoted by the Hall, and since the early 1970's promoter Raymond Gubbay has brought a range of events to the Hall including opera, ballet and classical music.

 

Events also include rock concerts, conferences, banquets, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, educational talks, motor shows, ballet, opera, film screenings and circus shows.

 

The Royal Albert Hall has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, squash, table tennis, basketball, wrestling (including the first Sumo wrestling tournament to be held in London) as well as UFC 38 (the first UFC event to be held in the UK), tennis, and even a marathon.

 

The Hall first hosted boxing in 1918, when it hosted a tournament between British and American servicemen. There was a colour bar in place at the Hall, preventing black boxers from fighting there, between 1923 and 1932.

 

Greats of British boxing such as Frank Bruno, Prince Naseem Hamed, Henry Cooper and Lennox Lewis have all appeared at the venue. The Hall's boxing history was halted in 1999 when a court ordered that boxing and wrestling matches could no longer be held at the venue. In 2011 that decision was overturned. In 2019 Nicola Adams won the WBO Flyweight title which was the first fight for a world title at the venue since Marco Antonio Barrera took on Paul Lloyd in 1999.

 

On the 6th. April 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest which was broadcast in colour for the first time. The first Miss World contest broadcast in colour was also staged at the venue in 1969, and remained at the Hall every year until 1989.

 

One notable event was a Pink Floyd concert held on the 26th. June 1969. On that night they were banned from ever playing at the Hall again after shooting cannons, nailing things to the stage, and having a man in a gorilla suit roam the audience.

 

At one point, Rick Wright went to the pipe organ and began to play "The End of the Beginning", the final part of "Saucerful of Secrets", joined by the brass section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (led by the conductor, Norman Smith) and the ladies of the Ealing Central Amateur Choir. A portion of the pipe organ recording is included on Pink Floyd's album The Endless River.

 

On the 18th. June 1985, British Gothic rock band The Sisters of Mercy recorded their live video album Wake at the Hall.

 

Between 1996 and 2008, the Hall hosted the annual National Television Awards, all of which were hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.

 

Benefit concerts include the 1997 Music for Montserrat concert, arranged and produced by George Martin. The event featured artists such as Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler, Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney.

 

In 2006, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed at the Hall for the first time since Pink Floyd's 1969 ban. He performed as part of his On an Island Tour. The shows were filmed and used for the live video release, Remember That Night (2007).

 

Rock band The Killers recorded their first live album, Live from the Royal Albert Hall in July 2009.

 

On the 5th. April 2010, Swedish progressive metal band Opeth recorded In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, as they became the first Death metal band ever to perform at the Hall. The concert was part of the band's Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology tour, made in celebration of their 20th. anniversary.

 

In July 2011, Janet Jackson performed three sold-out shows as part of her Number Ones, Up Close and Personal World Tour.

 

On the 2nd. October 2011, the Hall staged the 25th.-anniversary performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which was broadcast live to cinemas across the world and filmed for DVD.

 

Lloyd Webber, the original London cast including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, and four previous actors of the titular character, among others, were in attendance – Brightman and the previous Phantoms (aside from Crawford) performed an encore.

 

On the 22nd. September 2011, Adele performed a one-night-only concert as part of her tour. The concert was filmed for DVD, and screened at cinemas in 26 cities around the world.

 

Her performance debuted at number one in the United States with 96,000 copies sold, the highest one-week tally for a music DVD in four years. After one week, it became the best-selling music DVD of 2011. As of the 28th. November 2012, it had surpassed sales of one million copies in the United States and sales of three million copies worldwide.

 

It was the first music DVD to surpass sales of one million in the USA since the Eagles' Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne in 2005.

 

The 2012 Sunflower Jam charity concert featured Queen guitarist Brian May performing alongside bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, drummer Ian Paice of Deep Purple, and vocalists Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper.

 

On the 24th. September 2012, Classic FM celebrated the 20th. anniversary of their launch with a concert at the Hall. The program featured live performances of works by Handel, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Parry, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky and Karl Jenkins who conducted his piece The Benedictus from The Armed Man.

 

On the 19th. November 2012, the Hall hosted the 100th.-anniversary performance of the Royal Variety Performance, attended by the HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Duke of Edinburgh, with boy-band One Direction among the performers.

 

During his Rattle That Lock Tour, David Gilmour performed at the Royal Albert Hall eleven times between September 2015 and September 2016, once in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

 

On the 13th. November 2015, Canadian musician Devin Townsend recorded his second live album Ziltoid Live at the Royal Albert Hall.

 

Kylie Minogue performed at the Royal Albert Hall on the 11th. December 2015 and the 9th. - 10th. December 2016 as part of her "A Kylie Christmas" concert series.

