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Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

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The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (founded in 1972) is a classical music chamber orchestra based in New York City. They have won several Grammy Awards , and are known for their collaborative leadership style in which the musicians, not a conductor, interpret the score .

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147-1566: The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1972 by Julian Fifer and a group of young musicians. With 71 albums, including the Grammy Award-winning Shadow Dances: Stravinsky Miniatures , and 42 commissioned and premiered original works, Orpheus rotates musical leadership roles for each work. Performing without a conductor, Orpheus presents an annual series at Carnegie Hall and tours extensively to major national and international venues. Collaborators of Orpheus include Fazıl Say , Isaac Stern , Gidon Kremer , Itzhak Perlman , Gil Shaham , Yo-Yo Ma , Mischa Maisky , Emanuel Ax , Richard Goode , Alicia de Larrocha , Radu Lupu , Martha Argerich , Alfred Brendel , Horacio Gutierrez , Murray Perahia , Peter Serkin , Mitsuko Uchida , Tatiana Troyanos , Martin Fröst , Anne Akiko Meyers , Maureen Forrester , Frederica von Stade , Peter Schreier , Anne Sofie von Otter , Nobuyuki Tsujii , Dawn Upshaw , and Renée Fleming . Orpheus has premiered works by Elliott Carter , Jacob Druckman , Mario Davidovsky , Michael Gandolfi , William Bolcom , Osvaldo Golijov , Fred Lerdahl , Gunther Schuller , Ellen Taaffe Zwilich , Susan Botti, David Rakowski , Bruce Adolphe , Peter Lieberson , Elizabeth Brown , Wayne Shorter , Brad Mehldau , and Shuying Li . Individual members of Orpheus have received recognition for solo, chamber music, and orchestral performances. Of

294-483: A billiard table for about 300. The Mozarts sent their son Karl Thomas to an expensive boarding school and kept servants. During this period Mozart saved little of his income. On 14 December 1784, Mozart became a Freemason , admitted to the lodge Zur Wohltätigkeit ("Beneficence"). Freemasonry played an essential role in the remainder of Mozart's life: he attended meetings, a number of his friends were Masons, and on various occasions, he composed Masonic music, e.g.

441-518: A grand tour of Europe and then three trips to Italy . At 17, he was a musician at the Salzburg court but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position. Mozart's search for employment led to positions in Paris , Mannheim , Munich , and again in Salzburg, during which he wrote his five violin concertos, Sinfonia Concertante , and Concerto for Flute and Harp , as well as sacred pieces and masses ,

588-457: A memorandum of understanding , which would permit the development of the adjacent site to the east, a parking lot. In 1981, the federal government gave Carnegie Hall $ 1.8 million for the renovation; the city and Astor Foundation had previously given $ 450,000. The first renovations started in February 1982 with the restoration and reconstruction of the recital hall and studio entrance. The lobby

735-506: A $ 10 million grant from Arthur and Judy Zankel, the new space was renamed after the Zankels in January 1999; the auditorium proper was named after Judith Arron, who donated $ 5 million. Construction took place without disrupting performances or the nearby subway tunnel. Zankel Hall had been planned to open in early 2003, but the opening date was postponed due to the city's economic difficulties after

882-416: A breakthrough work. Despite these artistic successes, Mozart grew increasingly discontented with Salzburg and redoubled his efforts to find a position elsewhere. One reason was his low salary, 150 florins a year; Mozart longed to compose operas, and Salzburg provided only rare occasions for these. The situation worsened in 1775 when the court theatre was closed, especially since the other theatre in Salzburg

1029-470: A center stage, an end stage, or no stage. This is accomplished through the division of the floor into nine sections, each 45 feet (14 m) wide with a separate lift underneath. There are 599 seats in Zankel Hall, spread across two levels. The parterre level seats a total of 463 and the mezzanine level seats 136. Each level has several boxes perpendicular to the stage; there are 54 seats in six boxes on

1176-400: A delighted audience, which was given the opportunity of witnessing the transformation and perfection of a major musical genre". With substantial returns from his concerts and elsewhere, Mozart and his wife adopted a more luxurious lifestyle. They moved to an expensive apartment, with a yearly rent of 460 florins. Mozart bought a fine fortepiano from Anton Walter for about 900 florins, and

1323-597: A diverse group of advisors through a nationwide selection process. The four composers included Cynthia Wong, Clint Needham, Andrew Norman , and Alex Mincek. Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( / ˈ k ɑːr n ɪ ɡ i / KAR -nig-ee ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan , New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue , occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets . Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie , it

1470-466: A few minor operas. Between April and December 1775, Mozart developed an enthusiasm for violin concertos, producing a series of five (the only ones he ever wrote), which steadily increased in their musical sophistication. The last three— K. 216 , K. 218 , K. 219 —are now staples of the repertoire. In 1776, he turned his efforts to piano concertos , culminating in the E ♭ concerto K. 271 of early 1777, considered by critics to be

1617-442: A gymnasium, and twelve short-term "lodge rooms" in the roof. The 56th Street side of Carnegie Hall was designed with rooms for the choruses, soloists, and conductors, as well as offices and lodge rooms. On the roof of the 56th Street section were janitors' apartments. Three elevators, two on the 57th Street side and one on the 56th Street side, originally served the building. The addition at the corner of 56th Street and Seventh Avenue

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1764-592: A kick in the arse", administered by the archbishop's steward, Count Arco. Mozart decided to settle in Vienna as a freelance performer and composer. The quarrel with Colloredo was more difficult for Mozart because his father sided against him. Hoping fervently that he would obediently follow Colloredo back to Salzburg, Mozart's father exchanged intense letters with his son, urging him to be reconciled with their employer. Mozart passionately defended his intention to pursue an independent career in Vienna. The debate ended when Mozart

1911-597: A movie theater called the Carnegie Playhouse. A screen was installed at the front of the former stage, while the balconies and side galleries were sealed. The Carnegie Hall Cinema opened in May 1961 with a showing of the film White Nights by Luchino Visconti . Carnegie Hall received a concert organ from the Netherlands in 1965, although the stage had to be renovated before the organ could be installed. The installation of

2058-473: A native of Augsburg , then an Imperial Free City in the Holy Roman Empire, was a minor composer and an experienced teacher. In 1743, he was appointed as the fourth violinist in the musical establishment of Count Leopold Anton von Firmian , the ruling Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg . Four years later, he married Anna Maria in Salzburg. Leopold became the orchestra's deputy Kapellmeister in 1763. During

2205-535: A new organ was installed in Carnegie Hall and dedicated in December 1929. Robert Simon died in 1935. Murray Weisman succeeded Simon as president of Carnegie Hall's board of directors, while the late owner's son Robert E. Simon Jr. became the vice president. A bust of the senior Simon was installed in the lobby in 1936. The main hall was modified around 1946 during filming for the movie Carnegie Hall . A hole

