WIGMORE HALL : 1901-2001 - A
CELEBRATION
Ed. Julia MacRae
Wigmore Hall Trust £15.00 ISBN 0-9539581-0-8 224pp.
If there is one common thread of praise from performers and audiences alike
about the Wigmore Hall it is its intimacy, wonderful acoustics, and unique
atmosphere. When it was built in 1901 Thomas Collcutt's design was called
the Bechstein Hall, after the piano makers, but the anti-German feeling
understandably prevalent during the First World War forced a change of name
to that of the street in which the hall is located. For many years artists
hired the hall, most of them making debut appearances to kick-start their
careers, which in turn tended to give rise to reluctance on the part of
established musicians who did not wish their publicity to be surrounded by
that given to debutantes. Over the years though there were always those who
remained loyal, especially with the opening of the rival smaller halls on
the South Bank in the 1960s, especially the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Go backstage
to the Green Room or Gerald Moore Room and there you will find a veritable
galaxy of framed photographs of stars, too numerous to enumerate here, going
back to Busoni and to the present day Songmakers' Almanac.
This paperback history, lavishly illustrated with photographs and posters
old and new, is a real bargain at fifteen pounds. The current General Manager,
who seems to have made it an early ambition to run the Hall even from far
afield as his native Australia, contributes a personal view after Janet Baker's
foreword. That master of combining music and sociology, Cyril Ehrlich, describes
its history in his ever-readable style, then there are chapters devoted to
designing concert programmes, a chapter each about pianists and singers who
have given more concerts there than other instrumentalists, birthday greetings
from living artists who appear there regularly, the critic Alan Blyth's memories
having attended events there for half a century (such as singer Muriel
Brunskill's 'formidable presence with her handbag plonked on the piano lid'),
Graham Johnson (Gerald Moore's natural successor) on programme planning,
contributions from the Friends of the Hall (an opportunity for some of the
groundlings to be heard), a fascinating analysis of the famed acoustics of
the Hall, an intriguing article by Andrew Payne on out-of-the-ordinary events
such as Music Hall, Concert Parties, dancing displays, pupils' concerts for
the benefit of teachers to sell their skills to parents (remarkably the last
one was only 30 years ago), demonstrations and lectures, jazz and comedy.
Finally there's a chapter with contributions from those who sustain the Hall
from behind the scenes.
A compellingly enjoyable book, it may constitute self-congratulatory
navel-gazing, but as far as music in London is concerned, it's the most beautiful
navel in town.
Christopher Fifield
ORDERING DETAILS
The Wigmore Hall Trust
36 Wigmore St
LONDON W1U 2BP
Tel 0207 486 1907
fax 0207 224 3800
There's a charge of £2 for postage and packing
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