VIBE

According to Carnegie Hall lore, a fresh faced out-of-towner once hailed piano virtuoso Arthur Rubenstein on the street, shouting, “Excuse me, sir, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" Rubenstein replied: "Practice, practice, practice." While Rubenstein most likely never shared such witty repartee with a tourist, there’s a truth here: only the very finest, most practiced of musicians (from Rubenstein himself to Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, Billie Holliday, and The Beatles) manage to make their way onto the hallowed stages of Carnegie Hall. The striking Renaissance-style building that Andrew Carnegie endowed in 1880 features virtually perfect acoustics, charmingly vintage red velvet furnishings and curved balconies, and an incredible program packed with top-notch performances every season. For visitors who aren’t in town long enough to catch a show, there’s a free museum on site, The Rose Museum (daily: 11:00am-4:30pm), that offers interactive exhibits about the hall’s history and its most famous performances.

GO HERE WITH

Music fans; a date; friends

WHY WE LIKE IT

Taking in performances in the legendary Isaac Stern Auditorium or the more intimate Weill Recital Hall (a Belle Époque salon used for chamber music) is a classic New York experience. And it’s not just for classical music buffs; diverse genres of music get their due–we saw folk singer Dar Williams here in Zankel Hall (a smaller space with clean acoustics).

WHAT WE WOULD CHANGE

In the upper balconies of the Isaac Stern Auditorium, the stairs are extremely steep, and the seats are squishy.

GOOD TO KNOW

Originally owned by the Carnegie family, the hall was nearly destroyed in the 1960s when the new owners ran into financial difficulties after the Philharmonic relocated to the then-newly built Lincoln Center. Luckily, violinist Isaac Stern stepped in with a high-profile campaign to the save the building. Now a historic landmark and property of the city, its future seems secure. On a more practical note, the box office is usually closed in June, July, and August. There’s a café inside which is open one hour before performances and during intermission. The two main venues here are the Isaac Stern Auditorium and the Weill Recital Hall, but Carnegie Hall also features the recently renovated Zankel Hall, a 599-seat multi-purpose theater.

CLOSEST COMPS

Lincoln Center (New York); New York City Center (New York)

Click here for our full-form mobile travel guide, The Purple Passport to New York City.