The Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall located in the northern edge of South Kensington in London, which has held the Proms concerts every summer since 1941. The Hall was opened by Queen Victoria in 1871. On its debut, it played the host to various world’s famous artists from many different performance genres. At that point it became one of the most distinctive and treasured sites in the United Kingdom.

History

The Royal Albert Hall is a 41 m (135 ft) high Grade I listed building with the audience capacity of 5,272 guests. This amazing venue is the location for some of the most significant events in British culture. Every year it hosts more than 390 shows including classical, rock and pop concerts, opera, ballet, film screenings with accompaniment of live orchestra, award ceremonies, banquets and charity performances. Queen Victoria laid the Hall’s foundation stone in 1967, in memory of her husband- Prince Albert. The first concert was Arthur Sullivan’s cantata “On Shore and Sea”, which was performed on 1 May 1871.  The hall is not limited to musical events only. In its rich history it has hosted many sport events, including basketball, table tennis, boxing, wrestling, as well as, UFC 38 which was the first UFC event held in the UK! Since 1970 the Hall also guests ATP Champions Tour Masters which is one of the major tennis events.

 

“The Proms” in RAH

One of the most famous regular events organised in the Hall are Sir Henry’s Wood Promenade Concerts, popularly known as “The Proms” which are annual eight-week summer season daily classic music concerts. It is also the host of world famous Classic Brit Awards, Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance held a day before the Remembrance Day, Institute of Directors, English National Ballet, Teenage Cancer Trust, and graduation ceremonies of Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art.

See also The Victoria and Albert Museum.

Here are some interesting facts in Connect Click opinion:

• The Royal Albert Hall has curated regular seasons of film-and-live-orchestra screenings, including Gladiator, The Matrix, Westside Story, Breakfast at Tiffany’s or the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
• Eric Clapton has been a regular performer at the Hall for almost 20 years and has made more than 200 performances during that period of time.
• 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”