2352-472: A paneled wall behind the stage, were installed after the recital hall's completion but were removed in the 1980s to improve acoustics. The room has three chandeliers, which also amplify the room's acoustics. A boiler room was placed under the sidewalk on Seventh Avenue. A small electric generation plant for 5,300 lamps was also planned. At the ground level of the main hall was a lobby with gray marble pilasters and salmon-colored walls. Stores were added to

2499-429: A parlor game). Mozart also faced a very difficult task getting permission for the marriage from his father, Leopold . The marriage took place in an atmosphere of crisis. Daniel Heartz suggests that eventually Constanze moved in with Mozart, which would have placed her in disgrace by the mores of the time. Mozart wrote to Leopold on 31 July 1782, "All the good and well-intentioned advice you have sent fails to address

2646-554: A performer and a rapidly maturing composer. Wolfgang met Josef Mysliveček and Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna and was accepted as a member of the famous Accademia Filarmonica . There exists a myth, according to which, while in Rome, he heard Gregorio Allegri 's Miserere twice in performance in the Sistine Chapel . Allegedly, he subsequently wrote it out from memory, thus producing

2793-464: A pilaster. A broad terracotta frieze runs above the fourth floor, at the springing of the arches. To either side of the arcade, there are two tall round-arched windows on the second floor; those on the east flank a blind arch. There are pairs of pilasters on the fourth-floor mezzanine, above which is a string course. The Seventh Avenue facade is similar in design, but instead of window openings, there are blind openings filled with brick. Additionally,

2940-462: A resident company since the New York Philharmonic moved out. Carnegie Hall was renovated multiple times throughout its history, including in the 1940s and 1980s. Carnegie Hall is on the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street and 57th Street , two blocks south of Central Park , in Midtown Manhattan , New York City. The site covers 27,618 square feet (2,565.8 m ). Its lot

3087-417: A series of recordings of Mozart's greatest piano concerti with Richard Goode (Nonesuch); and a vigorous reading of The Four Seasons with Sarah Chang (EMI Classics). A collection of Mozart piano concerti with Jonathan Biss was released in 2008, also on EMI Classics, and in 2014 Orpheus released its first self-produced album containing Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 recorded live at Carnegie Hall. Within

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3234-480: A slab of concrete. John L. Tishman , president of Tishman Realty & Construction , which had renovated the stage in 1986, alleged that the concrete was there before the renovation. The concrete was removed in mid-1995 while Carnegie Hall was closed for the summer; soon afterward, critics described a noticeable change in the acoustics. In the basement, the Carnegie Hall Cinema operated separately from

3381-580: A soloist, presenting three or four new piano concertos in each season. Since space in the theatres was scarce, he booked unconventional venues: a large room in the Trattnerhof apartment building, and the ballroom of the Mehlgrube restaurant. The concerts were very popular, and his concertos premiered there are still firm fixtures in the repertoire. Solomon writes that during this period, Mozart created "a harmonious connection between an eager composer-performer and

3528-506: A source of anxiety in 1790, finally began to improve. Although the evidence is inconclusive, it appears that wealthy patrons in Hungary and Amsterdam pledged annuities to Mozart in return for the occasional composition. He is thought to have benefited from the sale of dance music written in his role as Imperial chamber composer. Mozart no longer borrowed large sums from Puchberg and began to pay off his debts. He experienced great satisfaction in

3675-526: A steady post under aristocratic patronage. Emperor Joseph II appointed him as his "chamber composer", a post that had fallen vacant the previous month on the death of Gluck . It was a part-time appointment, paying just 800 florins per year, and required Mozart only to compose dances for the annual balls in the Redoutensaal (see Mozart and dance ). This modest income became important to Mozart when hard times arrived. Court records show that Joseph aimed to keep

3822-442: A suburb, as he wrote in his letter to Michael von Puchberg , Mozart had not reduced his expenses but merely increased the housing space at his disposal. Mozart began to borrow money, most often from his friend and fellow mason Puchberg; "a pitiful sequence of letters pleading for loans" survives. Maynard Solomon and others have suggested that Mozart was suffering from depression, and it seems his musical output slowed. Major works of

3969-521: A time of high productivity—and by some accounts, one of personal recovery. He composed a great deal, including some of his most admired works: the opera The Magic Flute ; the final piano concerto ( K. 595 in B ♭ ); the Clarinet Concerto K. 622; the last in his series of string quintets ( K. 614 in E ♭ ); the motet Ave verum corpus K. 618; and the unfinished Requiem K. 626. Mozart's financial situation,

4116-406: A total of 1,021 seats. 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. 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. As designed, the first tier of boxes was entirely open, while

4263-434: A total of 268 seats. The orchestra level contains 196 seats in fourteen rows, while the balcony level contains 72 seats in five rows. The modern-day recital hall contains off-white walls and blue seats. In the mid-20th century, the recital hall was decorated with red and gold, which was replaced in the 1980s with Palladian arches similar to those in the hall's original design. A proscenium arch made of plywood, as well as

4410-478: A very successful singer, but she was no longer interested in him. Mozart finally returned to Salzburg on 15 January 1779 and took up his new appointment, but his discontent with Salzburg remained undiminished. Among the better-known works which Mozart wrote on the Paris journey are the A minor piano sonata , K. 310/300d, the "Paris" Symphony (No. 31), which were performed in Paris on 12 and 18 June 1778; and

4557-510: Is 200 feet (61 m) wide, covering the entire width of the block between 56th Street to the south and 57th Street to the north, and extends 150 feet (46 m) eastward from Seventh Avenue. Carnegie Hall shares the city block with the Carnegie Hall Tower , Russian Tea Room , and Metropolitan Tower to the east. It is cater-corner from the Osborne apartment building. It also faces

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4704-479: Is mounted from twenty-one trusses. The Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall is named after Sanford I. Weill , a former chairman of Carnegie Hall's board, as well as his wife Joan. This auditorium, in use since the hall opened in 1891, was originally called Chamber Music Hall and was placed in the "lateral building" east of the main hall. The space later became the Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, and

4851-522: Is now Carnegie Hall came from Leopold Damrosch , the conductor of Oratorio Society of New York and the New York Symphony Society . The Oratorio Society had been looking for a permanent performance venue ever since it was founded in 1873. Though Leopold died in 1885, his son Walter Johannes Damrosch pursued his father's vision for a new music hall. While studying music in Germany in 1887,

4998-430: Is on 161 West 56th Street. On the third and fourth floors, above the main entrance, is a two-and-a-half story arcade on 57th Street with five round-headed arches. A balcony with a balustrade is carried on console brackets in front of this arcade. Each arch has a horizontal terracotta transom bar above the third floor; two third-floor windows separated by a Corinthian column; and two fourth-floor windows separated by

5145-495: Is one of the most prestigious venues in the world for both classical music and popular music. Carnegie Hall has its own artistic programming, development, and marketing departments and presents about 250 performances each season. It is also rented out to performing groups. Carnegie Hall has 3,671 seats, divided among three auditoriums. The largest one is the Stern Auditorium, a five-story auditorium with 2,804 seats. Also part of

5292-445: Is only a ruse of Madame Weber to get her daughter back. If not, I know no better remedy than to marry Constanze tomorrow morning or if possible today." The couple were finally married on 4   August 1782 in St. Stephen's Cathedral , the day before his father's consenting letter arrived in the mail. In the marriage contract, Constanze "assigns to her bridegroom five hundred gulden which ...

