The New York Times
Oussama Zahr
Music Critic and Editor
United States
I write about opera, classical music, and other pretty things.
United States
I write about opera, classical music, and other pretty things.
The New York Times
Christian Gerhaher, a Schoeck champion, plies his sumptuous baritone in a new recording of the composer's "Elegie."
Justin Austin's program in the Board of Officers Room at the Armory included three sets of Langston Hughes poems.
The English Concert’s performance at Carnegie Hall showed off the ensemble’s elastic responsiveness.
Osvaldo Golijov's evening-length work, based on the book by David Grossman about his son, had its New York premiere at Zankel Hall.
In its American debut with the New York Philharmonic, “In Certain Circles,” featuring Katia and Marielle Labèque, had a freedom born from confidence.
The star mezzo-soprano's new concert program seeks to restore humanity's connection to the natural world.
The New Yorker
"The Rarities" returns listeners to the halcyon days of Mariah Carey's high belt.
Lady Gaga aims to vanquish the personal demons and the hunger for notoriety that she embraced on her first two records.
Mark Hadreas experiments with masculine signifiers to express same-sex desire.
Charli XCX has been making futuristic electro-pop since her 2013 début, but with her new album, she creates music for the present.
The days of dance-pop divas being dismissed as commercial products are largely gone, but Dua Lipa is gunning for more than grudging acceptance.
"If ever there was a year built for the extreme drama of opera, it's 2020!" says Joyce DiDonato.
Suzanne Andrade and Barrie Kosky's staging of Mozart’s enchanting singspiel draws on the tropes of silent film and Weimar cabaret.
“The Mile-Long Opera” tells the stories of everyday New Yorkers through soliloquies about money, restaurant closures, and iced-coffee cups.
Audra McDonald—a radiant singer, protean actor, and record-breaking winner of six Tony Awards—has a voice that defies categorization.
Billboard
Living composers are giving opera's masters a run for their Grammys in the Best Opera Recording category.
David Lang's "Prisoner of the State" indicts democracy's descent into totalitarianism. But he's not looking to provoke any inflammatory tweets by a certain member of the executive branch.
The term "diva," borrowed from opera, has nothing to do with outlandish offstage behavior and everything to do with a gift for song.
Celebrity Interviews
The Studio 54 cofounder does it again with the Public Hotel.
The soft-spoken frontman of pop music's zaniest band of misfits explains why Justin Timberlake's career path just isn't for him.
Born in New York and raised in the theater, Diane Lane chats about her return to Broadway.
So, about that whole Chrissy Teigen thing...
Anderson Cooper loosens his newsroom tie for a speaking tour with late-night host Andy Cohen.
Lifestyle
Homepolish's cofounder puts the finishing touches on the beach house you want.
So much coveting going on here.
How to tweak your favorite sips and kick them up a notch.
Wanna weekend like a Rockefeller? Get to The Point in the Adirondacks.
Why should lumbersexuals have all the fun? Here are some ways to play with plaid for fall.
In which I drool all over BOSS's new men's briefcase.