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'Wigmore Hall' is a leading recital venue that specialises in chamber music and is best known for classical piano recitals. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK.
Originally named the 'Bechstein Hall', it was built between 1899 and 1901 for Bechstein, the German piano manufacturer whose showroom was next door. The hall was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt, who also designed the Savoy Hotel on The Strand. Similar concert halls were also built by Bechstein in Saint Petersburg and Paris.
The building follows the Renaissance style, using alabaster and marble walls to furnish a flat, rectangular hall with a small raised stage area complete with a cupola depicting the Soul of Music above. The hall is considered to have excellent acoustics. It was refurbished in 2004 and was widely praised for being completed on time and on budget. In 2005, the Wigmore Hall Trust purchased the freehold of the building.
The "Bechstein Hall" opened on 31 May 1901 with a concert featuring the virtuoso pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni and violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. During its early period, the hall attracted great artists like Artur Schnabel, Pablo Sarasate, Percy Grainger, Myra Hess, Arthur Rubinstein and Camille Saint-Saëns.
Because of its German ownership, the hall was seized as ''enemy property'' during World War I. The hall with over 130 pianos was sold at an auction to Debenhams for a fraction of its value and was re-opened as 'Wigmore Hall' in 1917. Many great artists including Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Sergey Prokofiev, Shura Cherkassky, Paul Hindemith, Andrés Segovia, Benjamin Britten and Francis Poulenc have performed there.
The Wigmore Hall's current director is 34 year-old Irishman, John Gilhooly, a classical singer. He joined the Wigmore Hall as CEO in 2000 and became Artistic Director in addition in 2005. His predecessor as Artistic Director was Paul Kildea. William Lyne served as director from 1966-2003.
The Wigmore Hall also publishes on its own record label "Wigmore Hall live" recordings of concerts by prominent artists that had taken place. The label recently entered the classical charts with a recital by the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.

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External links

See also

★ List of major concert halls

External links

★ Official Wigmore Hall Web Site