 

On the 3rd. May 2016, singer-songwriter and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell played at the Hall in what would become the last UK show of his life as part of his "Higher Truth" European tour.

 

Cornell performed stripped-back acoustic renditions from his back-catalogue to rave reviews, including songs from the likes of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and his solo work. Cornell died on the 18th. May 2017.

 

On the 22nd. April 2016, British rock band Bring Me the Horizon performed and recorded their Live at the Royal Albert Hall album, with accompaniment from the Parallax Orchestra conducted by Simon Dobson.

 

At a press conference held at the Hall in October 2016, Phil Collins announced his return to live performing with his Not Dead Yet Tour, which began in June 2017. The tour included five nights at the Hall which sold out in fifteen seconds.

 

In October 2017, American rock band Alter Bridge also recorded a live album accompanied by the Parallax Orchestra with Simon Dobson.

 

Also in 2017, the Hall hosted the 70th. British Academy Film Awards, often referred to as the BAFTAs, for the first time in 20 years, replacing the Royal Opera House at which the event had been held since 2008.

 

In 2018, WWE held its second United Kingdom Championship Tournament on the 18th. and 19th. June.

 

Also in 2018, the world premiere of PlayStation in Concert was organised at the Hall. It featured PlayStation game music from the 1990's up until then. It was arranged by Jim Fowler and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

In May 2019, Mariah Carey performed 3 shows as part of her Caution World Tour. Comedian Bill Burr filmed his 2019 special Paper Tiger at the Hall. In November 2020, One Direction member Niall Horan performed a one off live-streamed show in an empty Hall (during the COVID-19 pandemic) to raise money for charity.

 

Regular Events at the Royal Albert Hall

 

The Royal Choral Society

 

The Royal Choral Society is the longest-running regular performer at the Hall, having given its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on the 8th. May 1872. From 1876, it established the annual Good Friday performance of Handel's Messiah.

 

BBC Proms

 

The BBC Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, known as "The Proms", is a popular annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts and other events at the Hall.

 

In 1942, following the destruction of the Queen's Hall in an air raid, the Hall was chosen as the new venue for the proms. In 1944 with increased danger to the Hall, part of the proms were held in the Bedford Corn Exchange.

 

Following the end of World War II the proms continued in the Hall, and have done so annually every summer since. The event was founded in 1895, and now each season consists of over 70 concerts, in addition to a series of events at other venues across the United Kingdom on the last night.

 

In 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. Jiří Bělohlávek described The Proms as:

 

"The world's largest and most

democratic musical festival".

 

Proms is a term which arose from the original practice of the audience promenading, or strolling, in some areas during the concert. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes described as "Promenaders", but are most commonly referred to as "Prommers".

 

Tennis

 

Tennis was first played at the Hall in March 1970, and the ATP Champions Tour Masters has been played annually every December since 1997.

 

Classical Spectacular

 

Classical Spectacular, a Raymond Gubbay production, has been coming to the Hall since 1988. It combines popular classical music, lights and special effects.

 

Cirque du Soleil

 

Cirque du Soleil has performed annually, with a show being staged every January, since 2003. Cirque has had to adapt many of their touring shows to perform at the venue, modifying the set, usually built for arenas or big top tents instead.

 

Classic Brit Awards

 

Since 2000, the Classic Brit Awards has been hosted annually in May at the Hall. It is organised by the British Phonographic Industry.

 

Festival of Remembrance

 

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance is held annually the day before Remembrance Sunday.

 

Institute of Directors

 

For 60 years the Institute of Directors' Annual Convention has been synonymous with the Hall, although in 2011 and 2012 it was held at indigO2.

 

The English National Ballet

 

Since 1998 the English National Ballet has had several specially staged arena summer seasons in partnership with the Hall and Raymond Gubbay. These include Strictly Gershwin, June 2008 and 2011, Swan Lake, June 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013, Romeo & Juliet, June 2001 and 2005, and The Sleeping Beauty, April - June 2000.

 

Teenage Cancer Trust

 

Starting in the year 2000 the Teenage Cancer Trust has held annual charity concerts (with the exception of 2001). They started as a one-off event, but have expanded over the years to a week or more of evening events. Roger Daltrey of the Who has been intimately involved with the planning of the events.

 

Graduation Ceremonies

 

The Hall is used annually by the neighbouring Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art for graduation ceremonies. For several years the University of London and Kingston University also held their graduation ceremonies at the Hall.

 

Films, Premières and Live Orchestra Screenings

 

The venue has screened several films since the early silent days. It was the only London venue to show William Fox's The Queen of Sheba in the 1920's.

