A critic's value is not determined by whether he/she's right or wrong but whether he/she's a good read. That's one reason Martin Bernheimer is my favorite classical music connoisseur. (He's right most of the time, too.) His review in the Financial Times of Fabio Biondi conducting an obscure Scarlati oratorio is the sort of classical-music writing I like.

Despite Bernheimer's high-brow taste for fine music-making, which has irritated some lowlife Los Angelenos I know, his stylish prose has the common touch. He could easily write mandarin criticism. But he prefers simplicity, clarity and vigor. For all those who complain that serious music has lost its audience, I suggest that serious music critics themselves are as much to blame as anyone else. Bored readers are not about to storm the concert halls.

Here's another Bernheimer review, this one on "Pinafore!", for the less high-minded.