The Eternal Quadrangle
From Rome, a sumptuous revival of Verdi’s early corker Ernani
Ivana Trump, Rehab, and Me
Writer Ivana Lowell reveals what she learned from the woman who escaped Donald Trump
Out of This World
Ghana’s buzziest young artist talks finding inspiration for his supernatural paintings
Putin Confidential
Eight questions with Philip Short, the author of a new Putin biography, on the Russian president’s early years—and what Bill Browder got wrong
A History of Cool
Slick Rick, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J … Janette Beckman photographed them all, chronicling New York’s creative set from the 80s to today
French Exit
Five titans of the Parisian literati have left one of the city’s most distinguished publishing houses, amid accusations that Sarkozy is now pulling the strings
Rehabilitating Mozart
When Peter Sellars and Teodora Currentzis shook up Salzburg with La Clemenza di Tito
Staff Picks
This week, don’t miss the tale of one hospital’s pandemic triumphs and screwups; a searing account of Kabul’s fall; and a history of the Getty dynasty
Once More, with Feeling
Alan Cumming stars in a documentary about a 30-year-old Scotsman who went back to high school, posing as a 16-year-old student
Before January 6, There Was Seven Days in May
J.F.K. was haunted by the book that outlined how a right-wing coup could happen in America. The movie still rivets audiences
Unforgotten
Since 2006, the site Neglected Books has championed wrongly overlooked novels. Now it’s republishing them
After the Flood
Decades before climate change became irrefutable, the English novelist J. G. Ballard envisioned a much warmer world with vastly higher sea levels
Making Banksy
A new book compiles graffiti by the elusive street artist, from the 1990s to today