5439-415: Is part of a former artistic hub around a two-block section of West 57th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway . The hub had been developed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its opening in 1891 directly contributed to the development of the hub. The area contains several buildings constructed as residences for artists and musicians, such as 130 and 140 West 57th Street , the Osborne, and

5586-487: Is perhaps rather far uptown, but it is easily accessible from the 'living' part of the city." The Music Hall Company was incorporated on March 27, 1889, with Carnegie, Damrosch, Reno, Tuthill, and Stephen M. Kneval as trustees. 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

5733-440: Is some scholarly debate about whether Mozart was four or five years old when he created his first musical compositions, though there is little doubt that Mozart composed his first three pieces of music within a few weeks of each other: K. 1a, 1b, and 1c. In his early years, Wolfgang's father was his only teacher. Along with music, he taught his children languages and academic subjects. Biographer Solomon notes that, while Leopold

5880-456: The "Haydn" Quartets and a number of symphonies . Throughout his Vienna years, Mozart composed over a dozen piano concertos , many considered some of his greatest achievements. In the final years of his life, Mozart wrote many of his best-known works, including his last three symphonies, culminating in the Jupiter Symphony , the serenade Eine kleine Nachtmusik , his Clarinet Concerto ,

6027-588: The Concerto for Flute and Harp in C major, K. 299/297c. In January 1781, Mozart's opera Idomeneo premiered with "considerable success" in Munich. The following March, Mozart was summoned to Vienna, where his employer, Archbishop Colloredo, was attending the celebrations for the accession of Joseph II to the Austrian throne. For Colloredo, this was simply a matter of wanting his musical servant to be at hand (Mozart indeed

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6174-493: The Maurerische Trauermusik . Despite the great success of Die Entführung aus dem Serail , Mozart did little operatic writing for the next four years, producing only two unfinished works and the one-act Der Schauspieldirektor . He focused instead on his career as a piano soloist and writer of concertos. Around the end of 1785, Mozart moved away from keyboard writing and began his famous operatic collaboration with

6321-573: The New York Philharmonic , American Composer's Orchestra , Met Opera Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra , and New York City Ballet Orchestra. Orpheus members serve on the administrative staff as well as on the Board of Directors. Orpheus has embarked on many extensive tours of the United States , Europe , South America , and Asia , including Japan . In March 2007, Orpheus became one of

6468-478: The New York Philharmonic , which booked a majority of the hall's concerts each year. The orchestra intended to move to Lincoln Center once it had been built (at the time, plans to build it were still at an early stage). Simon notified the Philharmonic that he would terminate the lease by 1959 if it did not purchase Carnegie Hall. In mid-1955, longtime employee John Totten organized a fundraising drive to prevent

6615-709: The Rodin Studios and 888 Seventh Avenue to the west; Alwyn Court , The Briarcliffe , the Louis H. Chalif Normal School of Dancing , and One57 to the north; the Park Central Hotel to the southwest; and CitySpire and New York City Center to the southeast. Right outside the hall is an entrance to the New York City Subway 's 57th Street–Seventh Avenue station , served by the N , ​ Q , ​ R , and ​ W trains. Carnegie Hall

6762-580: The September 11 attacks in 2001. The excavations also raised the budget to $ 69 million. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period . Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition resulted in more than 800 works representing virtually every Western classical genre of his time. Many of these compositions are acknowledged as pinnacles of

6909-601: The famous orchestra in Mannheim, the best in Europe at the time. He also fell in love with Aloysia Weber , one of four daughters of a musical family. There were prospects of employment in Mannheim, but they came to nothing, and Mozart left for Paris on 14 March 1778 to continue his search. One of his letters from Paris hints at a possible post as an organist at Versailles , but Mozart was not interested in such an appointment. He fell into debt and took to pawning valuables. The nadir of

7056-785: The librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte . The year 1786 saw the successful premiere of Le nozze di Figaro in Vienna. Its reception in Prague later in the year was even warmer, and this led to a second collaboration with Da Ponte: the opera Don Giovanni , which premiered in October 1787 to acclaim in Prague, but less success in Vienna during 1788. The two are among Mozart's most famous works and are mainstays of operatic repertoire today, though at their premieres their musical complexity caused difficulty both for listeners and for performers. These developments were not witnessed by Mozart's father, who had died on 28 May 1787. In December 1787, Mozart finally obtained

7203-453: The motet   Exsultate Jubilate , and the opera Idomeneo , among other works. While visiting Vienna in 1781, Mozart was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He stayed in Vienna, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During Mozart’s early years in Vienna, he produced several notable works, such as the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail , the Great Mass in C Minor ,

7350-563: The symphonic , concertante , chamber , operatic, and choral repertoire. Mozart is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, with his music admired for its "melodic beauty, its formal elegance and its richness of harmony and texture". Born in Salzburg , Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. At age five, he was already competent on keyboard and violin, had begun to compose, and performed before European royalty. His father took him on

7497-458: The "first unauthorized copy of this closely guarded property of the Vatican ". However, both origin and plausibility of this account are disputed. In Milan, Mozart wrote the opera Mitridate, re di Ponto (1770), which was performed with success. This led to further opera commissions . He returned with his father twice to Milan (August–December 1771; October 1772 – March 1773) for

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7644-518: The 30 players who comprise the basic membership of Orpheus, many also hold teaching positions at conservatories and universities in the New York and New England areas, including Juilliard , Manhattan School of Music , New England Conservatory , Columbia , Yale , Mannes College of Music , Montclair State University , and the Hartt School . Orpheus musicians also hold posts with other orchestras such as

7791-417: The 34-year-old Tuthill was relatively unknown as an architect, he was an amateur cellist and a singer, which may have led to him getting the commission. Dankmar Adler of Adler & Sullivan, on the other hand, was an experienced designer of music halls and theaters; he served as the acoustical consultant. Carnegie Hall was constructed with heavy masonry bearing walls , as lighter structural steel framework

