Would such a "world-class hall" be sustainable after his departure?
It is true that London doesn't have a world-class hall for orchestral music to match our world-class orchestras, and the reason for this dates back 70 years when a plan to rebuild the bomb-damaged Queen's Hall near Oxford Circus was shelved.
Crystal chandeliers, inlaid marble, plush red seats with state-of-the art touch screens; this is a world class opera hall.
As a fan of non-amplified solo recitals, the sound environment of this recording is like sitting in down-center Orchestra in a world class concert hall and having eye-to-eye contact with an artist whose big guns vocals penetrate clear to the soul.
Not only is it almost in the center of the United States — halfway between East Coast and West Coast — but it also has all the ingredients to be a major cultural capital: world class concert halls, fantastic museums, and there is an active art community here.
The area that was home to South Coast Repertory has grown in to a chic area of fine dining, theatre, music hall and world class stages.
She would probably never be able to hear a world class orchestra in a concert hall like Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts.
Canberra has many venues for live music and theatre: the Canberra Theatre and Playhouse which hosts many major concerts and productions; and Llewellyn Hall (within the ANU School of Music), a world-class concert hall are two of the most notable.
Leaders of the city's bid committee, NYC2012, say the Olympics would provide a singular opportunity to build projects around the five boroughs that the city could never afford on its own: athletic fields and equestrian centers, recreation areas along the waterfront, world class training centers and exhibition halls for elite athletes.
He has strongly supported the idea of a "world-class" concert hall being built in London, saying last month that a "proper" venue to succeed the merely "serviceable" Barbican Hall would allow musicians to "flourish".
There is still a world-class dinosaur hall displaying some of the world's most important fossils.
