I have been attending concerts at the Southbank, recitals and orchestral, since 1969. I can attest to the fact the audience composition has changed little in terms of the preponderance of silver hair over that time. But the saddest thing is the sharp decline in total audience size over the last few years.I have seen this in concerts of all types. I was surprised to see a concert with the Suisse Romande Orchestra and Berekovsky in the Grieg Concerto less than half full. Similarly, the recent Berio/Bernstein concert with Marin Alsop and the Sao Paulo Orchestra again was less than half full. The Zimmermann Ecclesiastical Action concert [with Vladimir Jurowski conducting and Ein deutsches Requiem in the second half] was less than a third full. These are just a few examples that spring to mind.
As to the state of the once great Queen Elizabeth Hall, the blog quotes David Murphy:
A scene now of squalor, holed carpets, shabby seating, destroyed acoustic due to clutter around the stage, a once ice-cool sixties now degraded foyer with cheap stud partitioning and a group of untidy usherettes who look as if they just left the night shift at a 24hrs Tescos.
And of the Festival Hall:
The front rows of the circle give a commanding view, but again the sound is distant, unfocused, unclear and dead. The rear stalls is the Lost World of concert going. I am not kidding when I tell you I have been surrounded by people actually sleeping during a concert, one snoring quite audibly and not out of tune with the Schumann symphony that could be heard playing in the distance like a phantom radio programme on the BBC World Service long wave.
The blog continues:
David Murphy's views may be trenchant, but they are shared. Some years ago I was spending much of my life in the Royal Festival Hall, but now I find few compelling reasons to visit it. Last month was a rare exception when I attended some of the Rest Is Noise festival events. But because I am part of the much despised ageing audience and also because some readers think I complain too much — to which I reply perhaps other bloggers don't complain enough — I thought it best not mention the tawdry feel of the Southbank Centre, which is now more suburban shopping mall than world class concert hall.