Carnegie Hall

The main auditorium of Carnegie Hall in Manhattan in July 2017, with the National Youth Orchestra of China filling the stage and the white-and-gold balconies curving up to the ceiling. The room is famous for its warmth: an orchestra sounds full here without being loud. It opened on May 5, 1891, with a five-day festival in which Tchaikovsky himself conducted his Marche Solennelle. On January 16, 1938, Benny Goodman brought swing onto the same stage, and the recording became one of the best-selling jazz albums ever made. Classical, jazz or pop, playing Carnegie still means you made it.