Concert halls - Victoria Hall Stoke on Trent

[Dave2002]

I notice that there's to be a concert of Beethoven's music next Friday in Victoria Hall Stoke on Trent. What's that venue actually like?
From images it looks like a "shoebox" proportioned hall - possibly of some vintage. Are the acoustics any good?

[Petrushka]

Dave, this could be called my 'local' hall. I attended many concerts there in the 1970s, mostly Halle/Loughran, but also my very first classical concert, RPO/Kempe. The most amazing concert I attended there was an amateur performance of Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony in which the stalls had been taken out and the conductor literally had his back to the wall!

I've not been there for some years and the hall has since been refurbished but the famed acoustics have reportedly not been affected. Yes, it's a traditional shoe-box shape opened in 1888. There's a pretty good organ there as well. At one time it was also part of Hanley Town Hall so when I used to walk in there were posters and leaflets about housing, benefits etc but all that's gone now.

If you want a testimonial, you can't get much better than Sir John Barbirolli for whom this hall was a favourite.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I did my PGCE at Madeley College of Education in the early 1970s. We were required to attend a concert for schools at the Victoria Hall, and were told it was one of the finest concert halls in the country. Our reaction was initially: "Yeah, right! Just the locals kidding themselves." But it really was magnificent. I've never been anywhere better.

[Dave2002]

I did my PGCE at Madeley College of Education in the early 1970s. We were required to attend a concert for schools at the Victoria Hall, and were told it was one of the finest concert halls in the country. Our reaction was initially: "Yeah, right! Just the locals kidding themselves." But it really was magnificent. I've never been anywhere better.

Interesting. I shall make more effort to listen to that Beethoven concert on Friday then.

I always thought the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool was one of the best, but now you're making me think that a trip to Stoke might be worthwhile. Do they have many concerts?

[Petrushka]

http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/victoria-hall/

Like most such halls out in the provinces these days the number of classical concerts has declined. I was present at some pretty good concerts back in the 1970s with the conductors such as Norman Del Mar, Sir Charles Groves and Vladimir Ashkenazy in one of his first appearances on the podium. The Halle were frequent visitors at that time and as well as Loughran I saw them with Arvid Jansons (father of Mariss). Sadly, I missed Barbirolli by a couple of years but was thrilled at the age of 17 to catch Rudolf Kempe.

[Dave2002]

http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/victoria-hall/

Like most such halls out in the provinces these days the number of classical concerts has declined. I was present at some pretty good concerts back in the 1970s with the conductors such as Norman Del Mar, Sir Charles Groves and Vladimir Ashkenazy in one of his first appearances on the podium. The Halle were frequent visitors at that time and as well as Loughran I saw them with Arvid Jansons (father of Mariss). Sadly, I missed Barbirolli by a couple of years but was thrilled at the age of 17 to catch Rudolf Kempe.

The concert on 7th Feb, 2014, looks decent enough. Tchaikovsky symphony 2 isn't performed too often these days, though I did hear it earlier this year, and I also made an effort to hear Tchaikovsky 1, which is hard to find in a live performance.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This thread has made me determined to make the journey to Stoke to attend one of their concerts.

[Dave2002]

This thread has made me determined to make the journey to Stoke to attend one of their concerts.

I am seriously considering it, too. If there were also something good on in Manchester, Liverpool or Birmingham around the same time as the 7th February concert I'd perhaps arrange a few days tour.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Interesting that the "Best of Beethoven" concert on Friday consists of only two works by Beethoven (the Fidelio Overture and the Second Piano Concerto) plus the Sixth Symphony (the Pastorale - by Brahms).

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Interesting that the "Best of Beethoven" concert on Friday consists of only two works by Beethoven (the Fidelio Overture and the Second Piano Concerto) plus the Sixth Symphony (the Pastorale - by Brahms).