Editing Carnegie Hall (section)

==== Main Hall (Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage) ====
The Stern Auditorium is six stories high with 2,804 seats on five levels.<ref>{{cite web|date=October 15, 1966|title=Carnegie Hall|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/5b82f3e2-d183-472f-88f1-e4c82ffca307|access-date=March 13, 2020|publisher=[[National Register of Historic Places]], [[National Park Service]]|archive-date=July 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727084027/https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/5b82f3e2-d183-472f-88f1-e4c82ffca307|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Page p. 18">{{harvnb|Page|2011|p=18|ps=.}}</ref> Originally known as the main auditorium, it was renamed after violinist [[Isaac Stern]] in 1997 to recognize his efforts to save the hall from demolition in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|date=September 23, 2013|title=The A to Z of Carnegie Hall: S is for Stern|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/BlogPost.aspx?id=4294989134|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709115621/https://www.carnegiehall.org/BlogPost.aspx?id=4294989134|archive-date=July 9, 2017|access-date=November 14, 2014|publisher=Carnegie Hall}}</ref> The main auditorium was originally planned to fit 3,300 guests, including two tiers of boxes, two balconies, and a [[wikt:parquet|parquet]] seating 1,200.<ref name="nyt18890719" /><ref name="rer18890720">{{cite magazine|date=July 20, 1889|title=Men and Things|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_004&page=ldpd_7031148_004_00000118|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=44|page=1017|via=[[Columbia University|columbia.edu]]|number=1114|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818152705/https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vollist=1&vol=ldpd_7031148_004&page=ldpd_7031148_004_00000118|url-status=live}}</ref> The main hall accommodated the performances of the [[New York Philharmonic]] from 1892<ref name="Page p. 19" /> to 1962, when the Philharmonic moved to [[Lincoln Center]].<ref name=nyt-1962-05-21>{{Cite news|date=May 21, 1962|title=Philharmonic Cheered In Carnegie Hall Finale|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/05/21/archives/philharmonic-cheered-in-carnegie-hall-finale.html|access-date=April 23, 2023}}</ref>

Its entrance is through the Box Office Lobby on 57th Street near Seventh Avenue.<ref>{{cite web|title=Parking & Directions|url=https://www.carnegiehall.org/Visit/Directions-and-Parking|access-date=August 18, 2021|website=Carnegie Hall|archive-date=October 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005021520/https://www.carnegiehall.org/Visit/Directions-and-Parking|url-status=live}}</ref> When planned in 1889, this entrance was designed with a marble and mosaic vestibule measuring {{Convert|25|ft}} high and {{Convert|70|ft}} long.<ref name="rer18890720" /><ref name="nyt18890719" /> The entrance lobby is three stories high and had an organ loft at the top, which was converted into a lounge area by the mid-20th century.<ref name="NPS p. 2" /> The lobby ceiling was designed as a [[barrel vault]], containing [[soffit]]s with heavy [[coffer]]s and cross-arches, and was painted white with gold decorations. At either end of the barrel vault were lunettes. The walls were painted salmon and had pairs of gray-marble pilasters supporting an entablature. The cross-arches had decorated cream-colored [[Tympanum (architecture)|tympana]].<ref name="p94939305" /> The lobby was originally several feet above street level, but it was lowered to street level in the 1980s.<ref name="Oculus 1986-03">{{cite magazine|date=Mar 1986|title=Carnegie Hall's New Lobby|url=https://usmodernist.org/AIANY/AIANY-1986-03.pdf|journal=Oculus|volume=48|pages=3–11|number=7|access-date=August 20, 2021|archive-date=January 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130215841/https://usmodernist.org/AIANY/AIANY-1986-03.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Shepard 1986">{{Cite news|last=Shepard|first=Joan|date=December 15, 1986|title=Encore for Carnegie Hall|page=101|newspaper=[[New York Daily News]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83713265/encore-for-carnegie-hall/|access-date=August 19, 2021|archive-date=August 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819012949/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/83713265/encore-for-carnegie-hall/|url-status=live}}</ref> The rebuilt lobby contains geometric decorations evocative by the work of [[Charles Rennie Mackintosh]], as well as [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]]-style [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]] with lighting fixtures.<ref name="Stern (2006) p. 732" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Goldberger|first=Paul|date=September 8, 1983|title=Architecture: Carnegie Hall Restoration, Phase 1|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/08/arts/architecture-carnegie-hall-restoration-phase-1.html|access-date=August 21, 2021|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821151425/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/08/arts/architecture-carnegie-hall-restoration-phase-1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The design also includes ticket windows on the south wall of the lobby. Past that, stairs on either side lead to the auditorium's parquet level; previously, stairs continued straight from the lobby to the parquet level.<ref name="Oculus 1986-03" />

[[File:Carnegie-hall-isaac-stern.jpg|thumb|left|Isaac Stern Auditorium]]

All but the top level can be reached by elevator; the top balcony is 137 steps above parquet level.<ref>{{cite web|title=Information: Accessibility|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/Information/Accessibility/|access-date=November 14, 2014|publisher=Carnegie Hall|archive-date=September 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916154355/https://www.carnegiehall.org/Information/Accessibility/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Page p. 20">{{harvnb|Page|2011|p=20|ps=.}}</ref> The lowest level is the parquet level, which has twenty-five full rows of thirty-eight seats and four partial rows at stage level, for a total of 1,021 seats.<ref name="rentals" /> The parquet was designed with eleven exits to a corridor that entirely surrounded it; the corridor, in turn, led to the main entrance vestibule on 57th Street.<ref name="p573484756">{{cite news|date=September 10, 1889|title=The New Music Hall Plans: a Fine Building to Be Erected It Will Be Ready for the World's Fair—architectural Features and Interior Arrangements|page=7|newspaper=New-York Tribune|id={{ProQuest|573484756}}}}</ref> The first and second tiers consist of sixty-five boxes; the first tier has 264 seats, eight per box, and the second tier has 238 seats, six to eight per box.<ref name="rentals" /> As designed, the first tier of boxes was entirely open, while the second tier was partially enclosed, with open boxes on either end.<ref name="p573484756" /> The third tier above the parquet is the Dress Circle, seating 444 in six rows; the first two rows form an almost-complete semicircle. The fourth and the highest tier, the balcony, seats 837. Although seats with obstructed views exist throughout the auditorium, only the Dress Circle level has structural columns.<ref name="rentals">{{cite web|last1=Carnegie Hall|title=Stern Auditorium-Perelman Stage Rentals|url=http://www.carnegiehall.org/Rentals/Stern-Auditorium-Perelman-Stage-Rentals/|access-date=May 5, 2015|ref=rentals|archive-date=March 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321150319/http://www.carnegiehall.org/Rentals/Stern-Auditorium-Perelman-Stage-Rentals/|url-status=live}}</ref> An elliptic arch rises from the Dress Circle level; along with a corresponding arch at the rear of the auditorium, it supports the ceiling.<ref name="p94939305" />

The Ronald O. Perelman Stage is {{Convert|42|ft}} deep.<ref name="rentals" /> It was originally designed with six tiers that could be raised and lowered hydraulically.<ref name="rer18890720" /> The walls around the stage contain pilasters. The ceiling above the stage was designed as an ellipse, and the soffits of the ceiling were originally outfitted with lights.<ref name="p94939305" /> Originally, there were no stage wings; the backstage entrance from 56th Street led directly to a small landing just below the stage, while the dressing room was above the stage. During a 1980s renovation, a stage wing, orchestra room, and dressing rooms were added and the access to the stage was reconfigured.<ref name="nyt19860831" />