7938-533: The Alice and Jacob M. Kaplan Space was built within the old chapter room on the fifth floor, directly above the main hall. The Kaplan Space opened in March 1985. The corporation announced in May 1985 that the main hall and recital hall would be closed for several months. The corporation also started a fundraising drive to raise the $ 50 million needed to fund the renovation; more than half of the funding had already been raised at

8085-522: The Carnegie Hall Archives, established in 1986, and the Rose Museum , which opened in 1991. The Rose Museum is east of the first balcony of the Stern Auditorium and has dark makore and light anigre paneling with brass edges, as well as columns with brass capitals , supporting a coffered ceiling. The Rose Museum space is separated from two adjacent rooms by sliding panels. The idea for what

8232-530: The Carnegie Hall Corporation started evicting longtime tenants of the upper-story studios, particularly those who refused to pay steeply increased rents. The first phase of the renovation was completed in September 1983 for $ 20 million. A second phase included upgrades to mechanical systems, such as air-conditioning and elevators. As part of the third phase of renovations, a recording studio called

8379-544: The Carnegie family until 1925, after which Robert E. Simon and then his son, Robert E. Simon Jr., became owner. Carnegie Hall was proposed for demolition in the 1950s in advance of the New York Philharmonic relocating to Lincoln Center in 1962. Though Carnegie Hall is designated a National Historic Landmark and protected by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission , it has not had

8526-531: The Dress Circle level; along with a corresponding arch at the rear of the auditorium, it supports the ceiling. The Ronald O. Perelman Stage is 42 feet (13 m) deep. It was originally designed with six tiers that could be raised and lowered hydraulically. 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. Originally, there were no stage wings;

8673-592: The Emperor, who eventually was to support his career substantially with commissions and a part-time position. In the same letter to his father just quoted, Mozart outlined his plans to participate as a soloist in the concerts of the Tonkünstler-Societät , a prominent benefit concert series; this plan as well came to pass after the local nobility prevailed on Colloredo to drop his opposition. Colloredo's wish to prevent Mozart from performing outside his establishment

8820-562: The Music Hall's stockholders planned to enlarge the hall to accommodate operatic performances, following a fire that severely damaged the Metropolitan Opera House. At the time, Morris Reno said the stage could not be modified until at least early 1893. The Music Hall Company filed plans for alterations in December 1892. The plans called a tower of about 240 feet (73 m) at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 56th Street. In addition,

8967-474: The Music Hall. The Real Estate Record and Guide praised the building's design as "harmonious, animated without restlessness, and quiet without dullness." 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. The Recital Hall opened in March 1891 for recitals of the New York Oratorio Society. It

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9114-710: The Rodin Studios. In addition, the area contained the headquarters of organizations such as the American Fine Arts Society , the Lotos Club , and the American Society of Civil Engineers . By the 21st century, the artistic hub had largely been replaced with Billionaires' Row , a series of luxury skyscrapers around the southern end of Central Park . Carnegie Hall was designed by William Tuthill along with Richard Morris Hunt and Adler & Sullivan . While

9261-459: The Stern Auditorium's parquet level. The excavations descended up to 22 feet (6.7 m) below the original space's floor and came as close as 9 feet (2.7 m) to the adjacent subway tunnel. This also required the removal of twelve cast-iron columns holding up the Main Hall. In its place, a temporary framework of steel pipe columns, supporting I-beam girders and thick Neoprene insulation pads,

9408-732: The Weber family, who had moved to Vienna from Mannheim. The family's father, Fridolin, had died, and the Webers were now taking in lodgers to make ends meet. After failing to win the hand of Aloysia Weber, who was now married to the actor and artist Joseph Lange , Mozart's interest shifted to the third daughter of the family, Constanze . The courtship did not go entirely smoothly; surviving correspondence indicates that Mozart and Constanze briefly broke up in April 1782, over an episode involving jealousy (Constanze had permitted another young man to measure her calves in

9555-483: The arcade at the center of the Seventh Avenue facade has four arches instead of five. The sixth floor, at the center of the 57th Street facade, contains five square openings, each with a pair of round-arched windows. On either side of these five openings, there are round-arched windows, arranged as in a shallow loggia . There are four arched windows on the eastern portion of the sixth floor, as well as two arches on

9702-557: The auditorium's acoustical qualities, saying "each note was heard". The Music Hall had cost $ 1.25 million to construct and was the second major performance hall in New York City, after the Metropolitan Opera House . Almost from the outset, scalpers resold tickets to the Music Hall's shows at greatly inflated prices, and ushers began selling off tickets to unoccupied seats at the start of each concert. For an inflated fee,

9849-454: 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. Zankel Hall, on the Seventh Avenue side of the building, is named after Judy and Arthur Zankel, who funded a renovation of the venue. Originally called simply Recital Hall, this

9996-506: 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 tympana . The lobby was originally several feet above street level, but it was lowered to street level in the 1980s. The rebuilt lobby contains geometric decorations evocative by the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh , as well as Corinthian -style capitals with lighting fixtures. The design also includes ticket windows on

10143-468: The basement recital hall for the next fifty-four years. Also during the mid-1890s, the Music Hall was renamed Carnegie Hall for its main benefactor. According to Carnegie Hall archivist Gino Francesconi, the renaming occurred "so that it shouldn't be confused by European artists with a vulgar music hall". During the early 20th century, Carnegie Hall accommodated many recitals and concerts because of its acoustic qualities. Carnegie Hall officials renovated

10290-622: The building in 1920, replacing its porte-cochère , overhauling the Philharmonic Society's office, and removing staircases for about $ 70,000. By late 1924, the Carnegie Foundation was considering selling the hall to a private developer because of increasing financial deficits, which amounted to $ 15,000 a year. At the time, the site was valued at $ 2.5 million, and another performance venue in midtown, Aeolian Hall , had been sold for redevelopment. In February 1925, Carnegie's widow sold

10437-494: The building itself in July 1958. Meanwhile, soon after the sale, Simon started planning how to preserve the hall, and approached some of its resident artists-in-residence for help. Violinist Isaac Stern enlisted his friends Jacob M. and Alice Kaplan, as well as J. M. Kaplan Fund administrator Raymond S. Rubinow, for assistance in saving the hall. In 1959, two hundred residents of Carnegie Hall's studios were asked if they wanted to buy

10584-544: The building was slated to be replaced by a 44-story skyscraper designed by Pomerance and Breines. The replacement tower would have had a red facade and would have been constructed on stilts, with art exhibits and other cultural facilities at the base. However, Glickman was unable to come up with the $ 22 million that the construction budget for the skyscraper called for. This, combined with delays in Lincoln Center's construction, prompted Glickman to decline an option to buy