 

The Hall has hosted many premières, including the UK première of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, 101 Dalmatians on the 4th. December 1996, the European première of Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys of the Western World, and three James Bond royal world premières - Die Another Day on the 18th. November 2002 (attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip), Skyfall on the 23rd. October 2012 (attended by Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall), and Spectre on the 26th. October 2015 (attended by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge).

 

The Hall held the first 3D world première of Titanic 3D, on the 27th. March 2012, with James Cameron and Kate Winslet in attendance.

 

Since 2009, the Hall has also curated regular seasons of English-language film-and-live-orchestra screenings, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Interstellar, The Matrix, West Side Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Back to the Future, Jaws, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the world première of Titanic Live in Concert.

 

The only non-English-language movie to have been screened at the Hall is Baahubali: The Beginning (an Indian movie in Telugu and Tamil, but premiered with the Hindi dubbed version).

 

National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

 

The National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, one of the most prestigious prizes in the annual brass band contesting calendar, holds the Final of the Championship section at the Royal Albert Hall each October.

 

Beyond the Main Stage

 

The Hall hosts hundreds of events and activities beyond its main auditorium. There are regular free art exhibitions in the ground floor Amphi corridor, which can be viewed when attending events or on dedicated viewing dates.

 

Visitors can take a guided tour of the Hall on most days. The most common is the one-hour Grand Tour which includes most front-of-house areas, the auditorium, the Gallery and the Royal Retiring Room.

 

Other tours include Story of the Proms, Behind the Scenes, Inside Out and School tours.

 

Children's events include Storytelling and Music Sessions for ages four and under. These take place in the Door 9 Porch and Albert's Band sessions in the Elgar Room during school holidays.

 

"Live Music in Verdi" takes place in the Italian restaurant on a Friday night featuring different artists each week.

 

"Late Night Jazz" events in the Elgar Room, generally on a Thursday night, feature cabaret-style seating and a relaxed atmosphere with drinks available.

 

"Classical Coffee Mornings" are held on Sundays in the Elgar Room with musicians from the Royal College of Music accompanied with drinks and pastries.

 

Sunday brunch events take place in Verdi Italian restaurant and feature different genres of music.

 

Regular Performers at the Royal Albert Hall

 

Eric Clapton is a regular performer at the Hall. Since 1964, Clapton has performed at the Hall over 200 times, and has stated that performing at the venue is: "Like playing in my front room".

 

In December 1964, Clapton made his first appearance at the Hall with the Yardbirds. It was also the venue for his band Cream's farewell concerts in 1968 and reunion shows in 2005. He also instigated the Concert for George, which was held at the Hall on the 29th. November 2002 to pay tribute to Clapton's lifelong friend, former Beatle George Harrison. Clapton passed 200 shows at the Hall in 2015.

 

David Gilmour played at the Hall in support of two solo albums, while also releasing a live concert on September 2006 entitled Remember That Night which was recorded during his three nights playing at the Hall for his 2006 On an Island tour.

 

Notable guests were Robert Wyatt and David Bowie (who sang lead for "Arnold Layne" and "Comfortably Numb"). The live concert was televised by BBC One on the 9th. September 2007.

 

Gilmour returned to the Hall for four nights in September 2016 (where he was joined on stage by Benedict Cumberbatch for "Comfortably Numb"), having previously played five nights in 2015, to end his 34-day Rattle That Lock Tour. He also made an appearance on the 24th. April 2016 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust event.

 

Shirley Bassey is one of the Hall's most prolific female headline performers, having appeared many times at the Hall since the 1970's. In 2001, she sang "Happy Birthday" for the Duke of Edinburgh's 80th. birthday concert. In 2007, she sang at Fashion Rocks in aid of the Prince's Trust.

 

On the 30th. March 2011, she sang at a gala celebrating the 80th. birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev. In May 2011, she performed at the Classic Brit Awards, singing "Goldfinger" in tribute to the recently deceased composer John Barry. On the 20th. June 2011, she returned and sang "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Goldfinger", accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as the climax to the memorial concert for Barry.

 

James Last appeared 90 times at the Hall between 1973 and 2015, making him the most frequent non–British performer to have played the venue.

 

Education and Outreach Programme

 

The Hall's education and outreach programme engages with more than 200,000 people a year. It includes workshops for local teenagers led by musicians such as Foals, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Nicola Benedetti, Alison Balsom and First Aid Kit, innovative science and maths lessons, visits to local residential homes from the venue's in-house group, Albert's Band, under the 'Songbook' banner, and the Friendship Matinee: an orchestral concert for community groups, with £5 admission.

 

Mis-labellings

 

A famous and widely bootlegged concert by Bob Dylan at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on the 17th. May 1966 was mistakenly labelled the "Royal Albert Hall Concert".

 

In 1998, Columbia Records released an official recording, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. It maintains the erroneous title but does include details of the actual location.

