More stories

  • in

    A Nuanced, Unreleased Live Bob Dylan Cut, and 8 More New Songs

    Hear tracks by Linkin Park, Halsey, Queen Naija and others.Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new tracks. Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes) and at Apple Music here, and sign up for The Amplifier, a twice-weekly guide to new and old songs.Bob Dylan and the Band, ‘Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues’On Sept. 20, Bob Dylan will release “The 1974 Live Recordings,” the entire gigantic archive — 431 tracks — of his 1974 arena tour with the Band. Most of “Before the Flood,” the 1975 live album culled from that tour, had Dylan shouting brusquely through his 1960s classics. But he never performed a song the same way twice, and there’s far more melody and nuance in this version of “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” from Madison Square Garden. With the Band in full rowdy roadhouse mode — J.R. Robertson’s twangy guitar jabs, Richard Manuel’s honky-tonk piano, Garth Hudson’s wheezy organ — Dylan delivers the lyrics in a long-breathed croon that merges defiance and tribulation. By the time he belts, “Goin’ back to New York City — I do believe I’ve had enough,” he’s earned the inevitable roar from the hometown crowd. JON PARELESCorinne Bailey Rae, ‘SilverCane’With the single “SilverCane,” Corinne Bailey Rae exults in the adventurous streak that she revealed on her 2023 album, “Black Rainbows.” It opens with a blast of noise and — over a parade-worthy drum thump — struts through an ever-morphing funk arrangement. The lyrics mention American towns (though Bailey is English) on the way to envisioning a future where “All the people shout hurray/There will be no more hate.” PARELESLinkin Park, ‘The Emptiness Machine’We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Oasis Fans Balked at High Ticket Prices. But Were They ‘Dynamic’?

    A regulator said it was opening an investigation into Ticketmaster’s actions, but the company disputed that “dynamic pricing” came into play.The return of Oasis, the chart-dominating bad boys of ’90s Britpop, has been one of the biggest stories on the music beat this summer, with a slate of surprise reunion shows in Britain and Ireland selling out instantly over the last week.But the rush also introduced many fans to the frustrating vagaries of online ticketing, where the prices are not always what you expect (and they usually go up).Last weekend, after the first batch of shows went on sale, angry Oasis fans took to social media to complain that many tickets that had been advertised at 148 British pounds (around $195) ended up more than doubling in price to £355 (about $468) by the time they went to pay.The band came under fire, and in Britain — where the reconciliation of the group’s long-feuding leaders, Liam and Noel Gallagher, was front-page news — politicians readily took up the cause.“About half the country was probably queuing for tickets over the weekend,” Keir Starmer, the prime minister, said in Parliament on Wednesday when asked about the furor. “But it is depressing to hear of price hikes.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Review: This ‘Figaro’ Puts All Mozart’s Characters in One Voice

    By singing men and women, nobles and servants, the countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo takes the opera’s theme of human mutability to a chaotic extreme.Charles Dickens was celebrated for solo public readings in which he would give voice to a novel’s full cast of characters. I’ve watched the great actor David Greenspan take all the roles in Eugene O’Neill’s sprawling play “Strange Interlude” and, earlier this year, saw Eddie Izzard do the same in “Hamlet.”But when the countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo has a go at a similar feat — performing Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” as a one-man show at Little Island — it is an altogether different ambition.An opera singer’s repertoire is usually firmly circumscribed. Sure, transposition can nudge unfriendly music into a more comfortable key. And sure, some mezzo-sopranos can sing some soprano parts, and vice versa. But while Dickens, in a reading, could shift from Scrooge to Tiny Tim simply by adjusting an accent or affecting a growl, it’s another story for one person to hit the notes of both Susanna and the Count in “The Marriage of Figaro,” let alone invest both with beauty and power.A vocal range can be wide, but it’s not infinite; a singer’s identity tends to be pretty fixed.It’s that fixity that Costanzo, who has recently been named the general director of Opera Philadelphia, means to have some fun with. Mozart and his “Figaro” librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte, might well nod along: The opera is full of characters pretending to be other people, even other genders. Human mutability is one of the main themes.Costanzo — with his director, Dustin Wills, and his arranger and conductor, Dan Schlosberg — takes this to a challenging, chaotic extreme. In this much-trimmed 100-minute “Figaro,” Costanzo sings all the parts, or enthusiastically tries to: men and women, nobles and servants, high notes and low.I was misleading earlier, however: This isn’t precisely a one-man “Figaro.” It’s more of a one-voice version, with a handful of actors joining Costanzo onstage for much of the relentlessly high-spirited performance, playing main roles, some cast across gender, and impressively lip-syncing along with Costanzo’s sung Italian. (Toward the end, there are also sweet — and audible — contributions from a few child members of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    20 Pop and Jazz Albums, Shows and Festivals Coming This Fall

