London: Royal Festival Hall

Country: England, United Kingdom City: London SE1 Location: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road Country: England, United Kingdom

Ticket 2 Nov 2002, concert performance of Meyerbeer's "Margherita d'Anjou"

Concert hall, built 1949-1951 by Sir Robert H. Matthews and Leslie Martin with E. Williams and Peter Moro (acoustics consultants: Hope Bagenal with H. R. Humphreys, P. H. Parkin, and W. A. Allen) as a contribution of the London County Council to the Festival of Britain 1951. Opened 1951 with a concert of British music, attended by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The concert hall can be converted to a theatre by erecting a proscenium arch. 1954 installation of the "Festival Hall Organ" by Ralph Downes. 1964 installation of an "assisted resonance system". Home to the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Used for symphonic concerts, and jazz, rock, dance, and world music performances. 2909 seats. Royal Festival Hall was the first part of the Southbank Centre to be opened. Other concert halls, theatres, and museums like Queen Elizabeth Hall (917 seats), Purcell Room (370 seats), Royal National Theatre, National Film Theatre, Hayward Gallery, Museum of the Moving Image, and Saison Poetry Library followed, making Southbank Centre one of the largest cultural centres in the world. Link: www.rfh.org.uk

Front Text: "Royal Festival Hall", inscription: "Royal Festival Hall" Publisher: Jarrold and Sons Ltd., Norwich; Festival of Britain 1951 Post Card Type: Divided Back Size: Classic Not sent.

Picture: left: Queen Elizabeth Hall/Purcell Room, middle: Royal Festival Hall, right: Shell Tower Reverse Text: "Royal Festival Hall and the Shell Centre" Publisher: Floodlite, London; PT8041 Type: Divided Back Size: Classic Not sent.

Reverse Text: "Maria Callas and Giuseppe di Stefano, Royal Festival Hall, 26th November 1973" Publisher: Royal Festival Hall; "50 Years"; 0142 Size: 21.0 x 14.7 cm Not sent.

Reverse Text: "Diana Atkinson, The Art of the Fugue, 1990, (The Royal Festival Hall Organ), Oil on canvas, 93 x 60 cm, Private Collection, England" Publisher: The Hayward Gallery, SBC, London Size: Modern Not sent.

Picture: left: Queen Elizabeth Hall/Purcell Room, right: Royal Festival Hall Reverse Text: "Royal Festival Hall as taken from the Embankment" Publisher: SBC, London; C21002X Size: Modern Not sent.

Reverse Text: "Royal Festival Hall interior" Publisher: SBC, London; C21003X Size: Modern Not sent.

Reverse Text: "Royal Festival Hall Auditorium" Publisher: Royal Festival Hall; "50 Years"; 0141 Size: 14.7 x 21.0 cm Not sent.