 

Recordings from the Royal Albert Hall concerts on the 26th. and 27th. May 1966 were finally released by the artist in 2016 as The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert.

 

Another concert mislabelled as being at the Hall was by Creedence Clearwater Revival. An album by them entitled The Royal Albert Hall Concert was released in 1980. When Fantasy Records discovered the show on the album actually took place at the Oakland Coliseum, it retitled the album The Concert.

 

Pop Culture References

 

A large mural by Peter Blake, entitled Appearing at the Royal Albert Hall, is displayed in the Hall's Café Bar. Unveiled in April 2014, it shows more than 400 famous figures who have appeared on the stage.

 

In 1955, English film director Alfred Hitchcock filmed the climax of The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Hall. The 15-minute sequence featured James Stewart, Doris Day and composer Bernard Herrmann, and was filmed partly in the Queen's Box.

 

Hitchcock was a long-time patron of the Hall and had already set the finale of his 1927 film, The Ring at the Hall, as well as his initial version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre.

 

Other notable films shot at the Hall include Major Barbara, Love Story, The Seventh Veil, The Ipcress File, A Touch of Class, Shine, and Spice World.

 

In the song "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles, the Albert Hall is mentioned. The verse goes as follows:

 

"I read the news today, oh boy

four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire

and though the holes were rather small

they had to count them all

now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall

I'd love to turn you on".

 

The song "Session Man" by The Kinks references the Hall:

 

"He never will forget at all

The day he played at Albert Hall".

 

In the song "Shame" by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, Barlow mentions the Hall in his verse:

 

"I read your mind and tried to call,

my tears could fill the Albert Hall".

 

René Pineton de Chambrun

 

So what else happened on the day that Gert posted the card?

 

Well, the 23rd. August 1906 marked the birth in Paris of René Aldebert Pineton de Chambrun. He was a French-American aristocrat, lawyer, businessman and author.

 

He practised law at the Court of Appeals of Paris and the New York State Bar Association.

 

He was the author of several books about World War II. He served as legal counsel to his father-in-law, Vichy France Prime Minister Pierre Laval.

 

He defended Coco Chanel in her lawsuit against Pierre Wertheimer over her marketing rights to Chanel No. 5.

 

He was the chairman of Baccarat, the crystal manufacturer, from 1960 to 1992.

 

Death

 

René died in Paris on the 19th. May 2002,

Prabhas Png

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.

 

Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. It is the venue for the BBC Proms concerts, which have been held there every summer since 1941. It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets. A further 400 events are held each year in the non-auditorium spaces. Over its 153-year history, the hall has hosted people from various fields, including meetings held by suffragettes, speeches from Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein, fights by Lennox Lewis, exhibition bouts by Muhammad Ali, and concerts from regular performers at the venue such as Eric Clapton and Shirley Bassey.

 

The hall was originally to have been called the Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed to the Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences by Queen Victoria upon laying the Hall's foundation stone in 1867, in memory of her husband, Prince Albert, who had died six years earlier. It forms the practical part of a memorial to the Prince Consort; the decorative part is the Albert Memorial directly to the north in Kensington Gardens, now separated from the Hall by Kensington Gore.

 

History

1800s

In 1851 the Great Exhibition, organised by Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, was held in Hyde Park, London. The Exhibition was a success and led Prince Albert to propose the creation of a group of permanent facilities for the public benefit, which came to be known as Albertopolis. The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House, but it was slow to act, and in 1861 Prince Albert died without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.

 

The proposal was approved, and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. The Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers and built by Lucas Brothers. The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum. The recently opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo.[citation needed] The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning of Tamworth.

 

The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was a trial assembly of the dome's iron framework in Manchester; then it was taken apart again and transported to London by horse and cart. When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after reassembly in situ, only volunteers remained on site in case the structure collapsed. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch (7.9 mm). The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870, and the Queen visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.

 

The official opening ceremony of the Hall was on 29 March 1871. This had originally been scheduled for 1 May, the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Great Exhibition, but was brought forward at the request of Queen Victoria. A welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales because the Queen was too overcome to speak; "her only recorded comment on the Hall was that it reminded her of the British constitution".

 

The composer, organist, and choir conductor William Carter founded and directed a choir specifically for the opening of Royal Albert Hall. In the concert that followed, the Hall's acoustic problems immediately became apparent. Engineers first tried to remove the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome. This helped and also sheltered concert-goers from the sun, but the problem was not solved: it used to be jokingly said the Hall was "the only place where a British composer could be sure of hearing his work twice".

 

In July 1871, French organist Camille Saint-Saëns performed Church Scene from Faust by Charles Gounod; The Orchestra described his performance as "an exceptional and distinguished performer ... the effect was most marvellous."

