Max Stern, DMA – Ariel University, Ariel, Israel; The Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, Israel

Series: Fine Arts, Music and Literature
BISAC: MUS020000; MUS054000
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52305/WMVI4011

Book Reviews

The Art of the Music Critic is an incisive and illuminating compendium of an expansive stretch of our musical timeline, presented in an invitingly user-friendly form. Well worth the read.” To read the full review as published in The Jerusalem Post, click here>>>. Reviewed by Barry Davis, Journalist

“Max Stern is an Israeli music critic who was centered in Jerusalem and covered mainly the Jerusalem Symphony, visiting orchestras and groups, and the Beersheba musicians of the Negev) That is, you will read here no reviews of the Israel Philharmonic (Tel Aviv) or the Haifa Philharmonic…Many critics follow the rule that if you can’t be positive you should at least be vague-not something I agree with. But he is a very astute critic and is willing to call a performance “stiff” or shallow, merely adequate or “properly professional”. Sometimes he calls climaxes “driven rather than molded”. Like any good critic, he can imagine what a conductor could have made of the music but didn’t…He has high standards, and he lives up to them. ”  Reviewed by American Music Critic, Donald Richard Vroon, in the a bi-monthly magazine, American Record Guide (July/August 2024). To read the full review, click here >>>.

“Max Stern’s passion and knowledge of music shines through in this comprehensive compilation that also serves as a treasured historic document about Israel.” – David Brinn, Managing Editor, The Jerusalem Post

“This fascinating collection of music reviews over many years by an outstanding musicologist, Max Stern, is a veritable textbook of how to make aesthetic judgments. This author is blessed with an appealing writing style, imposed by humility and decency. You don’t have to know much about music to enjoy, admire, and learn from this book.” – Jerome Gellman, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Ben-Gurion University, Israel

The Art of the Music Critic has also been featured in the Rochester Review (Summer 2024).

This book attempts to illuminate and define the many criteria of music criticism in their aesthetic, social, historical, and cultural contexts.

Music criticism is an art that balances perception with knowledge – intuition with understanding, critical analysis, and judgement.  It is an aesthetic pursuit directed to the varied worlds of sound experience, and it is distinct from its more highly profiled cousins: art criticism (which focuses on the many aspects of the visual), and literary criticism (in relation to language and the word).

While the attention of the music critic is primarily directed towards music and musicians, the critic’s outreach encompasses dimensions over and beyond the intricacies of musical composition to reviews of concert performances, previews and summaries of cultural events and festivals, CD reviews, and book reviews along with topics of social relevance. Sometimes external events enter the picture and impinge upon concert life, while historic controversies may emerge as issues that call for our response. In addition, manifold aspects of personalities, biographies, commemorative notices, and obituaries need to be addressed.

Because music criticism is a subjective art, opinions and facts often interact and overlap. Nothing is ever absolute or unequivocal. Nonetheless, let us move forward in search of objective paradigms for evaluating the vast and wondrous phenomenon known as the ‘World of Music.’

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