<P> The Ronald O. Perelman Stage is 42 feet deep . The five levels of seating in the Stern Auditorium begin with 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 . The First Tier and Second Tier consist of sixty - five boxes; the First Tier has 264 seats at eight seats per box and the Second Tier seats 238, with boxes ranging from six to eight seats each . Second from the top is the Dress Circle, seating 444 in six rows; the first two rows form an almost - complete semicircle . At the top, the balcony seats 837 . Although seats with obstructed views exist throughout the auditorium, only the Dress Circle level has structural columns . </P> <P> Zankel Hall, which seats 599, is named after Judy and Arthur Zankel . Originally called simply Recital Hall, this was the first auditorium to open to the public in April 1891 . Following renovations made in 1896, it was renamed Carnegie Lyceum . It was leased to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1898, converted into a cinema, which opened as the Carnegie Hall Cinema in May 1961 with the film White Nights by Luchino Visconti and was reclaimed for use as an auditorium in 1997 . The completely reconstructed Zankel Hall is flexible in design and can be reconfigured in several different arrangements to suit the needs of the performers . It opened in September 2003 . </P> <P> The 599 seats in Zankel Hall are arranged in two levels . The Parterre level seats a total of 463 and the Mezzanine level seats 136 . Each level has a number of seats which are situated along the side walls, perpendicular to the stage . These seats are designated as boxes; there are 54 seats in six boxes on 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 accessible and its stage is 44 feet wide and 25 feet deep--the stage occupies approximately one fifth of the performance space . </P> <P> The Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall seats 268 and is named after Sanford I. Weill, a former chairman of the board, and his wife Joan . This auditorium, in use since the hall opened in 1891, was originally called Chamber Music Hall (later Carnegie Chamber Music Hall); the name was changed to Carnegie Recital Hall in the late 1940s, and finally became Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall in 1986 . </P>

Who conducted the orchestra at the opening festivities of the carnegie hall in 1891