 

Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a special system by which thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall, full electric lighting was not installed until 1888. During an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times, declaring it to be "a very ghastly and unpleasant innovation".

 

In May 1877, Richard Wagner himself conducted the first half of each of the eight concerts which made up the Grand Wagner Festival. After his turn with the baton, he handed it over to conductor Hans Richter and sat in a large armchair on the corner of the stage for the rest of each concert. Wagner's wife Cosima, the daughter of Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt, was among the audience.

 

The Wine Society was founded at the Hall on 4 August 1874,[16] after large quantities of cask wine were found in the cellars. A series of lunches were held to publicise the wines, and General Henry Scott proposed a co-operative company to buy and sell wines.

 

1900s

In 1906, Elsie Fogerty founded the Central School of Speech and Drama at the Hall, using its West Theatre, now the Elgar Room, as the school's theatre. The school moved to Swiss Cottage in north London in 1957. Whilst the school was based at the Royal Albert Hall, students who graduated from its classes included Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Harold Pinter, Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft.

 

In 1911, Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff performed as a part of the London Ballad Concert. The recital included his 'Prelude in C-sharp minor' and 'Elegie in E-flat minor' (both from Morceaux de Fantaisie).

 

In 1933, German physicist Albert Einstein led the 'Einstein Meeting' at the hall for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, a British charity.

 

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire on the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth. In October 1942, the Hall suffered minor damage during World War II bombing, but in general was left mostly untouched as German pilots used the distinctive structure as a landmark.

 

In 1949, the canvas awning was removed and replaced with fluted aluminium panels below the glass roof, in a new attempt to cure the echo; but the acoustics were not properly tackled until 1969 when large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed below the ceiling. In 1968, the Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 which on television was broadcast live in colour for the first time, and from 1969 to 1988 the Miss World contest was staged in the venue.

 

From 1996 until 2004, the Hall underwent a programme of renovation and development supported by a £20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £20m from Arts Council England to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances. Thirty "discreet projects" were designed and supervised by the architecture and engineering firm BDP without disrupting events. These projects included improved ventilation to the auditorium, more bars and restaurants, improved seating, better technical facilities, and improved backstage areas. Internally, the Circle seating was rebuilt during June 1996 to provide more legroom, better access, and improved sightlines.

 

2000s

The largest project of the ongoing renovation and development was the building of a new south porch – door 12, accommodating a first-floor restaurant, new ground floor box office and subterranean loading bay. Although the exterior of the building was largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow construction of underground vehicle access and a loading bay with accommodation for three HGVs carrying all the equipment brought by shows. The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch, named The Meitar Foyer after a significant donation from Mr & Mrs Meitar. The porch was built on a similar scale and style to the three pre-existing porches at Door 3, 6 and 9: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow Construction. On 4 June 2004, the project received the Europa Nostra Award for remarkable achievement.

 

The East (Door 3) and West (Door 9) porches were glazed and new bars opened along with ramps to improve disabled access. The Stalls were rebuilt in a four-week period in 2000 using steel supports allowing more space underneath for two new bars; 1,534 unique pivoting seats were laid – with an addition of 180 prime seats. The Choirs were rebuilt at the same time. The whole building was redecorated in a style that reinforces its Victorian identity. 43,000 sq ft (4,000 m2) of new carpets were laid in the rooms, stairs, and corridors – specially woven with a border that follows the oval curve of the building.

 

Between 2002 and 2004, there was a major rebuilding of the great organ (known as the Voice of Jupiter), built by "Father" Henry Willis in 1871 and rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison in 1924 and 1933. The rebuilding was performed by Mander Organs, and it is now the second-largest pipe organ in the British Isles with 9,997 pipes in 147 stops. The largest is the Grand Organ in Liverpool Cathedral which has 10,268 pipes.

 

During the first half of 2011, changes were made to the backstage areas to relocate and increase the size of crew catering areas under the South Steps away from the stage and create additional dressing rooms nearer to the stage.

  

The Royal Albert Hall as seen from Prince Consort Road

From January to May 2013, the Box Office area at Door 12 underwent further modernisation to include a new Café Bar on the ground floor, a new Box Office with shop counters and additional toilets. The design and construction were carried out by contractor 8Build. Upon opening it was renamed 'The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Porch and Foyer.' owing to a large donation from the couple.

 

In Autumn 2013, work began on replacing the Victorian steam heating system over three years and improving cooling across the building. This work followed the summer Proms season during which temperatures were unusually high. Further heatwaves led to a rebuild of the Rausing Circle level in 2021 with air-cooling ventilation installed, significantly decreasing heat there during hot weather.