10731-401: The building was then projected to be $ 1.1 million, including the land. By July 1889, Carnegie's company had acquired additional land, with frontage of 175 feet (53 m) on 57th Street. The architectural drawings were nearly completed and excavations for the music hall had been completed. The Henry Elias Brewery owned the corner of Seventh Avenue and 56th Street and originally would not sell

10878-452: The building. Stern, the Kaplans, and Rubinow ultimately decided that the best move would be for the city government to become involved. The move gained support from mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. , who created a taskforce to save Carnegie Hall in early 1960, but Simon and his co-owners still filed eviction notices against some studio tenants. The same year, special legislation was passed allowing

11025-425: The case of a man who has already gone so far with a maiden. Further postponement is out of the question." Heartz relates, "Constanze's sister Sophie had tearfully declared that her mother would send the police after Constanze if she did not return home [presumably from Mozart's apartment]." On 4 August, Mozart wrote to Baroness von Waldstätten, asking: "Can the police here enter anyone's house in this way? Perhaps it

11172-449: The city government to buy the site from Simon for $ 5 million, and Simon used the money to establish Reston, Virginia . The city leased the hall to the Carnegie Hall Corporation, a nonprofit organization formed to run the venue. For 15 years, the Carnegie Hall Corporation paid the New York City government $ 183,600 in cash, Afterward, the corporation started paying the city through benefit concerts and outreach programs. Carnegie Hall

11319-529: The complete Mozart wind concerti with Orpheus members as soloists, Romantic works by Dvořák , Grieg and Tchaikovsky and a number of twentieth-century classics by Bartók , Prokofiev , Fauré , Ravel , Schoenberg , and others. Recent releases include a recording of English and American folk songs with countertenor Andreas Scholl (Decca); Creation , a collection of the Impressionist music from 1920s Paris with saxophonist Branford Marsalis (Sony Classical);

11466-469: The complex are the 599-seat Zankel Hall on Seventh Avenue, as well as the 268-seat Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall on 57th Street. Besides the auditoriums, Carnegie Hall contains offices on its top stories. Carnegie Hall, originally the Music Hall, was constructed between 1889 and 1891 as a venue shared by the Oratorio Society of New York and the New York Symphony Society . The hall was owned by

11613-446: The composition and premieres of Ascanio in Alba (1771) and Lucio Silla (1772). Leopold hoped these visits would result in a professional appointment for his son, and indeed ruling Archduke Ferdinand contemplated hiring Mozart, but owing to his mother Empress Maria Theresa 's reluctance to employ "useless people", the matter was dropped and Leopold's hopes were never realized. Toward

11760-511: The court of Prince-elector Maximilian III of Bavaria in Munich, and at the Imperial Courts in Vienna and Prague. A long concert tour followed, spanning three and a half years, taking the family to the courts of Munich, Mannheim , Paris, London, Dover, The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Mechelen and again to Paris, and back home via Zürich , Donaueschingen , and Munich. During this trip, Wolfgang met many musicians and acquainted himself with

11907-442: The deficits had also risen accordingly. Carnegie Hall's equipment included a rundown air-conditioning system that did not work in the summer. In 1977, the Carnegie Hall Corporation decided to stop allowing new residents for its upper-story studios; existing residents were allowed to continue living there. The studios were instead offered mainly to commercial tenants, who could afford to pay higher rents. This prompted protests from

12054-533: The demolition of Carnegie Hall. Meanwhile, the Academy of Dramatic Arts had moved out of the basement recital hall in 1954. The Academy's former space was rented for the time being to other tenants. Simon sold the entire stock of Carnegie Hall, Inc., the venue's legal owner, to a commercial developer, the Glickman Corporation, in July 1956 for $ 5 million. With the Philharmonic ready to move to Lincoln Center,

12201-443: The end of the journey, Mozart wrote the solo motet Exsultate, jubilate , K. 165. After finally returning with his father from Italy on 13 March 1773, Mozart was employed as a court musician by the ruler of Salzburg, Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo . The composer had many friends and admirers in Salzburg and had the opportunity to work in many genres, including symphonies, sonatas, string quartets, masses , serenades, and

12348-416: The esteemed composer from leaving Vienna in pursuit of better prospects. In 1787, the young Ludwig van Beethoven spent several weeks in Vienna, hoping to study with Mozart. No reliable records survive to indicate whether the two composers ever met. Toward the end of the decade, Mozart's circumstances worsened. Around 1786, he ceased to appear frequently in public concerts, and his income shrank. This

12495-425: The existing tenants. In 1979, the board of Carnegie Hall Corporation hired James Stewart Polshek and his firm, Polshek Partnership , to create a master plan for Carnegie Hall's renovation and expansion. Polshek found that Carnegie Hall's electrical systems, exits, fire alarms, and other systems were not up to modern building codes. The next year, the Carnegie Hall Corporation and the New York City government signed

12642-498: The finest keyboard player in Vienna". He also prospered as a composer, and in 1782 completed the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"), which premiered on 16 July 1782 and achieved considerable success. The work was soon being performed "throughout German-speaking Europe", and thoroughly established Mozart's reputation as a composer. Near the height of his quarrels with Colloredo, Mozart moved in with

12789-528: The first winners of the Worldwide Award for the Most Democratic Workplaces sponsored by WorldBlu, Inc. , a Washington, D.C.-based organization specializing in organizational democracy. The Orpheus has recorded over 70 albums. Their extensive catalog for Deutsche Grammophon includes Baroque masterworks of Handel , Corelli and Vivaldi , Haydn symphonies, Mozart symphonies and serenades,

12936-403: The four operas Le nozze di Figaro , Don Giovanni , Così fan tutte and Die Zauberflöte and his Requiem . The Requiem was largely unfinished at the time of his death at age 35, the circumstances of which are uncertain and much mythologised. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria , née Pertl, at Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg. Salzburg

13083-484: The fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and pieces at the clavier.   ... He could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time.   ... At the age of five, he was already composing little pieces, which he played to his father who wrote them down. These early pieces, K. 1–5, were recorded in the Nannerl Notenbuch . There

13230-433: The hall closed completely for a seven-month renovation. The hall's plaster decorations were restored, although the carpeting and seats were replaced. That November, Carnegie Hall announced it would rename the recital hall after Joan and Sanford I. Weill, who not only were major donors to the renovation but also enlisted other donors to fund the project. The Weill family had donated $ 2.5 million, more than any other donor in

