Schumann fancies himself a „composer“, while Brahms is a „giftless bastard“ and Claude Debussy is simply ugly. Aleksey Igudesman has created a sardonic mix of the evilest music critiques of the last centuries written about some of the greatest works of music. Equipped with a frivolous potpourri of musical insults, John Malkovich slips into the role of the most evil critic who believes the music of Beethoven, Chopin, Prokofiev and the likes to be weary and dreary.

Aleksey Igudesman, Hyung-ki Joo and other great musicians beg to differ and fight back. The grand finale is „The Malkovich Torment“, a horrific review about Malkovich himself, which Igudesman has set to music in a uniquely sardonically humorous way.

One of the most prestigious venues in the world, Vienna Konzerthaus, togs its main stage up into a legendary Viennese Coffee House setting, representing the tradition where poets, writers, critics and common people often gather to complain about any various thing, sometimes even if they are on their own.

Sipping his coffee with an Apfelstrudel on the side, John Malkovich slips into the role of the evil critic. Equipped with a frivolous potpourri of musical insults, he believes the music of Beethoven, Chopin, Prokofiev and the likes to be weary and dreary. Schumann fancies himself a „composer“, while Brahms is a „giftless bastard“. Claude Debussy is simply ugly. A sardonic mix of the most evil music critiques of the last centuries written about some of the greatest works of music are presented in The Music Critic.

“I have always loved the opportunity to collaborate on The Music Critic with Aleksey Igudesman, Hyung-ki Joo, and many other gifted and thoughtful young classical musicians. We are all happy to be back on the road, and for the first time also in the USA, participating in an evening which consists of some of the greatest compositions in the history of classical music, paired with the perhaps rather unexpected initial reactions those compositions elicited from some of the world’s renowned music critics, along with some other surprises.” - John Malkovich ​ "The Music Critic" is created and conceived by Aleksey Igudesman featuring JOHN MALKOVICH as Narrator, ALEKSEY IGUDESMAN and SO-OCK KIM as Violinists, MAX BAILLIE on the Viola, TANJA TETZLAFF on the Cello and HYUNG-KI JOO on the Piano.

Produced by: Music Traveler Productions, Vienna Konzerthaus​ Video & Audio: ARTEC Group GmbH, PDV Records OG Directed by: Volker Werner Produced by: Sabina Hasanova Program Format: Live Performance Production Year: 2020 Genre: Entertainment Duration Full: 75 min Duration TV: 58 min Video Source: HD: DNxHD HQX 1080 50i Audio Source: 5.1 (Dolby E) or Discreet and Stereo Aspect Ratio: 1:1.78 (16:9)