300px|thumb|Royal Albert Hall
'''The Royal Albert Hall''' - sala koncertowa w Wiktorii, Albertowi. The Royal Albert Hall mieści się w dzielnicy South Kensington w centralnym Londynie - w rejonie znanym powszechnie jako Albertopolis. The Royal Albert Memorial jest częścią pomnika upamiętniającego Alberta - niedaleko znajduje się Albert Memorial, pomnik ku czci męża zaprojektowany przez samą królową Wiktorię. The Hall jest także miejscem gdzie są największe w Wielkiej Brytanii organy, oraz jest siedzibą The Proms.

Od samego otwarcia przez samą królową Wiktorię, dnia 29 marca 1871 roku, The Royal Albert Hall był miejscem różnych wydarzeń kulturalnych, koncertów, konferencji,  balów i odczytów naukowych. Miały tam miejsce również imprezy sportowe, jak chociażby pierwsze poza Japonią zawody sumo. The Hall ma kształt owalny i mieści 8 000 ludzi, choć może zmieścić więcej (uniemożliwiają to względy bezpieczeństwa).

== Słynne Koncerty ==
* 1992 - światowej sławy diva Fairuz
* Cream
* 2004 - koncert Roda Stewarta
* 2, 3, 5 i 6 maja 2005 - koncert reaktywacyjny zespołu Cream.
* 18.02 1969 i 24.02 1969-dwa występy The Jimi Hendrix Experience

== Linki zewnętrzne ==
*[http://www.royalalberthall.com/ Strona oficjalna]
*[http://www.victorianlondon.org/buildings/alberthall.htm Albert Hall]

thumb|right|Interior of the Royal Albert Hall.
thumb|right|Exterior of the Royal Albert Hall.

The '''Royal Albert Hall''' is an arts venue situated in the Knightsbridge area of the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941.

The Royal Albert Hall is one of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, recognisable the world over.  Since its opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from every kind of performance genre have appeared on its stage.  Each year it hosts more than 350 performances including classical concerts, rock and pop, ballet and opera, tennis, award ceremonies, school and community events, charity performances and lavish banquets.

The Hall was originally supposed to have been called '''The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences''', but the name was changed by Queen Victoria to '''Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences''' when laying the foundation stone as a dedication to her husband and consort, Prince Albert. It forms the practical part of a national memorial to the pipe organ in the UK (Liverpool Cathedral regains the title with the addition of the Central organ), and is the home of The Proms.

As the best known building within the cultural complex known as Albertopolis, the Hall is commonly and erroneously thought to lie within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The Hall is actually within the area of the City of Westminster.  The site was part of the former Kensington Gore estate which was historically part of Knightsbridge.

==Introduction==
thumb|The opening ceremony on [[March 29, 1871]]

Since its opening by Queen Victoria on March 29 1871 the Royal Albert Hall has played host to a multitude of different events and legendary figures and has been affectionately titled 'The Nation's Village Hall'.  On May 1 1871, Arthur Sullivan's cantata, ''On Shore and Sea'' played at the hall.<ref>[http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/sullchoral.htm#on_shore_and_sea From the G&S discography site]</ref>  

As well as hosting the Proms every summer since they were bombed out of the Queen's Hall in 1941, the Hall has been used for classical and rock concerts, conferences, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, education, ballet, opera and even circus shows. It has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, wrestling (including the first Sumo wrestling tournament ever to be held outside Japan) and tennis. It also hosts the annual Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, held the day before Remembrance Sunday.
thumb|left|''The Triumph of Arts and Sciences''
The hall, a Grade I m (272 feet) by 72 m (238 ft) around the outside, and has a capacity of 8,000 people and has accommodated as many as 9,000 (although modern safety restrictions mean that the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,544 including standing in the Gallery).  The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the hall is 41 m (135 ft) high. 

Around the outside of the hall is a great mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Proceeding anti-clockwise from the north side the sixteen subjects of the frieze are: 
''(1) Various Countries of the World bringing in their Offerings to the Exhibition of 1851; (2) Music; (3) Sculpture; (4) Painting; (5) Princes, Art Patrons and Artists; (6) Workers in Stone; (7) Workers in Wood and Brick;  (8) Architecture; (9) The Infancy of the Arts and Sciences; (10) Agriculture; (11) Horticulture and Land Surveying; (12) Astronomy and Navigation; (13) A Group of Philosophers, Sages and Students; (14) Engineering; (15) The Mechanical Powers; and (16) Pottery and Glassmaking''. 

thumb|right|More of ''The Triumph of Arts and Sciences'', showing [[Peterborough Cathedral]]
Above the frieze is an inscription in one-foot high terracotta letters.  This combines historical fact and Biblical quotations: "''This hall was erected for the advancement of the arts and sciences and works of industry of all nations in fulfilment of the intention of Albert Prince Consort.  The site was purchased with the proceeds of the Great Exhibition of the year MDCCCLI.  The first stone of the Hall was laid by Her Majesty Queen Victoria on the twentieth day of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year MDCCCLXXI.  Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty.  For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine.  The wise and their works are in the hand of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth peace.''"

== History ==
thumb|left|The first ever performance at the Royal Albert Hall, [[March 29, 1871]]

In 1851 the Hyde Park, London, for which the so-called Crystal Palace was built. The exhibition was a great success and led Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, to propose that a permanent series of facilities be built in the area for the enlightenment of the public. Progress on the scheme was slow and in 1861 Prince Albert died, without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite. The proposal was approved and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. Once the remaining funds had been raised, in April 1867 Queen Victoria signed the Royal Charter of the '''The Corporation of the Hall of Arts and Sciences''' which was to operate the Hall and on 20 May, laid the foundation stone.

The Hall was designed by Major-General Henry Y.D. Scott of the Lucas Brothers.<ref>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/49439 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]</ref>  The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum.   The recently-opened ''Cirque d'Hiver'' in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo. The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Ltd. of Tamworth. The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) on top was made of steel and glazed. There was a trial assembly made of the steel framework of the dome in Manchester, then it was taken apart again and transported down to London via horse and cart. When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after re-assembly in situ, only volunteers remained on site in case the structure dropped. It did drop - but only by five-eighths of an inch! The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870 and the Queen visited a few days beforehand to inspect. She was reported as saying "It looks like the British Constitution".
thumb|right|Postcard of the Royal Albert Hall (circa 1903) with an inset of the [[Albert Memorial]]
The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak, so the Prince had to announce that "The Queen declares this Hall is now open". A concert followed, when the Hall's acoustic problems became immediately apparent. These were not properly tackled until 1969 when a series of large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed in the roof to cut down the notorious echo. It used to be said that the hall was the only place where a British composer could be sure of hearing his work twice.

Initially lit by gas (when thousands of gas jets were lit by a special system within 10 seconds), full electric lighting was installed in 1897. During an earlier trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to ''The Times'' newspaper declaring it to be " a very ghastly and unpleasant innovation".

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire, the occasion being the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.

thumb|left|A 1986 photo of the Albert Hall looking north and west. This shows the small South Porch replaced during the 2000 refurbishment.
The Hall has more recently undergone a rolling programme (1996 - 2004) of renovation and development to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances. Thirty "discrete projects" were undertaken by BDP without disrupting events <ref>http://www.buildingdesignpartnership.co.uk/flash/index.asp#p_rah retrieved 14 March 2007</ref>.  Although the exterior of the building is largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow reconstruction of the original underground vehicle access to take modern vehicles.  The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch on the same scale and in the same style as the three pre-existing porches: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow Construction<ref>[http://www.bdp.co.uk/html/news/2003/Royal_Albert_Hall_South_Porch_47.asp Royal Albert Hall South Porch]</ref>.