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Wigmore
Hall at 100
London's favorite chamber-music venue
celebrates a century of music making
by Inge Kjemtrup
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This year Wigmore Hall is celebrating 100 years as
the jewel in the crown of London’s music scene. Since it began as
Bechstein Hall in 1901 as a showpiece for a German piano firm, the
hall has attracted performers who appreciate both its fine acoustics
and its discriminating audiences. "The audience listens with
a keenness that is a kind of participation," wrote a critic in
1934. Cellist Peter Wiley of the Beaux Arts Trio once exclaimed, "Wigmore
Hall dares you to excel."
Wigmore’s Art Deco entrance on Wigmore Street is a
short walk from the bustle of Oxford Street. Once inside, the full
impact of architect Thomas Collcutt’s Renaissance-inspired design
is realized, especially in the alabaster and marble on the floors,
walls, and stairway. In the hall itself, one’s eye is drawn to the
stage and the cupola above, which is decorated with an extraordinary
mural (and which benefited from a thorough cleaning during a major
refurbishment of the hall in the early 1990s).
Paula Best, Wigmore’s affable publications manager
and archivist, leafs through huge scrapbooks crammed with programs
and flyers advertising performances by such luminaries as violinist
Joseph Joachim, who offered a series of Brahms’ chamber music in 1906.
"It’s easy to forget that Brahms had been dead for less than
a decade when these concerts took place," she remarks. Best has
been overseeing the slow process of restoring the often-fragile archival
material and is seeking to complete the collection—there’s a major
gap of material from the late 1940s to the 1950s.
Some first-rate talent has graced the stage at Wigmore
Hall. The very first program, on May 31, 1901, featured violinist
Eugène Ysaÿe and pianist Ferruccio Busoni. Many artists
made their debuts here, including a 16-year-old Jacqueline du Pré,
who played her cello to a packed house in 1963. The Amadeus Quartet
sold out its first concert in 1948, and the Lindsay launched onto
the quartet scene in 1975. The signed photographs of the artists that
line several walls provide further evidence of the number of greats
who have passed through.
It’s clear that taste in programming has changed over
100 years. Pre–World War I programs sought to balance "heavy
music" with "light relief"—one typical evening included
a soloist, a narrator, and an "American humourist." More
substantial fare was sometimes available from the Rose Quartet, the
Joachim Quartet, or any number of pianists, including Myra Hess and
Edwin Fischer.
Historian Cyril Ehrlich, a contributor to a new book
published by the Wigmore Hall Trust (Wigmore Hall 1901–2001: A
Celebration, edited by Julia MacRae), would happily draw a veil
over the period just after World War I. A casualty of anti-German
sentiment, the hall and its effects were sold in 1916 to the Debenhams
department store. It was renamed Wigmore Hall, German pianos were
banned, and Schumann and Wagner were sung in English. Audiences were
small and their mediocre tastes reflected what Ehrlich calls "a
culture of inconsequence."
By contrast, the 1930s were golden years, in part
due to an exodus of artists from Nazi Germany. During a few weeks
in 1938, for example, concerts were given by the Busch Quartet, the
Budapest Quartet, and the New Hungarian Quartet. In the next decades,
although the hall survived the Blitz, it became somewhat neglected
as attention was focused on the construction of new halls across London.
Programming was erratic, publicity was nonexistent, and concerts were
often "papered" (with free tickets) to fill the hall.
This was the sorry state in which William Lyne found
Wigmore in the mid-1960s. Lyne was on a year’s sabbatical from the
Australian Broadcasting Commission when he became assistant manager
at the hall. Made manager in 1966, the young Australian quickly began
production of monthly schedules, coordinated the programming, and
started subscription series. The first series, in 1979–80, featured
the chamber music of Fauré and was an immediate success, although
piano recitals continued to dominate the hall’s schedule for many
years.
In fact it was a pianist, Artur Rubinstein, who set
the spark that brought Wigmore back to vigorous life. Asked by Lyne
to play in the hall’s 75th-anniversary series in 1976, Rubinstein
readily agreed, brushing aside any suggestion of fees or expenses.
"I’m doing it for the hall," he explained. Inspired by its
sympathetic acoustics and audiences, Rubinstein and other luminaries
from the anniversary concerts returned for more, paving the way for
other world-class performers. Today Lyne’s balanced programming, along
with a quartet residency program, ensure that young artists such as
the Skampa and Belcea Quartets also get a chance to shine.
Programs by popular groups are often sold out even before
the monthly brochures appear, so it’s best to check out the Web site
(www.wigmore-hall.org.uk)
and reserve tickets well in advance. There are about nine concerts
per week, including a Monday lunchtime concert that is broadcast on
BBC Radio 3. The hall is closed in August for necessary repairs and
to give the staff a breather.
With its new Web site and a well-attended anniversary
season underway, Wigmore Hall, now a nonprofit trust, is set to continue
its role as London’s foremost shrine to music.