 

In 2017 work began on a two-story 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m2) basement extension for use as backstage and archival space to the south-west quadrant of the building. The project is nicknamed the "Great Excavation", in reference to the Great Exhibition of 1851, and was planned to be complete for the Hall's 150th anniversary in 2021. A new archive space opened in the extension on 12 October 2023.

 

In 2018 a Walk of Fame was unveiled at the Hall, with the first eleven recipients of a star including the Suffragettes (who held meetings at the Hall), Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein (both of whom delivered speeches here), Muhammad Ali (who had exhibition events at a venue he dubbed a 'helluva hall'), and Eric Clapton (who has played the venue over 200 times), among others, who were viewed as "key players" in the building's history.

 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions meant the Hall was closed in March 2020 for the first time since the Second World War. During winter 2020 it reopened for three socially distanced performances but was then closed for a second period, finally reopening to full capacity in July 2021.

 

On 11 November 2023, before the Festival of Remembrance, King Charles III and Queen Camilla unveiled two bronze statues of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as part of the Hall's 150th anniversary.

 

Design

The Hall, a Grade I listed building, is an ellipse in plan, with its external major and minor axes of 272 and 236 feet (83 and 72 meters), and its internal minor and major axis of 185 and 219 feet (56 and 67 m). The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the Hall is 135 ft (41 m) high. The Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people and has accommodated as many as 12,000 (although present-day safety restrictions mean the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,272 including standing in the Gallery).

 

Around the outside of the building is 800-foot–long terracotta mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Proceeding anti-clockwise from the north side the sixteen subjects of the frieze are:

 

Various Countries of the World bringing in their Offerings to the Exhibition of 1851

Music

Sculpture

Painting

Princes, Art Patrons and Artists

Workers in Stone

Workers in Wood and Brick

Architecture

The Infancy of the Arts and Sciences

Agriculture

Horticulture and Land Surveying

Astronomy and Navigation

A Group of Philosophers, Sages and Students

Engineering

The Mechanical Powers

Pottery and Glassmaking

Above the frieze is an inscription in 12-inch-high (30 cm) terracotta letters that combine historical fact and Biblical quotations:

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 twentieth day of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year MDCCCLXXI. Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth peace.

 

Below the Arena floor there is room for two 4,000 gallon water tanks, which are used for shows that flood the arena like Madame Butterfly.

 

The Hall has been affectionately titled "The Nation's Village Hall". The first concert was Arthur Sullivan's cantata On Shore and Sea, performed on 1 May 1871.

 

Many events are promoted by the Hall, whilst since the early 1970s promoter Raymond Gubbay has brought a range of events to the Hall including opera, ballet and classical music. Some events include classical and rock concerts, conferences, banquets, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, educational talks, motor shows, ballet, opera, film screenings and circus shows. It has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, squash, table tennis, basketball, wrestling including the first sumo wrestling tournament to be held in London as well as UFC 38 (the first UFC event to be held in the UK), tennis, and even a marathon. Tennis was first played at the Hall in March 1970, and the ATP Champions Tour Masters was played annually from 1997 to 2021.

 

The hall first hosted boxing in 1918, when it hosted a tournament between British and American servicemen. There was a colour bar in place at the Hall, preventing black boxers from fighting there, between 1923 and 1932. Greats of British boxing such as Frank Bruno, Prince Naseem Hamed, Henry Cooper and Lennox Lewis have all appeared at the venue. The hall's storied boxing history was halted in 1999 when it lost its licence to hold boxing and wrestling matches after complaints from residents about noise levels. In 2011, after a legal battle, the licence to host boxing and wrestling events was restored and boxing events resumed in 2012, taking place regularly until 2021. In 2019 Nicola Adams won the WBO Flyweight title which was the first fight for a world title at the venue since Marco Antonio Barrera took on Paul Lloyd in 1999.

 

One notable event was a Pink Floyd concert held on 26 June 1969, the night they were banned from ever playing at the Hall again after shooting cannons, nailing things to the stage, and having a man in a gorilla suit roam the audience. At one point, Rick Wright went to the pipe organ and began to play "The End of the Beginning", the final part of "Saucerful of Secrets", joined by the brass section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (led by the conductor, Norman Smith) and the ladies of the Ealing Central Amateur Choir.[49] A portion of the pipe organ recording is included on Pink Floyd's album The Endless River.

 

In 1983, Siouxsie and the Banshees performed two sold out concerts at the hall at the time their line up featured the Cure's guitarist Robert Smith. The shows were recorded and filmed for the live album and DVD Nocturne.

