Quite the day for musical Anglophiles!

In addition to it being the birthdays today of Sir William Walton and Sir Richard Rodney Bennet, it’s also the 150th anniversary of the opening of Royal Albert Hall.

Wagner conducted there. Hitchcock filmed there. Muhammad Ali fought there.

The hall was opened by Queen Victoria in 1871.

Of course, at this point, a lot of emphasis is being placed on the popular bands and singers who performed there. I don’t know why, but I have never had the slightest interest in rock music. I continue to scratch my head at the rest of the world.

Here’s an article on the history of Albert Hall that includes some of its quirkier events (still a little weak on the classical music, which you’d probably expect from the derogatory use of “stuffy” in the first sentence):

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-56428543

Hate to refer you to the Wikipedia page, but it’s got more information than most:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Albert_Hall

Footage of Royal Albert Hall in 1967:

Hitchcock filmed the climax of both versions of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” there, in 1934 and 1956. Bernard Herrmann is seen conducting the orchestra in the 1956 version. Don’t watch the clip if you haven’t seen the film yet and plan to do so!

Audio of Elgar conducting his “Enigma Variations” there in 1926:

Vaughan Williams conducting his Symphony No. 5 there in 1952: