The new London concert hall at the Barbican takes a step forward

This looks promising. I’ve been waiting all my life for a really good London orchestral concert hall, to replace the abominable Royal Festival Hall, and it looks more and more like the City of London is going to oblige.

Here’s how they are now saying it will look:

Well, maybe it really will look like that.

Here’s what the outside will look like:

Combines being boring with being ungainly and awkward. But then, that was what I thought when I first saw the fake-photos for the Walkie-Talkie, and now I love that Thing. Maybe this Thing will play out the same. Hope so.

This is how the top of it will look:

This is apparently where the horror that is Jazz will be perpetrated. Sorry, if you like Jazz. If you like it, like away. But I hate it, ever since it stopped being pop music.

But, that view looks great. So, the question is: Do I like great views out over London, more than I hate Jazz?

A good way to learn more about this building, what it consists of and where it is, is to watch the video in this Classic FM report.

As for their report, I particularly like when they quote Simon Rattle, whose musical castle this will surely be:

At the press briefing for the new concept designs, Simon Rattle batted away concerns surrounding Brexit, saying: “It’s important for us to remember there are other things going on in this country other than Brexit.

“It won’t make anything easier, but we are trying to deal with something else at the moment. I think we also have to place our confidence in the extraordinary cultural life of this country, and support it.”

Life goes on. I sense that Brexit Acceptance may now be setting in.

They say it’s going to cost a mere £288 million. You can double that. But The City will surely find the money, and I am very glad that The City is having to find the money. I love classical music, more than life, but nobody who is indifferent to it should be forced to pay for the likes of me to listen to it being performed. (Any more than I should have to pay for Jazz.)

Originally posted at Brian Micklethwait’s Old Blog