It’s spring in New York, and Philip Glass is bursting out all over — from Satyagraha at the Met to new box sets of previously recorded works and even a documentary about the composer at IFC Center.

Earlier this week, Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, asked tenor Juan Diego Flórez if he would repeat the aria “Ah! Mes Amis” from Donizetti’s “La Fille du Régiment” if the audience demanded it. Flórez said that he would, and sure enough, during Monday night’s performance, he sang the aria twice, nailing the difficult high C nine times apiece.

Charles Mingus(1922-1979), the acclaimed jazz composer, would have turned 86 yesterday. Mingus is heralded as the heir apparent to Duke Ellington, a close friend and colleague of Mingus during his lifetime, and also as a precursor to the development of free jazz. Mingus broke new ground in taxing his musicians to create new perceptions and [...]

See a profile of Judith Jamison, a veteran of the renown Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York, and its artistic director since 1989.

“All of Andy’s work addresses this poetic sensibility and empathy he has with nature,” says Financial Times art critic Claire Henry, “[He] can take what is under our feet and use it to focus our thoughts on the great ephemerality of life.” In this episode of EGG, Andy Goldsworthy shares his frustrations with the precarious nature of his sculptures.

Designed for Pleasure (on exhibit now at the Asia Society and Museum) examines Ukiyo-e (pronounced oo-key-yo-ay), the paintings and woodcuts that depict the “floating world”: Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka during the late seventeenth to late nineteenth centuries.

Richard Price, whose eighth novel Lush Life (FSG) came out last month, discusses the decade-long shift in the cultural landscape of Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

If you drive down the Westside highway, you’ve probably noticed an all-glass building off to your left. The unusual structure — architecture critic Paul Goldberger calls it a “palazzo” — was designed by Frank Gehry and commissioned by media mogul Barry Diller, and it’s changing the landscape and mindscape of Chelsea. For an inside look [...]

In the early days of public television, the medium was dominated by lectures given by instructors in front of plain backgrounds. One of the programs to break out of that mold was performer and historian Max Morath’s “The Ragtime Era” which was pioneering in its use of sets, costumes and make-up.
In this recently unearthed 1960 [...]

I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m cheap. So my initial reaction to the Metropolitan Opera’s 2006 program offering same-day tickets for certain performances was: Finally, someone in opera heaven is listening.