From around the world: New York.(Concerts & Recitals ... Renee Fleming and others at Carnegie Hall)(Concert Review)

"Relax, it's only a movie," one used to think, whenever the subway rumbled by and spoiled one's concentration during a screening in Carnegie Hall's basement theater. Well, it isn't a movie anymore, it's a concert at the Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall, Carnegie's intimate new performance space where the basement cinema used to be, and it's a decidedly glamorous venue, with sleek blond-wood decor and ingeniously flexible seating arrangements for some 644 guests. But the noise problem persists, and not surprisingly it's more irritating when the event is a live appearance by Renee Fleming (in a press preview on Sept. 10) or Andreas Scholl and Ton Koopman (public concert, Sept. 19). Even such gifted artists as these found it difficult to create and sustain a mood, when trains were passing every few minutes. And noise is only one of the new hall's seemingly avoidable problems: small restrooms, awkwardly placed doors and the lack of its own ticket office are a few more. In time, New Yorkers may develop a stubborn affection for the hall's quirks, as they now express affection for so many other features, from overcrowding to egg creams, that people in other towns wouldn't tolerate.

Fleming opened the hall with a world premiere, an a cappella song by John Corigliano to a text by Mark Adamo (from a poem by Rilke), "Shatter Me, Music." Others in the preview performance included Emanuel Ax, John Adams, the Kenny Baron Quintet and the beguiling Fula Flute Ensemble. Zankel's programming throughout the season promises to be even more diverse.

Scholl and Koopman joined the Orchestra of St. Luke's for a selection of works by ...