Paul Tucker

Nov 27, 2024 | newcriterion.com | Theodore Dalrymple |Paul Tucker |Emily Smith |Douglas Murray

In any form, Shakespeare’s Macbeth carries a whiff of superstition and a presentiment of bad luck. Washington National Opera’s current production of Giuseppe Verdi’s operatic version, its first Macbeth in seventeen years, opened to a capital suffused with apprehension and a profound sense of foreboding following the extraordinary reelection of Donald J. Trump.

Nov 25, 2024 | newcriterion.com | Paul Tucker |Douglas Murray |Theodore Dalrymple |Emily Smith

Last week was a very good one for orchestras in New York. The Berlin Philharmonic played two programs at Carnegie Hall. So did the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. There was also the hometown orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, which performed under the baton of Paavo Järvi. For my review of the New Yorkers’ Wednesday concert, go here. For my review of the Berliners’ Monday concert, go here. The Amsterdammers played on Friday and Saturday nights.

Nov 22, 2024 | newcriterion.com | Vasily Rudich |Hilton Kramer |Douglas Murray |Paul Tucker

Recent stories of note:“How Professors Killed Literature”Reinaldo Laddaga, CompactLast month, the internet was atwitter over a headline in The Atlantic: “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books.” To explain the growing phenomenon of Ivy League students who are apparently unable to read a book in its entirety, the piece pointed to changing K–12 English curricula—especially those meant to bolster standardized-testing performance—as one cause.

Nov 21, 2024 | newcriterion.com | Paul Tucker |James Panero |Philip Rylands |Michele Bogart

On “Manet: A Model Family” at the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum, Boston. On “Figures of the Fool” & “A New Look at Watteau” at the Louvre. On “Farm to Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism” at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia.

Nov 20, 2024 | newcriterion.com | Paul Tucker

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