Caird Hall Dundee
Athough the foundation stone of the Caird Hall was laid in July 1914, the Great War broke out the following month. As a result this grand concert hall was not opened until 1921.
Early events featured a range of famous musicians. Orchestral concerts were given by the Queen's Hall, London Symphony, Hallé and London Philharmonic Orchestras. Conductors included Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Henry Wood and Willem Mengelberg. There was a visit by the Berlin Philharmonic under Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1931. A second visit announced a couple of years later did not take place as the entire tour was cancelled.
Recitals were given by many great instrumentalists including Rachmaninov, Horowitz, Heifetz and Casals. Singers included Nellie Melba (whose parents had emigrated to Australia from Dundee), as well as Clara Butt, Conchita Supervia, Maria Jeritza, Beniamino Gigli, Alexander Kipnis and countless others.
The Caird Hall has an excellent reputation for its acoustic properties, being much admired by many of the conductors who have worked there. It has also been used in recent years for a number of excellent recordings by such conductors as Neeme Järvi, Paul Daniel, Sir Charles Mackerras and Maxim Emelyanychev. Soloists who have appeared in recordings made in the hall include pianist Alfred Brendel, sopranos Renée Fleming and Felicity Lott and baritone Bryn Terfel.
Nowadays the hall has a restricted range of classical concerts, generally given by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra with world-famous conductors and soloists. The orchestra was directed before the Second World War by George Szell and Sir John Barbirolli, and more recently Warwick Braithwaite, Sir Alexander Gibson, Neeme Järvi, Bryden Thomson, Alexander Lazarev, Stéphane Denève, Peter Oundjian and Thomas Søndergärd. Scottish Opera also give occasional concerts, having brought Kiri Te Kanawa, Jane Eaglen and Dennis O'Neill to the city. Their orchestra appears frequently with Dundee Choral Union.
The hall's superb concert organ, designed by Harrison & Harrison, has been restored and is used for regular recitals (and an annual silent movie evening every November).
The postcard below shows the hall as it was in 1928, only seven years after opening.
