Over the years there have been demands for Leeds to create a new concert venue to rival those in Birmingham and Manchester, yet it is the Town Hall that continues to offer provincial England the most prestigious season of international orchestras.
Next Saturday marks the anniversary weekend when 150 years ago Queen Victoria opened this edifice to wealth that the industrial revolution brought to Leeds, an event recalled with a Gala Concert.
It was, of course, never originally intended as a c
oncert venue, but many of the great visiting orchestras have shown that it is not impossible to overcome the problematic acoustics, though only the Orchestra of Opera North has fully come to terms with its vagaries.
So it is appropriate that the local orchestra should have been invited to celebrate this special birthday, while the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, which has brought the hall to worldwide attention, is recognised by the return of 2006 winner, Sunwook Kim.
Having recently completed his studies in his native Korea, he makes his first return to the scene of his triumph with a performance of Grieg's Piano Concerto. It comes on the dawn of a major career that will see concerts in Paris, Brussels, New York and Vancouver.
Walton's brilliant Coronation March, Orb and Scepter, opens the concert in a blaze of glory, with Barber's Adagio for Strings bringing a moment of repose, before the choruses of the Leeds Philharmonic and Leeds Festival join forces in Walton's Belshazzar's Feast.
A familiar face at Opera North, Robert Hayward, is the baritone soloist, with the company's music director, Richard Farnes, as conductor.
Leeds Town Hall, September 6, 7.30pm. 0113 224 3801.
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