 

On 22 September 2011, Adele performed a one-night-only concert as part of her tour. The concert was filmed for DVD and screened at cinemas in 26 cities around the world. Her performance debuted at number one in the United States with 96,000 copies sold, the highest one-week tally for a music DVD in four years. After one week, it became the best-selling music DVD of 2011. As of 28 November 2012, it had surpassed sales of one million copies in the United States and sales of three million copies worldwide and makes the first music DVD to surpass sales of one million in the USA since Eagles' Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne in 2005 (Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Hits sold one million copies in 2007, but was a CD/DVD combination). The live version of "Set Fire to the Rain" taken from her performance won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in 2013.

 

On 2 October 2011, the Hall staged the 25th-anniversary performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which was broadcast live to cinemas across the world and filmed for DVD. Lloyd Webber, the original London cast including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, and four previous actors of the titular character, among others, were in attendance – Brightman and the previous Phantoms (aside from Crawford) performed an encore.

 

On 19 November 2012, the Hall hosted the 100th-anniversary performance of the Royal Variety Performance, attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with boy-band One Direction among the performers. The Royal Variety Performance has since returned to the Hall in 2015 and every year since 2021.

 

In 2017 the Hall hosted the 70th British Academy Film Awards, often referred to as the BAFTAs, for the first time in 20 years, replacing the Royal Opera House at which the event had been held since 2008. The BAFTAs were held regularly at the venue until moving to the Royal Festival Hall in 2023. The Olivier Awards also moved to the Albert Hall in 2017 and will return in 2024.

 

Former regular events include Classical Spectacular, a Raymond Gubbay production, which performed at the Hall from 1989 to 2022. It combined popular classical music, lights and special effects. Between 1996 and 2008, the Hall hosted the annual National Television Awards all of which were hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald, and the Classic Brit Awards were hosted annually at the Hall from 2000 to 2013, and again in 2018. The Institute of Directors' Annual Convention was synonymous with the Hall for over 50 years, taking place most years between 1961 and 2016.

 

Regular events

Royal Choral Society

The Royal Choral Society is the longest-running regular performance at the Hall, having given its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872. From 1876, it established the annual Good Friday performance of Handel's Messiah.

 

BBC Proms

The BBC Sir Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, known as "The Proms", is a popular annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts and other events at the Hall. In 1941, following the destruction of the Queen's Hall in an air raid, the Hall was chosen as the new venue for the Proms. In 1944 with increased danger to the Hall, part of the Proms season was held in the Bedford Corn Exchange. Following the end of World War II the Proms continued being held in the Hall and have done so annually every summer since. The event was founded in 1895, and now each season consists of over 70 concerts, in addition to a series of events at other venues across the United Kingdom. In 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. Jiří Bělohlávek described The Proms as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival" of all such events in the world of classical music festivals.

 

Proms (short for promenade concerts) is a term which arose from the original practice of the audience promenading, or strolling, in some areas during the concert. Proms concert-goers, particularly those who stand, are sometimes described as "Promenaders", but are most commonly referred to as "Prommers".

 

Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil has performed annually, with a show being staged at the start of most years since 1996. Cirque has had to adapt many of their touring shows to perform at the venue, modifying the set, usually built for arenas or big top tents instead. The following shows have played the RAH: Saltimbanco (1996, 1997 and 2003), Alegría (1998, 1999, 2006, 2007 and 2024), Dralion (2004 and 2005), Varekai (2008 and 2010), Quidam (2009 and 2014), Totem (2011, 2012 and 2019), Koozå (2013 and 2015), Amaluna (2016 and 2017), OVO (2018), Luzia (2020 and 2022) and Kurios (2023). Alegria's 2024 return is a revamped and updated version of the original, titled Alegria: In a New Light.

 

Classic FM Live

Classic FM hold a popular concert twice a year with a regularly changing lineup. The concert in September 2013 had to be cancelled due to a fire alert in the Hall's basement leading to an evacuation of the building

 

Festival of Remembrance

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance is held annually the day before Remembrance Sunday.

 

English National Ballet

Since 1998 the English National Ballet has had several specially staged arena summer seasons in partnership with the Hall. These include Strictly Gershwin, June 2008 and 2011, Swan Lake, June 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2024, Romeo & Juliet (Deane), June 2001 and 2005, The Sleeping Beauty, April – June 2000, and Cinderella June 2019 and 2023.

 

The Salvation Army

The Hall has a long association with The Salvation Army, hosting over 400 events since 1895. It continues to host the Salvation Army's annual Christmas concert, featuring celebrity guests and Salvation Army musicians, including the International Staff Songsters and International Staff Band.

 

Teenage Cancer Trust

Starting in 2000 the Teenage Cancer Trust has held annual charity concerts in most years. They started as a one-off event but have expanded over the years to a week or more of evening events. Roger Daltrey of The Who was intimately involved with the planning of the events until 2024, his final year in charge includes performances from Young Fathers, Noel Gallagher and The Chemical Brothers.

