The astounding part of the 'Hamilton' phenomenon has been the tremendous popular success of such a language-heavy show. In a cultural and political environment of violence and hollering, it's easy to forget that poetry and rhetoric – words – still matter. A lot.

A new translation of this taut novel from the 1970s is a good English-language entry point into the works of French novelist Patrick Modiano, winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature.

W.H. Auden called Oscar Wilde's great farcical comedy "the only pure verbal opera in English." Composer Gerald Barry and The Royal Opera have taken that idea and run with it.

The Cypress finishes recording all Beethoven's string quartets with this further testament to the composer's overall genius and the forward-pressing aspects of these relatively early but towering works. The Op. 18 quartets on this two-CD set are full of harmonic riches, rhythmic intricacy, and emotional complexity, all fully evident under the Cypress musicians' expert fingers.

The celebrated young guitarist brought humor and drama as well as exquisite musicality and dazzling technique to a trendy new venue in Williamsburg.

Mika's songs lend themselves naturally to orchestral treatment. His voice is an instrument of precision and sparkle as well as range, dancing between a supple tenor and a relaxed falsetto; with masterful vocal control, he sings with subtle power and finely tuned sensitivity against the orchestra and background singers.

In his old age Pete Seeger was a towering near-deity to the Hudson Valley folkies I know, those who'd had the opportunity to know or at least run into the man whom I've come to think of as folk music's Great Integrator.

The National Park Service oversees not just vast spaces and natural wonders, but historic sites like Alexander Hamilton's home in New York City.

Flux Theatre Ensemble executes Tseng's brash post-zombie-apocalypse premise with equal parts psychological grace and horror-story panache.

Hare has written dialogue for Wilde that measures up to the man's legendary wit, while Everett achieves that elusive theatrical magic of a larger-than-life yet utterly believable performance.