Bill Pirkle <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>Could someone enlighten me as to what public service music critics perform.
>How is life better with them here? ..Seriously, I want to know - how would
the music world be different if there were none.

Not claiming that this will enlighten anyone, but the way I see it,
critics help very substantially in providing the public buzz that brings
cultural endeavor to the public domain.  Criticism helps both to seed
public discussion, and thus public interest, and to pass it along.
Critics are mostly chosen for their knowledge of music and their ability
to write/teleblab about it.  Their reporting and opinions can widen their
customers' understanding of what the latter heard, or alternatively,
encourage 'em to go see the next performance--or skip it.  Critiicism is a
cultural activity without which society would be poorer.  What if the world
of music were restricted to the resonance of mere reporting: viz " At the
Scala last night soprano Giuseppina Strepponi sang the principal role in
the world premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco.  The opera has four acts.
Verdi was born in 1813 at Roncole, near Parma.  Especially applauded in the
course of the performance was a chorus sung by prisoners."

Denis Fodor