【英语听和读】皇家节日大厅

 Clement 1

Attlee:
I hope that this concert hall will long endure to give the opportunity for the
finest music, the greatest singers and players to be heard, and to give pleasure
and refreshment 2 of the soul to generations of Londoners yet unborn.
William: Hello, I’m William Kremer and that was Clement Attlee, who was the British
Prime Minister after the Second World War. The clip you just heard was
recorded on 12th October, 1949. Mr Attlee was making a speech at the start of
work on building a great concert hall – the Royal Festival Hall, which now
stands on the South bank of the River Thames. Today’s programme is all about
the Royal Festival Hall.
Mr Attlee’s speech was in quite formal English… he said that he hoped the hall
would long endure – that is, that it would exist for a long time – to give the
opportunity for the finest music, singers and players to be heard. He also used a
lovely phrase – ‘to give pleasure and refreshment of the soul’. Listen again.
Clement
Attlee:
I hope that this concert hall will long endure to give the opportunity for the
finest music, the greatest singers and players to be heard, and to give pleasure
and refreshment of the soul to generations of Londoners yet unborn.
William: Did you notice, listening to that clip, how differently British people spoke 3 just
fifty years ago? It’s a way of speaking that one associates with the BBC! – but,
it sounds quite old-fashioned now.
STING
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The Royal Festival Hall took two years to build, finally opening in May 1951
as part of the Festival of Britain. The building brought a striking Modernist
style to the Thames. It was in service for over fifty years – and it became home
to four orchestras! Famous singers of many different styles sang there,
including Maria Callas, Louis Armstrong and Lou Reed.
But, in 2005, the hall closed once again for two years. Why? It was being
refurbished. ‘To refurbish’ – it means to improve a building or object and make
it like new. There’s a noun form too – ‘refurbishment’. The refurbishment of
the Royal Festival Hall took two years and cost ninety-one million pounds. It
finally opened its doors last week.
We’re going to hear now from Peter Mandelson. Mr Mandelson is currently the
European Union Commissioner 4 for Trade. But his grandfather, Herbert
Morrison, had the original idea for the Festival of Britain and the Hall back in
the 1940’s. What does Peter Mandelson make of the refurbishment? In this clip,
Mr. Mandelson mentions a key development. Used as an adjective, ‘key’
means ‘most important’. This is quite a common word in modern, formal
English. What does Peter Mandelson see as the ‘key development’ in the
refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall?
Peter
Mandleson:
 
It’s been refurbished, repolished, buffed up, made more comfortable, the
carpeting brought back to life… but I think the key development is the
liberation of… liberation of space. There are parts of the original Festival Hall
which the public never went to – I don’t quite know what they were used for –
offices or workshops or whatever – but the whole effect is to bring more, more
light and spaciousness 5 into the hall, with wonderful views of Westminster and
Thameside. 
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William: He said the key development is the liberation, or freeing of… of what?
Peter
Mandleson:
 
It’s been refurbished, repolished, buffed up, made more comfortable, the
carpeting brought back to life… but I think the key development is the
liberation of… liberation of space. There are parts of the original Festival Hall
which the public never went to – I don’t quite know what they were used for –
offices or workshops or whatever – but the whole effect is to bring more, more
light and spaciousness into the hall, with wonderful views of Westminster and
Thameside.
William: He said the key development was the ‘liberation of space’. Parts of the original
hall which the public never went to have been opened and the whole effect is to
bring more light and spaciousness into the hall.
Well, I’ve not been across the Thames to the newly-refurbished Festival Hall,
but I have to say that I can’t wait to see it for myself. It sounds like it’s been
refurbished in such a way that it will continue to give pleasure and refreshment
of the soul… and my soul could certainly use a little refreshment! Goodbye.