Editing Carnegie Hall (section)

=== Development and opening ===
[[File:Andrew Carnegie, three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing slightly left, 1913.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Andrew Carnegie, 1913]]
In early March 1889, Morris Reno, director of the Oratorio and New York Symphony societies acquired nine lots on and around the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and 57th Street.<ref name="nyt18890315">{{Cite news|date=March 15, 1889|title=A New Music Hall; Carnegie Takes Hold of the Project and a Site Is Bought|page=4|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/03/15/106205420.pdf|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=January 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130215818/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/03/15/106205420.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=March 15, 1889|title=To Build a Music Hall: Plans for a Magnificent Building|page=1|newspaper=[[New-York Tribune]]|id={{ProQuest|573444377}}}}</ref> William Tuthill had been hired to design a "great music hall" on the site.<ref name="nyt18890315" /><ref name="rer18890323" /> The Music Hall, as it was called, would be a five-story brick and limestone building, containing a 3,000-seat main hall with and several smaller rooms for rehearsals, lectures, concerts, and art exhibitions.<ref name="nyt18890315" /><ref name="rer18890323">{{cite magazine|date=March 23, 1889|title=Out Among the Builders|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_003&page=ldpd_7031148_003_00000434|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=43|pages=392–393|via=[[Columbia University|columbia.edu]]|number=1097|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=August 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817224723/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_003&page=ldpd_7031148_003_00000434|url-status=live}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' said "The location for the music hall is perhaps rather far uptown, but it is easily accessible from the 'living' part of the city."<ref name="nyt18890315" /> The Music Hall Company was incorporated on March 27, 1889, with Carnegie, Damrosch, Reno, Tuthill, and [[Stephen M. Kneval]] as trustees.<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 28, 1889|title=The New Music Hall Company|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1889/03/28/archives/the-new-music-hall-company.html|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=August 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817224720/https://www.nytimes.com/1889/03/28/archives/the-new-music-hall-company.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=March 28, 1889|title=Incorporating a Music Hall Company|page=1|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573489130}}}}</ref> Originally, the Music Hall Company intended to limit its [[capital stock]] to $300,000, but this was increased before the end of 1889 to $600,000, of which Carnegie held five-sixths. The cost of the building was then projected to be $1.1 million, including the land.<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 15, 1889|title=Some Fine New Buildings; Grand Edifices Now Going Up in This City. The Carnegie Music Hall, Century, Republican, and Athletic Club Houses, and Lenox Lyceum|page=11|newspaper=The New York Times|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/12/15/100981377.pdf|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=January 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131162044/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/12/15/100981377.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

By July 1889, Carnegie's company had acquired additional land, with frontage of {{Convert|175|ft}} on 57th Street. The architectural drawings were nearly completed and excavations for the music hall had been completed.<ref name="nyt18890719">{{Cite news|date=July 19, 1889|title=Carnegie Music Hall; the Work of Construction Is Expected to Begin Soon|page=8|newspaper=The New York Times|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/07/19/106356928.pdf|access-date=August 17, 2021|archive-date=January 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130215826/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1889/07/19/106356928.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The Henry Elias Brewery owned the corner of Seventh Avenue and 56th Street and originally would not sell the land, as its proprietor believed the site had a good water source.<ref name="nyt19980103" /> Plans for the Music Hall were filed in November 1889.<ref name="p573493968">{{cite news|date=November 21, 1889|title=Plans for a Big Building Filed: the Music Hall Company Getting Ready to Begin Work—expectations of the Stockholders|page=7|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573493968}}}}</ref> Carnegie's wife [[Louise Whitfield Carnegie|Louise]] laid the cornerstone for the Music Hall on May 13, 1890.<ref>{{Cite news|date=May 14, 1890|title=A New Home for Music|page=7|newspaper=[[The Sun (New York City)|The Sun]]|location=New York City|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23665310/carnegie-music-hall-5th-7th-1890/|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818152705/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23665310/carnegie-music-hall-5th-7th-1890/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=May 14, 1890|title=A Great Home of Music: Mrs. Carnegie Lays the Cornerstone of the Building Addresses by Morris Reno, E. Francis Hyde and Andrew Carnegie|page=7|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573539715}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|year=1890|title=The New Music Hall|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yikxAQAAMAAJ|journal=Architecture and Building: A Journal of Investment and Construction|publisher=W. T. Comstock|volume=12|page=234|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818212042/https://books.google.com/books?id=yikxAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Andrew Carnegie said at the time that the venue was to not only be "a shrine of the goddess of music" but also a gathering hall.<ref name="TL p. 145" /> Isaac A. Hopper and Company was the contractor in charge of building the Music Hall.