Wigmore Hall is a modest building tucked away behind a busy shopping street. But inside lies something extraordinary: one of the world’s most beloved concert halls, within whose walls we find tales of exceptional performers, composers, impresarios and, of course, audiences. The story of Wigmore Hall is the story of music in the 20th and 21st centuries – and of London itself. 

In this illuminating book, bestselling historian Julia Boyd digs deep into the hall’s past to discover the secrets of its enduring success. During its 125 years, Wigmore Hall has played an intrinsic role in the life of the city, reflecting its countless social changes both trivial and profound, providing musical sanctuary through two world wars, and bearing witness to unprecedented shifts in attitudes to musical taste, performance, gender, race, technology, dress code, interpretation and everything else connected with concert-going. Today, the hall is one of the leading venues for new and established artists in Britain. 

With a stellar cast of characters including Ferrucio Busoni, Arthur Rubinstein, Joseph Joachim, Yvette Guilbert, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Benjamin Britten, not to mention illustrious audiences including Siegfried Sassoon and Virginia Woolf, this is is the surprising and enchanting social history of ‘London’s most sumptuous temple of music’.