13377-505: The hall from demolition in the 1960s. The main auditorium was originally planned to fit 3,300 guests, including two tiers of boxes, two balconies, and a parquet seating 1,200. The main hall accommodated the performances of the New York Philharmonic from 1892 to 1962, when the Philharmonic moved to Lincoln Center . Its entrance is through the Box Office Lobby on 57th Street near Seventh Avenue. When planned in 1889, this entrance

13524-440: The hall to a real estate developer, Robert E. Simon. The sale agreement included a clause requiring that either Carnegie Hall would continue to operate as a performance venue for at least the next five years, or another performance venue would be erected on the site. Simon said the hall would continue to operate for as long as it was profitable, and he wished to restore the basement recital hall as well. Under Simon's ownership,

13671-656: The hall's history. The main hall (including the Stern Auditorium) was reopened on December 15, 1986, with a gala featuring Zubin Mehta , Frank Sinatra , Vladimir Horowitz , and the New York Philharmonic. The Kaplan Rehearsal Space was also created in 1986, and the Weill Recital Hall opened in January 1987. A month after the main hall reopened, New York Times music critic Bernard Holland criticized its acoustics, saying: "The acoustics of this magnificent space are not

13818-605: The influence of Gottfried van Swieten , who owned many manuscripts of the Baroque masters. Mozart's study of these scores inspired compositions in Baroque style and later influenced his musical language, for example in fugal passages in Die Zauberflöte ("The Magic Flute") and the finale of Symphony No. 41 . In 1783, Mozart and his wife visited his family in Salzburg. His father and sister were cordially polite to Constanze, but

13965-461: The land, as its proprietor believed the site had a good water source. Plans for the Music Hall were filed in November 1889. Carnegie's wife Louise laid the cornerstone for the Music Hall on May 13, 1890. 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. Isaac A. Hopper and Company was the contractor in charge of building

14112-409: The latter has promised to augment with one thousand gulden", with the total "to pass to the survivor". Further, all joint acquisitions during the marriage were to remain the common property of both. The couple had six children, of whom only two survived infancy: In 1782 and 1783, Mozart became intimately acquainted with the work of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel as a result of

14259-401: The latter's renovation. Carnegie Hall began to deteriorate due to neglect, and the corporation faced fiscal deficits. By the mid-1970s, the venue suffered from burst pipes and falling sections of the ceiling, and there were large holes in the balconies that patrons could put their feet through. At the same time, operating costs had increased from $ 3.5 million in 1977 to $ 10.3 million in 1984, and

14406-475: The lobby in the 1940s. The storefronts, as well as a restaurant at the corner of 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, were removed in a 1980s renovation. Originally, there was a 150-seat dining room on the ground level below the Chamber Music Hall. Above the dining room, but below the venue itself, were parlors, cloak rooms, and restrooms. Above the Chamber Music Hall was a large chapter-room, a meeting room,

14553-423: The name was changed to Carnegie Recital Hall in the late 1940s. The venue was renamed after Joan and Sanford I. Weill in 1986, reopening in January 1987. The recital hall is served by its own lobby, which contains a pale color palette with red geometric metalwork. Prior to a 1980s renovation, it shared a lobby with the main auditorium. The Weill Recital Hall is the smallest of the three performance spaces, with

14700-467: The organ was delayed several times, as opponents feared that the changes would damage the hall's acoustics. Meanwhile, Carnegie Hall was profitable by the late 1960s, having consistently hosted about 350 shows a year during that decade. Carnegie Hall became a more popular destination in the 1960s and 1970s, in part because of complaints over acoustics in the new Philharmonic Hall. The deficiencies with Carnegie Hall's facilities became more prominent after

14847-399: The original building's mansard roof would become a flat roof, and the seventh story would be converted into a full story. The Philharmonic Society moved into the Music Hall in November 1892, drawing further crowds. The studios atop the building were constructed shortly afterward, from 1894 to 1896. The American Academy of Dramatic Arts moved into the basement recital hall in 1896, leasing

14994-464: The parterre level and 48 seats in four boxes on the mezzanine level. The boxes on the parterre level are raised above the level of the stage. Zankel Hall is wheelchair-accessible. Its stage is 44 feet (13 m) wide and 25 feet (7.6 m) deep. Due to the limited space available on the land lot, the construction of Zankel Hall required excavating 8,000 cubic feet (230 m ) of additional basement space, at some points only 10 feet (3.0 m) under

15141-405: The past decade, Orpheus presented The New Brandenburgs program, engaging six composers to create six new works for the orchestra. Each composer was joined with one of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos and was asked to compose a new piece inspired by the original. Following the completion of The New Brandenburgs, Orpheus launched its Project 440 initiative that commissioned four emerging composers chosen by

15288-467: 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. Tchaikovsky considered the auditorium "unusually impressive and grand" when "illuminated and filled with an audience". The New York Herald praised

15435-440: The period 1782 to 1785, and are judged to be a response to Haydn's Opus 33 set from 1781. Haydn wrote, "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years" and in 1785 told Mozart's father: "I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute, he has taste and what is more the greatest skill in composition." From 1782 to 1785 Mozart mounted concerts with himself as

15582-437: The period include the last three symphonies (Nos.  39 , 40 , and 41 , all from 1788), and the last of the three Da Ponte operas, Così fan tutte , premiered in 1790. Around this time, Mozart made some long journeys hoping to improve his fortunes, visiting Leipzig, Dresden, and Berlin in the spring of 1789, and Frankfurt , Mannheim, and other German cities in 1790. Mozart's last year was, until his final illness struck,

15729-450: The proposed renovation in July 1985. Renovation work began afterward. The project was complicated by the need to schedule construction around performances, the lack of a freight elevator, and the requirement that materials be replaced with close or exact replacements. In April 1986, Carnegie officials announced their intent to sublease the vacant lot to Rockrose Development for the construction of Carnegie Hall Tower. The following month,

15876-472: The rest of Carnegie Hall until 1997, when the hall's management closed the cinema, along with two shops on Seventh Avenue. In late 1998, Carnegie Hall announced that it would turn the basement recital hall into another performance venue, designed by Polshek Associates. The project was to cost $ 50 million; the high cost was attributed to the fact that the work would require excavations under the basement while concerts and other events were ongoing. In recognition of

16023-536: The same year. Though the East and Club rooms were in Carnegie Hall Tower, they were connected to the original Carnegie Hall. This represented the first new space added to Carnegie Hall since the studios were added in the late 1890s. At the parquet level, Cafe Carnegie was also renovated. The stage of the main hall had begun to warp by the early 1990s, and officials disassembled the stage in 1995, where they discovered

16170-429: The same." The Weill Recital Hall also received complaints about its acoustics, prompting Carnegie Hall officials to test out noise-absorbing panels in that space. Several noise-absorbing panels were installed in the main hall in 1988, but complaints continued for several years. Critics alleged there was concrete underneath the stage, but Carnegie Hall officials denied the allegations. Isaac Stern offered to disassemble

