Author: NY TIMES

It was heartening, though, to see a spotlight on the violist Cynthia Phelps in Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante in E flat, a double concerto that also showcased the violinist Sheryl Staples, always a welcome soloist. Violists don’t get enough love as it is, and Phelps was among the first, courageous players to perform with the roving NY Phil Bandwagon in pop-up concerts during the pandemic. (Another of those pioneering musicians, the violinist Fiona Simon, was honored on Thursday for her retirement, after 39 years with the Philharmonic.)Phelps and Staples blended beautifully with each other, but less with the orchestra, in another…

A day after President Biden called on Israel and Hamas to reach a truce, declaring that it was “time for this war to end,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday reiterated that Israel would not agree to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as long as Hamas still retains governing and military power.In his statement, Mr. Netanyahu did not explicitly endorse or reject a proposed cease-fire plan that Mr. Biden had laid out in an unusually detailed address on Friday. Two Israeli officials confirmed that Mr. Biden’s proposal matched an Israeli cease-fire proposal that had been greenlit by Israel’s war cabinet.…

A day after President Biden called on Israel and Hamas to reach a truce, declaring that it was “time for this war to end,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday reiterated that Israel would not agree to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as long as Hamas still retained governing and military power.In his statement, Mr. Netanyahu did not explicitly endorse or reject a proposed cease-fire plan that Mr. Biden had laid out on Friday, which would lead to a permanent truce. Two Israeli officials confirmed that Mr. Biden’s proposal matched an Israeli cease-fire proposal that had been greenlit by Israel’s…

Wendy Mazur said her “jaw hit the floor” when she saw her favorite pop singer, Goldford, walk out with his guitar during her first dance with Jerry Bedwell at their wedding in April 2022.The couple considered the ballad “Upside Down” their song and had made it the theme of their reception at City Winery in Nashville. Their guest book, for example, was a custom puzzle of the “Upside Down” cover art.Mr. Bedwell, 55, who works in information technology, surprised Ms. Mazur, 47, by hiring the musician to perform the love song live.“I still get teary-eyed thinking about what Jerry did…

The president of McDonald’s USA, Joe Erlinger, pushed back on “inaccurate” reports this week that said the chain had more than doubled its prices on some items over the last decade. But his retort wasn’t exactly reassuring: The average price of a Big Mac is up 21 percent from 2019.Erlinger’s rebuttal underlines the heat that some companies are facing as the news media, politicians and consumers focus on steadily rising prices. Whether persistent price increases reflect price gouging, or simply companies’ own rising costs, is a matter of fierce debate. Either way, one thing is clear: Consumers are becoming fed…

When Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, introduced a generative artificial intelligence feature for the company’s search engine last month, he and his colleagues demonstrated the new capability with six text-based queries that the public could try out.The questions included “how do you clean a fabric sofa” and “what should I use to get a coffee stain out of my carpet.” These were intended to highlight how Google’s new feature, A.I. Overviews, could generate full and useful information summaries above traditional search results.But by Friday, only one of the six queries still yielded an A.I. Overview, according to tests by The…

Eminem attempts to recapture past glories on his exhausting new song “Houdini,” the first single from his upcoming 12th album, “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).” Atop a garish, carnivalesque beat that interpolates a sample of the Steve Miller Band’s “Abracadabra,” the M.C.’s crass alter ego Slim Shady surveys the current cultural moment and strings together some stiltedly rapped jokes, desperate to offend at every turn. Oldest trick in the book. LINDSAY ZOLADZ“Clancy,” the new album by the two-man band Twenty One Pilots, is the fourth installment in a series of concept albums. But “Navigating” doesn’t necessarily need…

President Biden on Friday outlined a road map put forward by Israel that would begin with an immediate, temporary cease-fire and work toward a permanent end to the war and the reconstruction of Gaza.Here are some of the details, as described by Mr. Biden, a senior U.S. administration official who briefed reporters after the president spoke and Israeli officials who have discussed the possible deal.First PhaseBoth sides would observe a six-week cease-fire. Israel would withdraw from major population centers in Gaza, and a number of hostages would be released, including women, the elderly and the wounded. The hostages would be…

Arnaud Gaudillat, a history teacher in France, recalled bursting into tears as he watched television coverage of flames tearing through the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in 2019. “We couldn’t do anything but just watch it burn,” he said.Now, five years later, as hundreds of architects, engineers and metalworkers race to finish rebuilding the cathedral’s roof coverings and electrical cabling by the end of the year, Mr. Gaudillat will not be sitting on the sidelines. He will be constructing his own Notre-Dame. One made out of 4,383 Lego pieces.Lego, the biggest toy company in the world, on Saturday released a model of…

In Astoria, Queens, amid a row of small brick houses built in 1945 with tile roofs and the occasional gable, sits a home vastly different from its neighbors.The hints are in the bright blue louvers shading the windows and the blue checkerboard patterns embedded in the brick. The shades, as cheerful as geranium beds, move to admit or block sunlight, while the checkerboards mark places where embedded devices regulate the temperature and humidity of air passing through the walls.Not long ago, environment-compromising air-conditioners stuck out of those spots, but they are no longer welcome here. This is a certified passive…