    Anticipated debuts and long-awaited follow-ups are due this season. Our critics plucked out a list of the most notable.Some of the year’s buzziest artists (Charli XCX, Chappell Roan) are headlining tours and festivals this fall, and a bevy of new albums from established stars (Shawn Mendes, Jelly Roll) and up-and-comers (Flo, Nemahsis) are on the way. Dates and lineups are subject to change.SeptemberNILÜFER YANYA The British musician Nilüfer Yanya makes pensive, intricately layered songs that revel in unexpected textural jolts. On “Like I Say (I Runaway),” the lead single from her third album, “My Method Actor,” the deadpan, Sade-like cool of Yanya’s vocals is interrupted by a sudden eruption of PJ Harvey-esque guitar distortion. A melodically rich meditation on identity, desire and the reverberations of heartache, “My Method Actor” is a confident and hypnotic follow-up to her 2022 release, “Painless.” (Sept. 13; Ninja Tune) LINDSAY ZOLADZNEMAHSIS Nemahsis — the songwriter Nemah Hasan, who has Palestinian roots — sings about seizing her tangled identity as an independent artist, a Muslim, the daughter of immigrants and a self-questioning but determined individualist. On her debut album, “Verbathim,” her producers include Drake’s regular collaborator Noah (40) Shebib, with songs that can be folky or test the electronic edges of hyperpop. (Sept. 13; Verbaithim) JON PARELESSEXYY RED Fresh off several high-profile collaborations with Drake, Sexyy Red, the 26-year-old St. Louis rapper, makes the leap to headlining arenas on her Sexyy Red 4 President tour, on which she’s playing songs from her latest mixtape, “In Sexyy We Trust.”. That’s one way to kick off election season. (Sept. 17; Barclays Center) ZOLADZSexyy Red’s tour started in late August and comes to Brooklyn in September.Torben Christensen/Ritzau Scanpix Denmark, via ReutersCHARLI XCX AND TROYE SIVAN Most live performances by the British pop singer, songwriter and producer Charli XCX tend to feel more like semi-legal warehouse raves than highly choreographed arena shows, but the breakout success of her sixth album, “Brat,” means that, on the Sweat Tour that she is headlining with the Australian pop star Troye Sivan, the 32-year-old industry veteran will be playing some of the largest venues of her career. Bid farewell to Brat Summer in style starting Sept. 14 in Detroit. (Sept. 23; Madison Square Garden) ZOLADZWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Classical Music and Opera This Fall: Programs, Premieres and More

    Osvaldo Golijov’s Lorca-inspired opera comes to New York, and the pianist Igor Levit plays with the Cleveland Orchestra, among other highlights.The Metropolitan Opera’s gamble on contemporary work continues. Celebrations of big anniversaries for two musical innovators, Charles Ives and Pierre Boulez, are worth seeking out. And Carnegie Hall will host world-class orchestras. But don’t expect Gustavo Dudamel, the New York Philharmonic’s next music director, to be a fixture yet; until 2026, he is dedicated to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which opens Carnegie’s season with a three-night residency. Here are highlights from this fall’s performance calendar. (Locations are in Manhattan unless otherwise specified; dates are subject to change.)SeptemberATLANTA OPERA Not quite 50 years old, this company is bucking the belt-tightening, season-shrinking trend in American opera. It is presenting “La Bohème” (updated to the Covid-19 pandemic) and “Rent,” the Broadway musical that transplanted Puccini’s classic to the AIDS era, both staged by Tomer Zvulun, its artistic director, and Vita Tzykun. (Sept. 18-Oct. 6; Pullman Yards, Atlanta)‘INDRA’S NET’ How about a hopeful perspective on our divided times? The invaluable Meredith Monk created and will perform in “Indra’s Net,” the conclusion to a trilogy of works about our relationship with the natural world and inspired by Buddhist and Hindu legends. (Sept. 23-Oct. 6; Park Avenue Armory)Meredith Monk’s “Indra’s Net,” performed here at the Holland Festival, is coming to the Park Avenue Armory in September.Ada Nieuwendijk‘THE LISTENERS’ Missy Mazzoli, who is working on an operatic adaptation of George Saunders’s “Lincoln in the Bardo,” first brings another work with literary inspiration to Opera Philadelphia: “The Listeners,” with a libretto by Royce Vavrek, based on Jordan Tannahill’s unsettling novel about the search for meaning and a cultish leader who claims to have answers. (Sept. 25-29; Academy of Music, Philadelphia)OctoberLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC Gustavo Dudamel will be at the podium for three nights to start Carnegie Hall’s season: with Lang Lang in Rachmaninoff’s Second piano concerto; with Alisa Weilerstein in a new cello concerto by Gabriela Ortiz; and with the Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade. (Oct. 8-10; Carnegie Hall)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Rich Homie Quan, Melodic Atlanta Rapper, Dies at 34