16317-413: The second tier was partially enclosed, with open boxes on either end. 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. An elliptic arch rises from

16464-416: 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. All but the top level can be reached by elevator; the top balcony is 137 steps above parquet level. 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

16611-403: The southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and 57th Street. William Tuthill had been hired to design a "great music hall" on the site. 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. The New York Times said "The location for the music hall

16758-454: The spaces as a source of income to support the hall and its activities. After 1999, the space was re-purposed for music education and corporate offices. In 2007, the Carnegie Hall Corporation announced plans to evict the 33 remaining studio residents, including celebrity portrait photographer Editta Sherman and fashion photographer Bill Cunningham . The last resident, poet Elizabeth Sargent, moved out during 2010. The building also contains

16905-658: The stage on the condition that the critics pay for the repairs if no concrete was found. Polshek Partners won the American Institute of Architects ' Honor Award in 1988 for its renovation of the hall. During the late 1980s, Carnegie Hall had begun collecting items for the opening of a museum in the under-construction Carnegie Hall Tower. The Rose Museum was founded in April 1991, with its own entrance at 154 West 57th Street. The East Room and Club Room (later renamed Rohatyn Room and Shorin Club Room, respectively ) were created

17052-410: The street and 175 feet (53 m) along the avenue. The 16-story eastern wing contains the Weill Recital Hall and is located along 57th Street. The 13-story southern wing, at Seventh Avenue and 56th Street, contains Zankel Hall. Except at the eighth floor, all three structures have floor levels at different heights. Carnegie Hall was designed from the outset with a facade of Roman brick. The facade

17199-440: The support of the local nobility, Mozart was offered a post as court organist and concertmaster. The annual salary was 450 florins, but he was reluctant to accept. By that time, relations between Grimm and Mozart had cooled, and Mozart moved out. After leaving Paris in September 1778 for Strasbourg, he lingered in Mannheim and Munich, still hoping to obtain an appointment outside Salzburg. In Munich, he again encountered Aloysia, now

17346-423: The time. A new structure designed by César Pelli , later to become the Carnegie Hall Tower , was planned for the lot immediately east of Carnegie Hall. Further upgrades, which required the main and recital halls' closure, included upgrades to both halls, the lobby, the facade, backstage areas, and offices. The lobby was lowered to street level and doubled in size. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved

17493-472: The ushers allowed latecomers to sit down during the middle of a show, to the consternation of existing ticket holders. In May 1892, the stockholders of the Music Hall Company of New York discussed expanding the Music Hall into the site of a brewery at Seventh Avenue and 56th Street, which they had purchased about three months previously. The Music Hall Company also discussed enlarging the main auditorium's stage so it could accommodate operas. By September 1892,

17640-404: The visit occurred when Mozart's mother was taken ill and died on 3   July 1778. There had been delays in calling a doctor—probably, according to Halliwell, because of a lack of funds. Mozart stayed with Melchior Grimm at Marquise d'Épinay 's residence, 5 rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin . While Mozart was in Paris, his father was pursuing opportunities of employment for him in Salzburg. With

17787-553: The visit prompted the composition of one of Mozart's great liturgical pieces, the Mass in C minor . Though not completed, it was premiered in Salzburg, with Constanze singing a solo part. Mozart met Joseph Haydn in Vienna around 1784, and the two composers became friends. When Haydn visited Vienna, they sometimes played together in an impromptu string quartet . Mozart's six quartets dedicated to Haydn (K. 387, K. 421, K. 428, K. 458, K. 464, and K. 465) date from

17934-410: The west portion, which flank a blind arch. A frieze and cornice run above this floor. The seventh floor was originally a mansard roof. As part of an 1890s alteration, the mansard was replaced with a vertical wall resembling a continuous arcade. The seventh floor is topped by balustrades with decorated columns. The flat roof was converted into a roof garden with kitchen and service rooms. Carnegie Hall

18081-462: The words "Music Hall Founded by Andrew Carnegie", runs across the loggia at the springing of the arches. The center three arches lead directly to the Stern Auditorium's lobby, while the two outer arches lead to staircases to upper floors. On either side of the main entrance are smaller doorways (one on the west and two on the east), topped by blank panels at the mezzanine. There are five similar doorways on Seventh Avenue. The original backstage entrance

18228-923: The works of other composers. A particularly significant influence was Johann Christian Bach , whom he visited in London in 1764 and 1765. When he was eight years old, Mozart wrote his first symphony , most of which was probably transcribed by his father. The family trips were often challenging, and travel conditions were primitive. They had to wait for invitations and reimbursement from the nobility, and they endured long, near-fatal illnesses far from home: first Leopold (London, summer 1764), then both children (The Hague, autumn 1765). The family again went to Vienna in late 1767 and remained there until December 1768. After one year in Salzburg, Leopold and Wolfgang set off for Italy, leaving Anna Maria and Nannerl at home. This tour lasted from December 1769 to March 1771. As with earlier journeys, Leopold wanted to display his son's abilities as

18375-457: The year of his son's birth, Leopold published a violin textbook, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule , which achieved success. When Nannerl was seven, she began keyboard lessons with her father, while her three-year-old brother looked on. Years later, after her brother's death, she reminisced: He often spent much time at the clavier , picking out thirds, which he was ever striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good.   ... In

18522-572: The younger Damrosch was introduced to the businessman Andrew Carnegie , who served on the board of not only the Oratorio Society but also the New York Symphony. Carnegie was originally uninterested in funding a music hall in Manhattan, but he agreed to give $ 2 million after discussions with Damrosch. According to architectural writer Robert A. M. Stern , the Music Hall was "unique in that it

18669-504: Was a devoted teacher to his children, there is evidence that Mozart was keen to progress beyond what he was taught. His first ink-spattered composition and his precocious efforts with the violin were of his initiative and came as a surprise to Leopold, who eventually gave up composing when his son's musical talents became evident. While Wolfgang was young, his family made several European journeys in which he and Nannerl performed as child prodigies . These began with an exhibition in 1762 at

18816-520: Was a difficult time for musicians in Vienna because of the Austro-Turkish War : both the general level of prosperity and the ability of the aristocracy to support music had declined. In 1788, Mozart saw a 66% decline in his income compared to his best years in 1781. By mid-1788, Mozart and his family had moved from central Vienna to the suburb of Alsergrund . Although it has been suggested that Mozart aimed to reduce his rental expenses by moving to

18963-449: Was also extended to the corner of Seventh Avenue and 56th Street, where a 13-story addition was designed in a similar style as the original building. The top of this addition contains a main dome, as well as smaller domes at its four corners. The Stern Auditorium is six stories high with 2,804 seats on five levels. Originally known as the main auditorium, it was renamed after violinist Isaac Stern in 1997 to recognize his efforts to save

