How Hip-Hop Was Made
After photographing London’s nascent punk scene, Janette Beckman moved to New York to chronicle hip-hop’s early days and founding artists—A Tribe Called Quest, Run-DMC, and LL Cool J among them
Singing the Lady Electric
In the five decades since Jimi Hendrix founded Electric Lady, on West Eighth Street, the music studio has kept its look—and caliber—intact
Ludlow, Lady Gaga, and Me
In 2006, Pianos, on Ludlow Street, was a divey service-industry spot attracting the likes of Sweetbitter author Stephanie Danler—and a pre-fame Lady Gaga
Yoko Before John
To understand the most misunderstood woman of the last half-century, you have to go back to the beginning
The Music Man
From the stage of the San Francisco Opera, Jakub Józef Orliński’s Orpheus enchants the Golden Gate
The Man Who Knows Don Giovanni
On the eve of a new production in Turin, master maestro Riccardo Muti unlocks the hero’s secrets
Luca Guadagnino
Introducing our new Seasoned Traveler feature, a questionnaire devoted entirely to travel routines. First up: the Italian director behind A Bigger Splash, Call Me by Your Name, and the new film Bones and All
A Class Act
The producing artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater pays tribute to his friend James McMullan, a brilliant artist who has designed its posters for nearly four decades
Into the Maelstrom
Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades burns like a fever dream in the hands of Nathalie Stutzman, contralto turned star conductor
A Seven-Decade Roman Holiday
The diaries of the American art critic, photographer, and Rome transplant Milton Gendel reveal a life spent mingling with artists, royals, and other notables
Bono Still Hasn’t Found What He’s Looking For
The U2 front man’s new memoir is romantic, sincere, and self-effacing. More than an inventory of rock ’n’ roll high jinks, it reveals how deep the trauma of losing his mother at just 14 sits, even today
Messing with Perfection
In the latest affront to musical history, Cat Power is covering Bob Dylan’s 1966 concert at the Royal Albert Hall
A Weight on Her Shoulders
The director Nanette Burstein’s new docuseries, Killer Sally, offers a nuanced look at the bodybuilder Sally McNeil’s 1995 murder of her abusive husband
Second-Lead Syndrome
Dancing man Tommy Rall steals the screen in MGM’s Kiss Me, Kate
Forces of Nature
The renowned photographer Karsh shot some of the 20th century’s most remarkable women
Ahoy for a Shipwreck
In Houston, Louisa Muller directs a long-neglected operatic masterpiece
Danse Macabre
A wicked Rigoletto on the floating stage of Bregenz, Austria
Sleeping Beauty, Re-awakened
The Vienna State Ballet’s new production of the fairy tale adds substance to the gossamer world
Poster Boy
The illustrator Paul Davis’s subtly Surrealist posters for theaters, movies, and museums get their own show in Italy
Getting It Right
For the British playwright Alan Bennett, other people’s lives are just the dress rehearsal