    The rapper, who was at one time affiliated with Young Thug, had a 2015 hit with “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh),” which spawned a dance craze.Rich Homie Quan, an Atlanta rapper who played a role in the city’s thriving hip-hop scene in the 2010s, died on Thursday at a hospital in Atlanta. He was 34.His death was confirmed by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, which did not provide a cause.A melodic rapper who broke out in one of the country’s most fertile rap scenes over a decade ago, Rich Homie Quan has more recently become a character in the sprawling gang conspiracy trial in Georgia centered around Young Thug, the Atlanta superstar.Quan’s early career was closely tied to that of Young Thug; the two were members of Rich Gang, a group assembled by Bryan Williams (a.k.a. Birdman), one of the founders of the label Cash Money.Their slow-rolling debut single from 2014, “Lifestyle,” was a Hot 100 hit and has been certified platinum. The pair later fell out over what Quan said were issues around ego and money, and parts of their feud have spilled over into testimony at the trial.In 2013, Quan broke out solo with “Type of Way,” a song about ambition and romance that the Michigan State football team adopted as an anthem. In The New York Times, the critic Jon Caramanica wrote about the track, proclaiming Quan part of a new generation of rappers “who deliver lines with melody and heart, like singers on the verge of a breakdown.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    A Barrier-Breaking Conductor Will Lead the Seattle Symphony

    Xian Zhang will be the first woman and person of color to lead the Seattle Symphony, and one of only two women leading a top-tier American orchestra.Xian Zhang, a renowned conductor who has helped bring the New Jersey Symphony to new heights over the past eight years, will be the Seattle Symphony’s next music director, the orchestra announced on Thursday.When she takes the podium in 2025, Zhang, 51, will be the first woman and the first person of color to lead the Seattle Symphony in its 121-year history, and one of only two women leading a top-tier American orchestra. (The other is Nathalie Stutzmann, the Atlanta Symphony’s music director since 2022.)Zhang, who was born in Dandong, China, and moved to the United States in 1998, said she would work to attract new audiences in Seattle, including more young professionals, families and people of color.“My goal is to have the symphony become even more of a musical icon and a magnet for the city,” she said. “We need to be more obvious and attractive.”Zhang, whose full name is pronounced she-YEN JONG, emerged as a favorite because of her “impeccable technique” and her warm relationship with the orchestra’s musicians and audiences, said Krishna Thiagarajan, the orchestra’s president and chief executive. She made her debut with the Seattle Symphony in 2008 and has been a regular in recent years, earning praise from critics and audience members.“There’s an electricity between her and the orchestra, and an electricity between her and the audience,” Thiagarajan said. “You can feel it in the hall.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Elton John Says a Serious Eye Infection Limited His Vision in One Eye

    The entertainer said on social media that it would “take some time” before sight returned to his eye.Elton John said he was recuperating from a severe eye infection that limited his vision in one eye, but that he was optimistic about his recovery.“Over the summer, I’ve been dealing with a severe eye infection that has unfortunately left me with only limited vision in one eye,” the entertainer wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday. “I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.”Thanking a team of nurses, doctors and family members who have cared for him, he added that he was “feeling positive about the progress I have made in my healing and recovery thus far.”John, 77, has faced other medical challenges recently.In January, he won an Emmy for outstanding variety special for his live streamed farewell concert at Dodger Stadium, making him the 19th person to secure an EGOT, or win all four prestigious entertainment awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. But he was not present at the ceremony because of a knee operation.The “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour, billed as his last, stretched across 330 concert dates from its start in 2018 to 2023. Some of the tour dates were postponed while he underwent hip surgery after a fall and when he contracted the coronavirus.He decided to stop touring to spend more time with his husband and children, who live in Britain, his representatives have said.John, a longtime leader in gay rights activism, was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Joe Biden in 2022. More