When I heard that Toscanini was to conduct the opening concert at the Royal Festival Hall on May 4th 1951, and that tickets could only be obtained by subscribing to a series, I did, although only a poor student at the time, save on other things and buy a seat for the series. Imagine my disappointment when I heard that Toscanini refused to conduct, it was said at the time owing to the way seats were allocated. However, I went to all of the concerts, now under Malcolm Sargent. Having also booked to hear a recital by Yehudi and Hephzibah Menuhin on May 5th, I thus went to the first three public concerts, the second of the subscription series being on May 6th. And finding it easy to get "behind the scenes" I was able to get the Menuhins' autographs. Concert goers had the freedom of the South Bank Exhibition after the concert, and having gone to about 25 concerts during the period I was able to see much of it, including the closing ceremony on September 30th. Other later memories include hearing Kathleen Ferrier sing Bliss' "The Enchantress", seeing Shostakovich in the ceremonial box, and attending a concert at which Stravinsky conducted his own works. I still have my concert programmes and tickets stubs. << less