Amsterdam · Museumplein
Royal Concertgebouw
A shoebox hall from 1888 that most conductors put in their top three in the world
The Wednesday lunchtime concert, free, in the main hall
Built in a meadow outside the city in 1888 because land was cheap there, the hall got its acoustics partly by accident and has been measured, copied and never quite equalled since. The reverberation is long and warm, the stage is narrow, and the staircase behind the orchestra means conductors make an entrance down fifteen steps in full view.
Its resident orchestra has been among the world's best for a century, and the hall programmes around nine hundred concerts a year, more than any comparable venue, which keeps ticket prices sane.
The detail
Good to know
- Opened
- 1888
- Main hall
- 1 974 seats
- Concerts
- About 900 per year
- Free
- Wednesday lunchtime, 12:30
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