<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 1, 1893|title=Isaac A. Hopper's Record; Some Notable Achievements in His Line as a Builder|page=9|newspaper=The New York Times|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/01/01/106858697.pdf|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=June 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626153857/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/01/01/106858697.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|date=January 5, 1895|title=A Busy Life|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_015&page=ldpd_7031148_015_00000037&no=2|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=55|page=7|via=[[Columbia University|columbia.edu]]|number=1399|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818212044/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_015&page=ldpd_7031148_015_00000037&no=2|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Real Estate Record and Guide'' praised the building's design as "harmonious, animated without restlessness, and quiet without dullness."<ref name="rer18901227" /> In February 1891, Damrosch announced that he had created a subscription fund for a "permanent orchestra" that would perform mainly in the new Music Hall.<ref>{{Cite news|date=February 6, 1891|title=Damrosch's Liberal Backers|page=4|newspaper=[[The Evening World]]|location=New York City|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83698532/damroschs-liberal-backers/|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818221448/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83698532/damroschs-liberal-backers/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=February 6, 1891|title=Our Permanent Orchestra|page=1|newspaper=The Sun|location=New York City|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83698800/our-permanent-orchestra/|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818221453/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83698800/our-permanent-orchestra/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Recital Hall opened in March 1891 for recitals of the New York Oratorio Society.<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 13, 1891|title=A New Concert Room|page=3|newspaper=The Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83699497/a-new-concert-room/|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818221452/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83699497/a-new-concert-room/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was around this time that tickets for the official opening of the Music Hall were being sold.<ref>{{cite news|date=March 22, 1891|title=To Open the New Music Hall: the Amended Programme—many Eminent Performers|page=24|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573653596}}}}</ref> The oratorio hall in the basement opened on April 1, 1891,<ref name="Stern (2006) p. 731" /><ref name="nyt19980103" /> with a performance by [[Franz Rummel]].<ref>{{cite news|date=April 2, 1891|title=Amusements|page=4|newspaper=The New York Times|id={{ProQuest|94850411}}}}</ref> The Music Hall officially opened on May 5, 1891, with a rendition of the [[Old 100th]] hymn, a speech by Episcopal bishop [[Henry C. Potter]], and a concert conducted by Walter Damrosch and Russian composer [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]].<ref name="p94939305" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=May 6, 1891|title=The Music Hall Opened|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83701940/music-hall-opened/ 7]|newspaper=New-York Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83701889/the-music-hall-opened/|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818221447/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83701889/the-music-hall-opened/|url-status=live}}</ref> During the performance, Tuthill looked at the crowds on the auditorium's top tiers and reportedly left the hall to consult his drawings. He was uncertain that the supporting columns would withstand the weight of the crowd in attendance, but the dimensions turned out to be sufficient to support the weight of the crowd.<ref name="NY1880" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Schonberg|first=Harold C.|author-link=Harold C. Schonberg|date=June 29, 1980|title=Carnegie Hall, at 90, Is Thinking Young; Music View Carnegie Hall, Approaching 90, Is Thinking Young|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/29/archives/carnegie-hall-at-90-is-thinking-young-music-view-carnegie-hall.html|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818224625/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/29/archives/carnegie-hall-at-90-is-thinking-young-music-view-carnegie-hall.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Tchaikovsky considered the auditorium "unusually impressive and grand" when "illuminated and filled with an audience".<ref name="NY1880" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Yoffe|first=Elkhonon|title=Tchaikovsky in America : the composer's visit in 1891|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0-19-504117-0|publication-place=New York|pages=83–84|oclc=13498952}}</ref> The ''[[New York Herald]]'' praised the auditorium's acoustical qualities, saying "each note was heard".<ref name="NY1880" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=May 6, 1891|title=Music Crowd in Its New Home|page=7|newspaper=[[New York Herald]]}}</ref> The Music Hall had cost $1.25 million to construct<ref name="nyt-1991-05-05">{{Cite news |last=Schonberg |first=Harold C.|author-link=Harold C. Schonberg|date=May 5, 1991 |title=Extra! Read All About It – Carnegie's $1.25 Million Hall|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/05/arts/classical-music-extra-read-all-about-it-carnegie-s-1.25-million-hall.html |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref> and was the second major performance hall in New York City, after the [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)|Metropolitan Opera House]].<ref name="n110350207">{{Cite news |date=May 6, 1891 |title=Carnegie Music Hall Dedicated |page=1 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110350207/carnegie-music-hall-dedicated/ |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref>