CARNEGIE HALL

Built in 1891, Carnegie Hall has heard many major works come to the world for the first time, from Rubinstein's debut to the premiere of Dvořák's New World Symphony in 1893. It's hard to believe that the marvelous hall (sober and acoustically perfect) behind the Italian Renaissance Revival façade was almost destroyed by greedy entrepreneurs after the New York Philharmonic moved to its new home at Lincoln Center. It was saved thanks to the persistence of violinist Isaac Stern. It took the vision of American billionaire Andrew Carnegie to decide to erect such a building in a neighborhood that was out of fashion at the time. Tchaikovsky inaugurated Carnegie Hall in 1891. From Paderewski to Bruno Walter, from Casals to Horowitz, from Judy Garland to Segovia, Julie Andrews and the Beatles, the list is too long to mention Carnegie's guest book, in which the greatest international orchestras and major American orchestras have performed. In the film Green Book, which traces the life of black pianist Don Shirley, the main character lives in a sumptuous apartment just above Carnegie Hall.

Stern Auditorium is the best-known of the three stages. With its 2,804 seats, it was the very first hall devoted to classical music in the United States. Five seating levels and a curved structure guarantee incomparable comfort and acoustics. Also the intimate Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall (268 seats), originally dedicated to chamber music. But the major event of recent years took place on September 12, 2003, with the reopening of the former Recital Hall in the basement of the Carnegie, renamed Zankel Hall. Since the 1960s, the concession had been entrusted to a cinema. The Carnegie took it over in 1997 under the aegis of director Judith Arron. The new layout, inspired by the Cité de la Musique in Paris, is an ultra-modern, modular hall with 540 to 644 seats. There are countless configurations: with or without an Italian balcony, with or without a pit, with a horizontal or sloping floor... It's a hall that adapts to the music. The Hall's main focus is on contemporary music. The Hall organizes Family Concerts with reduced-price tickets, concerts designed to introduce children to great music. The Hall offers workshops to familiarize children with instruments, and allows them to attend a performance given by real professionals.