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Camden News - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 26 June 2008

‘Bad vibrations’ fears over Kenwood concerts

PRICELESS works of art and the bricks and mortar of Kenwood House in Hampstead could be at risk from sound systems used for this summer’s concerts, new research by Russian experts suggests.
Starting on Saturday with a gig by Beach Boy legend Brian Wilson, the season raises vital cash to preserve the house and keep entry to the Grade I-listed mansion and its art collection free for visitors.
But a study by scientists in St Petersburg has found that staging concerts near ageing mansions can damage them and the artworks inside.
English Heritage, which manages Kenwood House, is investing in the latest sound technology to measure noise levels and to check whether vibrations from sound systems will damage its priceless art collection.
The Russian scientists studied the effects of concerts staged by the Rolling Stones, Sir Paul McCartney and Russian heavy metal bands in the heart of the city.
They discovered the noise was ageing artworks, rattling window frames and damaging bricks and mortar.
Kenwood House has paintings of Hampstead Heath by JW Turner and works by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Reynolds.
A Kenwood House spokesman said: “We have acquired new measuring equipment, and are in the process of evaluating its compatibility with our other recording systems. We hope to develop a long-term procedure for scientific recording of various factors in connection with the collections at Kenwood.”
In 2007, conservation experts studied each work to check for damage and concluded none could be found.
The spokesman added that the concert sound systems were further away from Kenwood than at St Petersburg and sound levels were lower than those at the Russian concerts.

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