Author: NY TIMES

The Met says that it saw healthy evidence of new ticket buyers for these works, and overall sales are up from last season. But the programming pivot has not been a home run.The problem isn’t just the new.That said, contemporary opera isn’t single-handedly dragging the company down. In general, the Met’s days of regular sellouts were gone with the turn of the 21st century. The season’s top seller, its grating family-friendly, holiday-season “Magic Flute,” sold 87 percent, excellent only by comparison with the rest; next was “Carmen,” which was almost 20 percent empty.Some of the weakest-selling operas were revivals of…

Sharing the stage with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at a sprawling seaside resort in Italy, President Biden was looking forward to talking about a security pact he had just signed to provide continued support to Ukraine in its battle with Russia.Having skipped a dinner to attend the ceremonial signing of the pact and to answer reporters’ questions, he seemed flustered when, after a few questions about Ukraine, he was asked about a topic that has been less rewarding recently: the war in Gaza. “I wish you guys would play by the rules a little bit,” Mr. Biden snapped when…

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, said on Friday that she planned to take part in a parade on Saturday marking the birthday of King Charles III, a tentative return to the public stage after confirming in March that she was being treated for cancer.The news, which Catherine released in a highly personal six-paragraph statement, reflected both the progress she has made since she was first hospitalized for abdominal surgery last January and the long road to recovery she still faces.“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days,” Catherine…

Kate Martin wants to make one thing clear: She’s a punctual person.That bus in Dallas that left her in the parking lot after dining at the Vegas Aces? “They set me up,” Martin said of her teammates’ recent prank on the rookie. “Come on, now. I’m never late.”Coach (Betsy Harmon) said she had to talk to me, and then I talked to her — nothing of substance. I was really confused. I thought it was a big deal, and then they Been planning this. Aces bus almost leaves without Kate Martin 😂 🎥 @_ajawilson22 pic.twitter.com/GXPQzSRdUc — The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB)…

Until recently, Geoff Rose, the proprietor of a cannabis business on Martha’s Vineyard, believed he was in for a bleak summer.That was because his marijuana dispensary, Island Time, had run out of product — and it seemed as if he would be unable to replace it during the busy tourist season on the 96-square-mile Massachusetts island that has long been a haven for vacationers.But on Thursday, state regulators issued an order that would allow cannabis products to be transported across the ocean to licensed businesses.Mr. Rose closed his shop — temporarily, as it turns out — on May 14. At…

Prices rose 3.3 percent in May from a year earlier, according to data released Wednesday, a lower number than expected. Partisan media outlets covered that number very differently.Conservative sites acknowledged there has been progress in the fight to bring down inflation. But they also used the announcement to criticize President Biden’s handling of the economy, saying the figure was too high to begin with.Some liberal sites celebrated the news as a victory for Mr. Biden’s economic agenda.Inflation is a key concern for Americans in this fall’s election, polling shows. And for most voters, their assessment of the economy mirrors the…

Leaders at Elon Musk’s social media company, X, told employees this week that 65 percent of advertisers had returned to the platform since January, according to recordings of all-hands meetings obtained by The New York Times, and that smaller companies now made up the bulk of its revenue.The executives, including Linda Yaccarino, who was appointed to run the company a year ago, admitted that the company continued to face challenges as it rebuilt its beleaguered advertising business. They did not provide updated sales figures, according to three people in attendance on Wednesday and Thursday, who noted that the return of…

2. The Who: “Baba O’Riley”At once rockin’ and wistfully nostalgic, “Baba O’Riley” — like much of the 1971 album it kicks off, “Who’s Next” — belongs squarely in the fatherly canon. In the words of the comedian Joe Pera, in his wonderful sketch celebrating the glory of this track, “Maybe I just don’t get it, but it seems like they realized they’d written the perfect song and then panicked, so then they added a violin solo.”▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube3. Steely Dan: “Barrytown”I could have chosen just about any Steely Dan song, so why not go with…

Hamas does not know how many of the roughly 120 hostages Israel says remain in Gaza are still alive, a spokesman for the militant group said in an interview that aired Thursday.The return of the hostages taken in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks is a central part of the latest cease-fire proposal that could bring the war in Gaza to an end. U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators have been working to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas on the plan. Israel has said that at least a third of the remaining hostages have died.Asked by a CNN reporter in…

A growing realization that President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to hold snap elections in France may backfire sent the French stock market tumbling on Friday to its lowest level in two years, and prompted warnings from the French finance minister that the economy risks stumbling into a financial crisis.Amid growing signs that Marine Le Pen’s far-right party may be ushered to the brink of power, France’s benchmark stock index, the CAC 40, slumped 2.7 percent. The losses capped a weeklong losing streak that sent shares down more than 6 percent, wiping out all the bourse’s gains since the start of the…