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London · Venue

Wigmore Hall

A 552-seat London hall built for pianos, shaped around chamber music, song and exacting acoustics.

Upcoming shows
267
Address
36 Wigmore Street, W1U 2BP London
Phone
020 7935 2141
Next show
Wed, 30 Sept 2026
Official siteDirections
Wigmore Hall in London

About Wigmore Hall

Wigmore Hall is a 552-seat concert venue in London whose scale turns a recital into a close-range encounter. Built by the Bechstein piano firm, it opened in 1901 beside the company’s showroom; its calling card remains the crystalline acoustic beneath Gerald Moira’s Arts and Crafts cupola, painted above the stage. For chamber music and song, the room’s intimacy is the main event.

A piano showroom’s concert hall, renamed in wartime

The hall began life as Bechstein Hall, commissioned by the German piano manufacturer as a place to demonstrate its instruments. Architect Thomas Collcutt designed its marble-lined, gilded interior, while Moira’s cupola set Love and Psyche around a symbolic figure of music. Opening galas on 31 May and 1 June 1901 featured Ferruccio Busoni, Eugène Ysaÿe, Vladimir de Pachmann and Raimund von Zur-Mühlen.

The First World War changed the name above the door. Bechstein’s British property passed into government control; the building went to auction in 1916 and reopened as Wigmore Hall in 1917. Historic England records the original Bechstein showroom directly beside the hall, a reminder that this refined concert room began as a manufacturer’s showcase.

A later anniversary supplied a concise piece of Wigmore theatre: during the 1976 75th-birthday series, pianist Arthur Rubinstein ended his recital by announcing that it had been his farewell concert.

The room today

Wigmore Hall programs chamber and instrumental music, early music and song at its core, with repertoire reaching from the Renaissance to contemporary jazz and new commissions. Its curatorial approach places leading soloists and ensembles beside young artists making London debuts. Expect a seated auditorium, a direct view of the stage from a compact room, air-cooled facilities and the cupola overhead; the setting favours focused listening over a casual bar-led night out.

Sources

  1. About Us / History of Wigmore Hall — Wigmore Hall
  2. History of Wigmore Hall — Wigmore Hall
  3. Wigmore Hall archive photograph: half dome over the stage — Historic England

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