19110-479: Was around this time that tickets for the official opening of the Music Hall were being sold. The oratorio hall in the basement opened on April 1, 1891, with a performance by Franz Rummel . 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 . During

19257-573: Was arranged with offices, studios, and private music rooms. The eighth floor of the main hall, which contained studios, was installed after the complex was completed. There were a total of 133 or 150 studios, many of which doubled as living quarters. Over the years, personalities such as Leonard Bernstein , Isadora Duncan , Martha Graham , and Norman Mailer lived in the studios. The spaces were designed for artistic work, with very high ceilings, skylights and large windows for natural light. Documents showed that Andrew Carnegie had always considered

19404-518: Was decorated with a large amount of Renaissance details. Most of the exterior walls are covered in reddish brown brick, though decorative elements such as band courses , pilasters , and arches are made of architectural terracotta originally by the New York Architectural Terra-Cotta Company . As originally designed, the terracotta and brick were both brown, and the pitched roof was made of corrugated black tile, but this

19551-445: Was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962. The landmark status was certified in 1964, and a National Historic Landmark plaque was placed on the building. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission also designated Carnegie Hall as a city landmark in September 1967. A minor renovation of Carnegie Hall's interior, as well as a steam-cleaning of the facade, took place in mid-1960. The basement recital hall became

19698-429: Was designed with a marble and mosaic vestibule measuring 25 feet (7.6 m) high and 70 feet (21 m) long. 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. The lobby ceiling was designed as a barrel vault , containing soffits with heavy coffers and cross-arches, and was painted white with gold decorations. At either end of

19845-434: Was dismissed by the archbishop, freeing himself both of his employer and of his father's demands to return. Solomon characterizes Mozart's resignation as a "revolutionary step" that significantly altered the course of his life. Mozart's new career in Vienna began well. He often performed as a pianist, notably in a competition before the Emperor with Muzio Clementi on 24 December 1781, and he soon "had established himself as

19992-470: Was free of commercial sponsorship and exclusively dedicated to musical performance". At the time, New York City's performance halls were mainly clustered around 14th Street , as well as around Union Square and Herald Square . The area around 57th Street was still mostly residential. In early March 1889, Morris Reno, director of the Oratorio and New York Symphony societies acquired nine lots on and around

20139-471: Was in other cases carried through, raising the composer's anger; one example was a chance to perform before the Emperor at Countess Thun 's for a fee equal to half of his yearly Salzburg salary. The quarrel with the archbishop came to a head in May: Mozart attempted to resign and was refused. The following month, permission was granted, but in a grossly insulting way: the composer was dismissed literally "with

20286-453: Was installed. JaffeHolden Acoustics installed the soundproofing, which filters out noise from both the street and the subway. An elliptical concrete wall, measuring 12 inches (300 mm) wide, surrounds Zankel Hall and supports the Stern Auditorium. The elliptical enclosure measures 114 feet (35 m) long and 76 feet (23 m) wide. The walls are sloped at a 7-degree angle and contain sycamore paneling. The lighting and sound equipment

20433-501: Was later replaced with the eighth floor. The original section of the building is divided into three horizontal sections. The lowest section of the building comprises the first floor and the first-floor mezzanine, above which is a heavy cornice with modillions . The main entrance of Carnegie Hall is placed in what was originally the center of the primary facade on 57th Street. It consists of an arcade with five large arches, originally separated by granite pilasters. An entablature, with

20580-456: Was lowered to street level, the box office was relocated behind the main auditorium, and two archways were added to the 57th Street facade. A new lobby and dedicated elevator for the recital hall was also created. The Carnegie Hall Corporation was also looking to develop a vacant lot immediately east of Carnegie Hall. The renovation was complicated by the fact that some parts of the original plans had been lost. A controversy also emerged when

20727-416: Was made in the stage's ceiling to allow the installation of ventilation and lights for the film. Canvas panels and curtains were placed over the hole, but the acoustics in the front rows became noticeably different. In 1947, Robert E. Simon Jr. renovated the hall to designs by Kahn and Jacobs . By the 1950s, changes in the music business prompted Simon to sell the hall. In April 1955, Simon negotiated with

20874-516: Was not widely used when the building was completed. The building was designed in a modified Italian Renaissance style. Carnegie Hall is composed of three structures arranged in an "L" shape; each structure contains one of the hall's performance spaces. The original building, which houses the Isaac Stern Auditorium, is an eight-story rectangular building at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 57th Street, measuring 150 feet (46 m) along

21021-627: Was primarily reserved for visiting troupes. Two long expeditions in search of work interrupted this long Salzburg stay. Mozart and his father visited Vienna from 14 July to 26 September 1773, and Munich from 6   December 1774 to March 1775. Neither visit was successful, though the Munich journey resulted in a popular success with the premiere of Mozart's opera La finta giardiniera . In August 1777, Mozart resigned his position at Salzburg and on 23 September ventured out once more in search of employment, with visits to Augsburg , Mannheim, Paris, and Munich. Mozart became acquainted with members of

21168-493: Was renamed Carnegie Lyceum. It was leased to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1896, then converted into the Carnegie Hall Cinema in May 1961. The venue became a performance space in 1997. The completely reconstructed Zankel Hall opened in September 2003. It is accessed from Seventh Avenue, where there is a marquee. Two escalators lead to the balcony and orchestra levels. The venue could be arranged with either

21315-519: Was required to dine in Colloredo's establishment with the valets and cooks). He planned a bigger career as he continued in the archbishop's service; for example, he wrote to his father: My main goal right now is to meet the emperor in some agreeable fashion, I am absolutely determined he should get to know me . I would be so happy if I could whip through my opera for him and then play a fugue or two, for that's what he likes. Mozart did indeed soon meet

21462-792: Was the capital of the Archbishopric of Salzburg , an ecclesiastic principality in the Holy Roman Empire (today in Austria ). He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy. His elder sister was Maria Anna Mozart , nicknamed "Nannerl". Mozart was baptised the day after his birth, at St. Rupert's Cathedral in Salzburg. The baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form, as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart . He generally called himself "Wolfgang Amadè Mozart" as an adult, but his name had many variants. Leopold Mozart,

21609-459: Was the first auditorium to open to the public in April 1891. It had a balcony, elevated side galleries, a beamed ceiling, and removable seats. The space was an oratorio hall capable of accommodating over 1,000 people, and it could double as a banquet hall. There was a full kitchen service, as well as a dais on either side. The space was originally designed with dimensions of 90 by 96 feet (27 by 29 m). Following renovations made in 1896, it

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