The Guide of the Perplexed: Complete in One Volume, by Moses Maimonides, translated and with an introduction by Shlomo Pines (University of Chicago Press): In the extraordinary introduction to his Guide of the Perplexed, the Sephardic rabbi and philosopher Maimonides does not exactly lay the matter bare: “For my purpose is that the truths be glimpsed and then again be concealed . . . . the subject matter will appear, flash, and then be hidden again.” A landmark in the history of esoteric thought, the Guide attempts to square Aristotelian philosophy with Jewish theology, much as Thomas Aquinas (himself a reader of Maimonides) did with Christian theology in his Summa Theologiae. Presenting Shlomo Pines’s acclaimed 1963 translation and reprising the introductory essay by Leo Strauss, this single-volume edition helps us see why Maimonides would “displeas[e] ten thousand ignoramuses” in order to “giv[e] satisfaction to a single virtuous man.” —RE
“String Quartet and Piano Masterworks,” performed by Exalt, at St. John’s in the Village (August 26): “Exalt” is an appropriate name for a chamber-music group formed to “revive a profound appreciation for the Western artistic tradition.” Founded by the violist Bethehem Hagdu, a 2024 masters graduate of the Juilliard School, the classical group matches music with cultural discussion, inviting guest speakers to address their audiences at each performance. On Tuesday, August 26, at 7 p.m. at New York’s Saint John’s in the Village, an evening of string quartet and piano masterworks by Shostakovich, Beethoven, and Dvořák will be paired with a talk by Nicholas Chong, the author of the recent book The Catholic Beethoven, reviewed in The New Criterion by John Check in March 2025. The theme of the discussion will be “From Authoritarianism to Liberty: Music of the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.” —JP
The Tartu Academic Male Choir, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, New York (August 26): This September will mark the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s ninetieth birthday, and it has inspired a jubilee year for his music worldwide. This fall, a number of Estonian musicians will converge on Carnegie Hall to perform Pärt’s music and inaugurate a season-long celebration. But first, the Tartu Academic Male Choir, Estonia’s oldest male choir, will give a free concert on August 26 at the Upper East Side’s Immanuel Lutheran Church. Expect the music of Pärt, as well as that of his countrymen Veljo Tormis, Tõnu Kõrvits, and Peep Sarapik; György Orban, Carlo Gesualdo, and Anton Bruckner will also feature. The New York Estonian Mixed Choir and the organist Cade Roberts will join in. —IS
“Old New Utrecht, Brooklyn Walking Tour,” with James Scully (August 24): If Bensonhurst doesn’t quite resemble the canal-lined medieval center of its original namesake in the Netherlands, that doesn’t mean the place formerly known as “New Utrecht” has lost all traces of its Dutch heritage. Join the historian James Scully on August 24 for a walking tour focusing on the forgotten history of one of the earliest villages in what became Kings County. —BR
Dispatch:
“A long, fruitful relationship,” by Jay Nordlinger. On Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Archives:
“Diagnosis of a Kulturkampf,” by David Gress (May 1987). On Allan Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind.
