How can an entertaining piece of music be born from a lousy musical review? Actually, not quite musical, as the tunes in the show “Musical critic”that rises tomorrow Thursday at Herodius -as well as Saturday in Thessaloniki– will be played only to… smear John Malkovich’s reviews with mud. Not by him, of course, but by eminent music critics who have written them over the centuries, looking to some of the greatest classical composers of all time, such as Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Debussy, and many more. show creator (also musician) Alexey Igudesman.

Yesterday, the American actor gave a press conference where he shared his opinion about critics and reviews, always politely, but also not giving anyone any favors … friends and founded a theater troupe in Chicago, if we listened to what the critics say, we would probably gave up. However, I am sorry that criticism today has lost some of its prestige, because it has become “more democratic,” Malkovich notes, referring to the informal criticism that everyone is doing on social networks now, and adds: “This is not a positive development, although sometimes I I find the inventiveness of some of the anonymous internet comments amusing.”

“Torture”

The final part of the show, aptly titled Torture Malkovich, includes a gruesome note once written to him. “It was for a musical play we staged a few years ago in Istanbul by a Turkish critic. When Alex showed it to me for the show, I couldn’t stop laughing for 15 minutes. The first thing that came to my mind was that it’s a pity that my father did not live to see this, he would be so happy, because it would confirm all his theory about me since I was little, ”says Malkovich . self-deprecatingly.

“I’m sorry that criticism today has somewhat lost its prestige, because it has become ‘more democratic’.

As for his own attitude towards criticism in general, he answers: “I do not consider myself to be in any kind of conflict with the critics. They do their job, which is to inform the public about what they saw, heard or felt, and I do my job, which is to create something properly. It doesn’t help me if it’s “like” or “dislike”. What helps me is doing a good job according to my own standards and those of my colleagues.”

Somewhere out there, renowned Korean pianist Hyun Ki Joo, who is also taking part in the performance, enters to share the (instructive) taste of it: “You know what a music critic and a gynecologist have in common? Both are looking for trouble where others are looking for pleasure … “. Meanwhile, John Malkovich succinctly but positively answers a question about the return of the Parthenon sculptures (“I support it”) and mentions that his favorite classical composer is Mozart, before talking about bad reviews again.

“I don’t know if I learned anything from the bad review. A bad review most likely does not identify the problem itself, although it may be accurate as to its existence. And it’s not because I think the critics aren’t competent enough or aren’t interested in the work. It’s like asking me to read in Sanskrit. I do not know how to do that. And yes, you can say that I’m not interested in learning, so why even try? I have a lot of work. I cannot rely on myself for everything. I myself already have many opinions.”

The show “Music Critic” will be presented in Herodium on October 6th and in Thessaloniki Concert Hall on October 8th.