 

Graduation ceremonies

The Hall is used annually by the neighbouring Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art for graduation ceremonies. For several years the University of London and Kingston University also held its graduation ceremonies at the Hall.

 

National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain

§ The National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, one of the most prestigious prizes in the annual brass band contesting calendar, holds the Final of the Championship section at the Royal Albert Hall each October

 

Films, premières and live orchestra screenings

The venue has screened several films since the early silent days. It was the only London venue to show William Fox's The Queen of Sheba in the 1920s.

 

The Hall has hosted many premières, including the UK première of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, 101 Dalmatians on 4 December 1996, the European première of Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys of the Western World and four James Bond royal world premières; Die Another Day on 18 November 2002 (attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip), Skyfall on 23 October 2012 (attended by Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall), Spectre on 26 October 2015 (attended by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge) and No Time to Die on 28 September 2021 (attended by Charles, Camilla, William, Catherine).

 

The Hall held its first 3D world première of Titanic 3D, on 27 March 2012, with James Cameron and Kate Winslet in attendance. Since 2009, the Hall has also curated regular seasons of English-language film-and-live-orchestra screenings, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Interstellar, The Matrix, West Side Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Back to the Future, Jaws, the Harry Potter series, Black Panther, and the world première of Titanic Live in Concert. The only non-English-language movie to have been screened at the Hall is Baahubali: The Beginning (an Indian movie in Telugu and Tamil, but premiered Hindi dubbed version).

 

Beyond the main stage

The Hall hosts hundreds of events and activities beyond its main auditorium. There are regular free art exhibitions in the ground floor Amphi corridor, which can be viewed when attending events or on dedicated viewing dates. Visitors can take a guided tour of the Hall on most days, which includes most front-of-house areas, the auditorium, the Gallery and the Royal Retiring Room. Other tours include Behind the Scenes, Inside Out and School tours. Children's events include Storytelling and Music Sessions for ages four and under. These take place in the Door 3 Porch and Albert's Band sessions in the Elgar Room during school holidays. "Late Night Jazz" events in the Elgar Room, generally on a Thursday night, feature cabaret-style seating and a relaxed atmosphere with drinks available. "Classical Coffee Mornings" are held on Sundays in the Elgar Room with musicians from the Royal College of Music accompanied with drinks and pastries.

 

Regular performers

Eric Clapton is a regular performer at the Hall. Since 1964, Clapton has performed at the Hall over 200 times, and has stated that performing at the venue is like "playing in my front room". In December 1964, Clapton made his first appearance at the Hall with the Yardbirds. It was also the venue for his band Cream's farewell concerts in 1968 and reunion shows in 2005. He also instigated the Concert for George, which was held at the Hall on 29 November 2002 to pay tribute to Clapton's lifelong friend, former Beatle George Harrison, as well as the Jeff Beck Tribute concerts held in May 2023. Clapton passed 200 shows at the Hall in 2015 and his next concerts are scheduled for May 2024.

 

Shirley Bassey is one of the Hall's most prolific female headline performers having appeared multiple times at the venue between 1971 and 2022. Her most recent appearance in October 2022 saw her headline a celebration of 60 years of the music of James Bond, performing "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Goldfinger".

 

James Last appeared 90 times at the Hall between 1973 and 2015, making him the most frequent non–British performer to have played the venue.

 

Education and outreach programme

The hall's education and outreach programme engages with more than 200,000 people a year. It includes workshops for local teenagers led by musicians such as Foals, Jake Bugg, Emeli Sandé, Nicola Benedetti, Alison Balsom First Aid Kit and John Legend, innovative science and maths lessons, visits to local residential homes from the venue's in-house group, Albert's Band, under the 'Songbook' banner, and the Friendship Matinee: an orchestral concert for community groups, with £5 admission. Each year, the hall runs the "Future Makers" competition to discover and support emerging talent from across London, where eight acts are chosen for the finals to perform in front of a live audience as well as a panel of industry professionals. One winning act is selected to receive a tailored package of support from the Royal Albert Hall and industry partners. Last year's winner was Amity Miller, a hotly tipped young singer songwriter.

 

Management

The Hall is managed day to day by the chief executive James Ainscough and six senior executives. They are accountable to the council of the corporation, which is the trustee body of the charity. The council is composed of the annually elected president, currently Ian McCulloch, 18 elected members (either corporate or individual seat owners) and five appointed members, one each from Imperial College London, Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, British Museum of Natural History and the Royal College of Music.

It seems no stopping for Janatha garaje on boxoffice although intially movie got mixed talk film improved very much gradually now film crossed 50 Cr WW “SHARE” in 4 Days Weekend and emerged as the 2nd fastest to achieve the feat after the Baahubali

  

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