John Malkovich
The Likes to John Malkovich
Acclaimed actor and two-time Academy Award nominee John Malkovich performed in Aleksey Igudesman’s The Music Critic, music performance where he interpreted the most world-famous bad reviews/critics of the greatest classical music compositions of all time. In this performance Malkovich plays the role of the evil critic, insulting the greatest works from the classical music of Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, Brahms etc. Aleksey Igudesman, an author of the work, emphasizes that only a few people accept criticism in a healthy way as John Malkovich. “For example, I found a terrible critique by one critic about John’s play he performed in Istanbul, and I put it into a performance, that part is called ‘Malkovich’s Torture.’ We are traveling to Istanbul this week and we invited that critic to have a drink with us and to hear that criticism live, saying that Malkovich should audition for entry into the country, and if he does not pass, he should be given a Turkish delight and be sent home. He has accepted our invitation and will come to the performance.“
Malkovich
How to take criticism? I once heard that being a good artist means having a good sense of humor. Well, I do accept that and I do agree with it! It is, indeed, said that the process of analyzing a classical composition or experiencing it through is really on how this particular performer chose to artistically understand, emotionally regulate and process this experience. And that it is also a continuous process rather than limited therapeutical treatment as it may be taken by the individual state of mind. And that in only right mind it may be used as a good material derived from the analysis into the performer’s upcoming musical projects. Watching the Malkovich’s Torture on the stage I am thinking and I am sure that all those great classical music composers, never had time to pay too much attention on bad reviews, taking always the best out of it into a further creativity.
The Music Crtitic
Aleksey Igudesman’s The Music Critic is a bare theater and music stage with a quintet of superb musicians surrounding Malkovich onstage. After interpretation of one composer on the stage soon after Malkovich would accompany it with harsh critiques, until the grand finale. “The Malkovich Torment,” ended with an appalling review of Malkovich interpretating himself with irony and humor. The featuring music includes Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Schumann, Debussy, Prokofiev etc. Acording to this old last century review Brahms was acclaimed as a “giftless bastard,” and Claude Debussy as a simply ugly person. The most evil music critiques of the last centuries written about some of the greatest works of music Aleksey Igudesman, Hyung-ki Joo and other classical music musicians on stage decided to fight back with a kind of ironic answer with the brilliant and ever so natural performance of John Malkovich. After all, being John Malkovich takes a really serious term and it is good to know that in the music performance of Aleksey Igudesman’s The Music Critic, the great John Malkovich fights back with sincere honesty, “I am not afraid of criticism and I try to always be objective and look at things that way. There are actors who cannot watch themselves, I am one of them. I cannot stand listening to my own voice. I am critical of the whole work of art, not just my role in it.“