London

Best classical

BBC Proms
Utterly London, though copied all over the world (some countries even religiously recreate the jingoistic Last Night, complete with a barely understood – thank God – ‘Land of Hope and Glory’). British ideals can be seen in the ritual queueing, the discomfort of standing (or squatting or lying) through lengthy performances, the staggering value for money, and impressing foreigners, who are as moved by the atmosphere (‘We love you,’ said a collective letter from the Vienna Philharmonic to the prommers via the Times) as they are baffled by the Albert Hall’s impossible acoustics.

Churches at lunchtime
These represent a wonderful tradition of music for voluntary donation. Beginners, students, tomorrow’s stars, packaged with architecture and history. Try St James Piccadilly, St Anne and St Agnes, Gresham Street, St Giles-in-the-Fields – and, naturally, the ‘musicians’ church’, St Sepulchre without Newgate, possibly the only church in the world boasting stained glass depicting a scene from ‘La Bohème’ (the Melba memorial window).
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ENO
It has had more than its share of downs in recent years, but a visit to English National Opera is still livelier and pleasanter than the stuffy purlieus of the Royal Opera, starting with the wonderfully opulent Edwardiana of Frank Matcham’s variety palace (aquatic spectacles and real racing horses were early specialities). People go for what’s on stage rather than in the auditorium. If you’re lucky, you’ll get booers and cheerers turning their critical differences into foyer fisticuffs, especially when a Calixto Bieto production has depicted male rape or a chorus sitting on a row of toilets. The opera’s sometimes quite good too.

Wapping Hydraulic Power Station
A Victorian industrial monolith transformed into an exciting performance venue, complete with food. The concerts put on here tend to be cutting-edge but fun. A hotbed of new compositions, the Wapping Project also brings the old up to date and does things with virginals that virgins wouldn’t dream of.

Wigmore Hall
London’s most famous venue and, typically, a small one. Ideal for chamber music and song, loved for its intimacy by artists and audiences alike. The latter know their stuff. Performers who don’t know theirs wouldn’t dare set foot on its historic stage.

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