A critic’s value is not determined by whether he/she’s right or wrong but whether he/she’s a
good read. That’s one reason Martin Bernheimer is my favorite classical music connoisseur. (He’s
right most of the time, too.) His review in the Financial Times of Fabio Biondi
conducting an obscure Scarlati oratorio is the sort of
classical-music writing I like.
Despite Bernheimer’s high-brow taste for fine music-making, which has irritated some lowlife
Los Angelenos I know, his stylish prose has the common touch. He could easily write mandarin
criticism. But he prefers simplicity, clarity and vigor. For all those who complain that serious
music has lost its audience, I suggest that serious music critics themselves are as much to blame as
anyone else. Bored readers are not about to storm the concert halls.
Here’s another Bernheimer review, this one on “Pinafore!”, for the less
high-minded.
