The Critics' Quartet

The “Critics’ Quartet” will take place in lieu of the usual introduction to the concert by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

“Critics and artists are by no means natural enemies, even if this is often claimed for the sake of caricature. After all, there were times when they played piano four-handed together, as Hanslick and Brahms did. However, there is no reason to assume that these good old days are over—even if, in truth, the old days were never as good as they were later made out to be. That is why it is important for all those for whom art is a matter close to their hearts—and who are its advocates—to pull together, united and committed to art, and—by all means—critically. In the field of music criticism, public relations (profiles, feature stories, interviews) has now largely supplanted critical discourse on the works and their interpretation (reviews). In print media, placement and advertising have recently replaced substantive argumentation; on the internet, while many people argue extensively, there is also a great deal of rambling. And so a critical institution like the charts published quarterly by the German Record Critics’ Award (PdSK) is more important today than ever.

In 1963, a handful of music critics came together to establish this award with the goal of implementing reliable quality control for a record market dominated by advertising, providing well-founded recommendations, and thereby promoting the art of interpretation. Today, 160 music critics from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland belong to this association; they serve on a volunteer basis on 32 expert juries and, in addition to the charts, select annual and honorary award winners each fall. And sometimes, four of them come together to form a “Critics’ Quartet” to publicly discuss a specific work and compare recordings.”

Eleonore Büning

Contributors

• Kai Luehrs-Kaiser – Freelance music journalist
• Yvonne Petitpierre – Freelance music journalist
• Elisabeth Richter – Freelance music journalist
• Michael Stegemann – Musicologist
• Olaf Wilhelmer – Host, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

IN GERMAN