Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London.
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28 Facts About Albert Hall
2.
The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House, but it was slow to act, and in 1861 Prince Albert Hall died without having seen his ideas come to fruition.
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3.
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.
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4.
The Albert Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Limited of Tamworth.
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5.
The Albert Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870, and the Queen visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.
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6.
In 1906 Elsie Fogerty founded the Central School of Speech and Drama at the Albert Hall, using its West Theatre, now the Elgar Room, as the school's theatre.
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7.
In 1933 German physicist Albert Einstein led the 'Einstein Meeting' at the hall for the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, a British charity.
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8.
In 1936, the Albert Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire on the occasion of the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.
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9.
In October 1942, the Albert 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.
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10.
In 1968, the Albert Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 and from 1969 to 1988 the Miss World contest was staged in the venue.
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11.
Albert Hall, a Grade I listed building, is an ellipse in plan, with its external major and minor axes of 272 and 236 feet, and its internal minor and major axis of 185 and 219 feet.
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12.
The Albert Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people and has accommodated as many as 12,000.
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13.
Albert Hall first hosted boxing in 1918, when it hosted a tournament between British and American servicemen.
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14.
On 6 April 1968, the Albert Hall hosted the Eurovision Song Contest which was broadcast in colour for the first time.
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15.
Albert Hall performed at the Hall as part of his On an Island Tour.
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16.
Between 1996 and 2008, the Albert Hall hosted the annual National Television Awards all of which were hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.
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17.
On 2 October 2011, the Albert 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.
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18.
Albert Hall's 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.
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19.
On 19 November 2012, the Albert 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.
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20.
Also in 2017, the Albert 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.
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21.
Albert Hall has a long association with The Salvation Army, hosting over 400 events since 1895.
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22.
Albert Hall is used annually by the neighbouring Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art for graduation ceremonies.
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23.
Albert Hall has hosted many premieres, including the UK premiere of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, 101 Dalmatians on 4 December 1996, the European premiere of Spandau Ballet's Soul Boys of the Western World and four James Bond royal world premieres; Die Another Day on 18 November 2002, Skyfall on 23 October 2012, Spectre on 26 October 2015 and No Time to Die on 28 September 2021.
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24.
Albert Hall held its first 3D world premiere of Titanic 3D, on 27 March 2012, with James Cameron and Kate Winslet in attendance.
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25.
Since 2009, the Albert Hall has 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 premiere of Titanic Live in Concert.
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26.
Albert Hall 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.
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27.
Albert Hall is managed day to day by the chief executive Craig Hassall and six senior executives.
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28.
Hitchcock was a long-time patron of the Albert Hall and had already set the finale of his 1927 film The Ring at the venue, as well as his first version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best and Peter Lorre.
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