I can’t wait to finally see Zankel Hall in person, and if it is as good as the late Herbert Muschamp said it is, then we will be in for a treat:

Zankel Hall may persuade you to rethink your attitude toward underground spaces. Technically, it may be in a sub-subbasement just inches away from hell. Architecturally, the new hall couldn’t feel more privileged. Designed by James Stewart Polshek and Richard M. Olcott of the Polshek Partnership, the Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall is a serene, grown-up place, made for a maximum of 644 listeners who like to concentrate together at the same place and time.
Described by the architects as a mining operation as well as a design project, Carnegie Hall’s new performance space sits within a cavity carved out of Manhattan schist. Parts of the bedrock are exposed, actually, in backstage areas and in a public stairwell. The sense of enclosure within the earth actually enhances the brightness and clarity that the architects have brought to the design.

Why and for what reason is for a forthcoming article.