The Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall

Frank Sinatra, Pavarotti and The Beatles all performed at the Royal Albert Hall - and even Winston Churchill spoke there.

But when and why was it built and who does the Hall hope will fill its 7,000 seats?

Before you listen to the programme, have a look at these comprehension questions. You'll hear the answers during the programme.

1: Who is the Royal Albert Hall named after?
2: The area where the Royal Albert Hall was built has a special name; what is it?
3: The suffix 'polis' is used to form a combined noun. What does it mean?
4: The Chief Executive Officer says the Hall is not 'elitist'. What does he mean by that? 

Vocabulary from the programme

commissioned
requested and paid for
e.g. He commissioned a special building for the country to use.

steward
a person whose job it is to look after a building, especially during events
e.g. The steward made sure everyone had left after the meeting before he locked up the building.

creepy
if you find something 'creepy', it makes you feel nervous and a little bit frightened
e.g. I don't like being by myself in the office after dark; it's creepy.

haunted
visited regularly or lived in by ghosts which are the spirits or souls of dead people

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Extras

To get to the original BBC page click here

Programme script (pdf - 22 k)
Download this programme (mp3 - 2.2 mb) 

More on The Royal Albert Hall

Yvonne: Frank Sinatra, Pavarotti and The Beatles all performed here – and even

Winston Churchill spoke here. Today, join me, Yvonne Archer on a visit to the

Royal Albert Hall with London Life from bbclearningenglish.com!

The Royal Albert Hall is a wonderful, round building in London which was

officially opened in 1871. It was named after and 'commissioned' by Queen

Victoria's husband and Consort, Prince Albert – so he arranged for it to be built

and paid for it. Prince Albert's dream was that the country should always have

a place to celebrate the arts, industry and sciences. But did The Royal Albert

Hall make his dream come true? Let's hear from a tour guide…

CLIP FROM GUIDED TOUR

Everything Albert dreamed of came true. And do you know, even today, this area is still

known as Albertopolis. Isn't that lovely? I want one of them. What do you think?

Yvonne: Sadly, Prince Albert died 10 years before the Royal Albert Hall was finished,

but as it's still being used today, I think it's fair to say that his dream did come

true! Here's another chance to hear that short clip again, but this time, try to

catch the unofficial name for the area where The Royal Albert Hall was built…

CLIP FROM GUIDED TOUR

Everything Albert dreamed of came true. And do you know, even today, this area is still

known as Albertopolis. Isn't that lovely? I want one of them. What do you think

Yvonne: Hmmm – I don't think Yvonneopolis has quite the same ring as Albertopolis,

do you? As we heard, the area where The Royal Albert Hall is built is still

known as 'Albertopolis'. This suggests that it's one of the most important

buildings in the area - and that Albert was a man of the people.

The suffix 'polis' – spelt P-O-L-I-S… comes from the Greek for 'city' and the

Latin for 'belonging to the people' – so as the tour guide suggested, it's a lovely

suffix to add to a name. Other places which also make use of the suffix 'polis'

include the Acropolis in Greece, Teresópolis and Petrópolis in Brazil, which

are believed to have been named after Teresa and Peter of the Portuguese royal

family. And of course, who can forget the Metropolis in the film "Superman"?!

Is there an important place or building where you live that uses the suffix 'polis'?

Who's it named after? And is there anyone who you think should be honoured

in this way?

IDENT

Yvonne: Linda Clifford is the longest serving steward at the Royal Albert Hall and is

now Head Steward. She started working there in 1986 and told us about two

very special ladies who visit the Hall once a year. Who are they – or at least –

who do you think they were?

Linda Clifford

There are several ghosts. Two ladies that walk just below us on a certain day in the year. Now

I've been here when the lights have been switched off. I have to admit, it's quite creepy. The

doors creak and you could turn around and – maybe there was something there? Yvonne: Perhaps the two ladies were performers who appeared at the Royal Albert Hall

in the past. And maybe one of them could even be Queen Victoria?! Well,

whether you believe in ghosts or not, Linda says there are several at the Royal

Albert Hall… it's 'haunted'! So with the lights off, the ghosts and the creaking

doors, it's a 'creepy' building – it's a bit frightening and eerie.

Linda Clifford

There are several ghosts. Two ladies that walk just below us on a certain day in the year. Now

I've been here when the lights have been switched off. I have to admit, it's quite creepy. The

doors creak and you could turn around and – maybe there was something there?

Yvonne: Probably best known as the venue for the Proms, the Royal Albert Hall can

seat 7,000 people and over 300 performances take place there each year. But

what type of people do they hope will come to those performances? Listen out

for the terms 'cross section' and 'narrow section' which mean opposite things as

the Chief Executive at the Royal Albert Hall explains…

Chief Executive, Royal Albert Hall

What we're looking for is a balance of programming over the course of a year that enables us

to provide something for everybody so that we can reach young, old – really, an entire cross-section. Because the one thing the hall is not about is being elitist and only appealing to a

narrow section of the audience.

Yvonne: Performances at the Royal Albert Hall are carefully designed to 'reach' or

attract all types of people. The Chief Executive says it isn't 'elitist' – so it isn't

just for very rich, powerful and privileged people to use. And that was

certainly Prince Albert's dream!