The 10 most haunted concert halls
Haunted Houses? Everyone knows of one. So here's our rundown of the 10 most haunted concert halls and opera houses in the world - discover their ghosts, their ghouls and their haunted organs here!
Bristol Old Vic
In 2010, the Old Vic's architect claimed to have seen the ghost of the theatre's former manager, Sarah Macready. She smelled of lavender perfume and smiled at him while he was climbing the back staircase at lunchtime.
Bristol Opera House, Indiana
Legend has it that the Bristol Opera House in Bristol, Indiana, has three regular ghostly visitors. One is 'Beth', a child who has been known to peer out from behind the curtain during performances, another is 'Helen', whose presence has been felt without her ever having been seen - but the most active is supposedly 'Pervical', a former handyman who plays with the opera house's electrics.
St James' Theatre, Wellington
After a terrifying fall from above the stage that ended his life, a Russian singer known only as Yuri still stalks the St James Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand. He's been known to monkey with the stage lights after the shows have finished and, on one occasion, saved a projectionist's life by pushing him out of the way of a falling beam.
Royal Opera House, London
Did you know a poltergeist stalks the Royal Opera House? According to reports from construction workers working on the building back in 1999, stray bits of brick and metal would occasionally be flung at people in the auditorium during the day - and security was so tight that it couldn't have been just anyone…
Glyndebourne Opera House
Tragic and spooky goings-on at Glyndebourne - apparently after a young girl fell down a well in the leafy grounds of the opera house and drowned many years ago, she has since been known to stalk the grounds of the opera house…
Cincinnati Music Hall
Take a look at this quote from Erich Kunzel, late conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra: "Sometimes when I was arranging, getting things together, I've worked here all night long. So I've met these people. They're not in the offices, but when you go out into the house they're there, they're upstairs... If you think I'm crazy just come here sometime at three o'clock in the morning. They're very friendly."
Springer Opera House, Georgia
Rumoured to be one of America's most haunted theatres, the Springer Opera House is the home to the ghost of actor Edwin Booth - famous as the brother of John Wilkes Booth, who killed Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Edwin is apparently quite active and is fond of messing around with props and wardrobe.
Royal Albert Hall, London
If you've seen the Royal Albert Hall's huge pipe organ, then you'll know that it's pretty impressive. What you might not know is that the organ's designer, Henry Willis, still wanders the corridors of the great hall, despite dying in 1901.
Paris Opera House
Perhaps the most famous classical music ghost of them all is, disappointingly, fictional. The Phantom Of The Opera, star of Gaston Leroux's novel of the same name, is, however, based on real reports of a corpse that was found in the cellars of the opera house, which Leroux adapted to become one of the most famous ghost stories of all time.
Belfast Grand Opera House
Staff at the Belfast Grand Opera House have reported seeing faces looking in at them from top-floor windows - thought by the Northern Ireland Paranormal Research Association (you know them…) to be members of the stage crew from the 1980s.
In 2010, the Old Vic's architect claimed to have seen the ghost of the theatre's former manager, Sarah Macready. She smelled of lavender perfume and smiled at him while he was climbing the back staircase at lunchtime.
Bristol Opera House, Indiana
Legend has it that the Bristol Opera House in Bristol, Indiana, has three regular ghostly visitors. One is 'Beth', a child who has been known to peer out from behind the curtain during performances, another is 'Helen', whose presence has been felt without her ever having been seen - but the most active is supposedly 'Pervical', a former handyman who plays with the opera house's electrics.
St James' Theatre, Wellington
After a terrifying fall from above the stage that ended his life, a Russian singer known only as Yuri still stalks the St James Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand. He's been known to monkey with the stage lights after the shows have finished and, on one occasion, saved a projectionist's life by pushing him out of the way of a falling beam.
Royal Opera House, London
Did you know a poltergeist stalks the Royal Opera House? According to reports from construction workers working on the building back in 1999, stray bits of brick and metal would occasionally be flung at people in the auditorium during the day - and security was so tight that it couldn't have been just anyone…
Glyndebourne Opera House
Tragic and spooky goings-on at Glyndebourne - apparently after a young girl fell down a well in the leafy grounds of the opera house and drowned many years ago, she has since been known to stalk the grounds of the opera house…
Cincinnati Music Hall
Take a look at this quote from Erich Kunzel, late conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra: "Sometimes when I was arranging, getting things together, I've worked here all night long. So I've met these people. They're not in the offices, but when you go out into the house they're there, they're upstairs... If you think I'm crazy just come here sometime at three o'clock in the morning. They're very friendly."
Springer Opera House, Georgia
Rumoured to be one of America's most haunted theatres, the Springer Opera House is the home to the ghost of actor Edwin Booth - famous as the brother of John Wilkes Booth, who killed Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Edwin is apparently quite active and is fond of messing around with props and wardrobe.
Royal Albert Hall, London
If you've seen the Royal Albert Hall's huge pipe organ, then you'll know that it's pretty impressive. What you might not know is that the organ's designer, Henry Willis, still wanders the corridors of the great hall, despite dying in 1901.
Paris Opera House
Perhaps the most famous classical music ghost of them all is, disappointingly, fictional. The Phantom Of The Opera, star of Gaston Leroux's novel of the same name, is, however, based on real reports of a corpse that was found in the cellars of the opera house, which Leroux adapted to become one of the most famous ghost stories of all time.
Belfast Grand Opera House
Staff at the Belfast Grand Opera House have reported seeing faces looking in at them from top-floor windows - thought by the Northern Ireland Paranormal Research Association (you know them…) to be members of the stage crew from the 1980s.
In
un intervista all'edizione fiorentina del "Corriere della Sera", il
sovrintendente del Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Francesco
Bianchi, ha annunciato il ridimensionamento del ruolo di Zubin Mehta nel
futuro della fondazione, perché «un progetto artistico di rilancio del
Maggio non potrà avere lui come unico protagonista». Piu' che di un
direttore principale, il teatro, afferma Bianchi, è ora in cerca di un
vero e proprio direttore musicale capace di condividere il progetto
artistico con il sovrintendente e di garantire una presenza più
continuata. Resta comunque fissata la presenza del direttore indiano,
sembra di capire, per i prossimi impegni già concordati, come il Fidelio
del prossimo festival del Maggio in cui ci sarà anche un Pelléas et
Mélisande affidato a Daniele Gatti e un Giro di vite. L'effetto valanga
dopo quanto successo all'Opera di Roma è ovviamente un timore
universalmente diffuso, ma a Firenze il "fondo salvataggio" del decreto
Valore Cultura di Bray è in arrivo - il piano industriale è stato
presentato per tempo - anche se servirà sostanzialmente a saldare i
debiti pregressi. Di buono c'è, dichiara Bianchi, che qui i sindacati
hanno patteggiato in tempo utile un accordo che dovrebbe ridurre i costi
del lavoro e aumentare la produttività del teatro. Da segnalare anche
la recente nomina a coordinatore artistico di Pierangelo Conte,
proveniente dalla Fenice di Venezia, all'ideazione delle cui ultime
stagioni ha collaborato.
