So I've been asked to start a blog. Primarily it's to write a series of reviews on the Rosenblatt Recital Series, which I'm very excited about; but I want this blog to be a lot more than that.
When I think about concert reviews I think about Anton Ego (see him here), the lonely, scary, bitter, food critic from the animated film, Ratatouille. I imagine a critic as being a cartoon-like, dark, sarcastic figure who is only out to see all the flaws in a performance and derives pleasure from the power of his words to send a musician crashing down into a self-deprecating gloom.
It's all very freudian, I know, and not remotely true. I have met critics who I've thought too harsh and others who genuinely enjoy music and try to always see the best side, the human side, of any performance.
Or maybe I've been reading too many of George Bernard Shaw's reviews. They are hilarious and his command of language is breathtaking, also his knowledge of music, but I wouldn't have liked to be the object of his dislike. It would have sent me on regular visits to Mr Freud for a lifetime.
So I don't want to be one of those reviewers. I enjoy music, and as a musician myself, understand how difficult a profession it is. I think I can recognise in other musicians a true desire to draw an audience; to share the power of music to move us and to first and foremost serve the music and the audience.
So I will attend my first Rosenblatt Recital this evening at St John's Smith Square, a venue I always enjoy, and I look forward to an evening of great music and musicians. And a nice glass of wine at the restaurant!
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