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Was the pianist's racy, form-fitting mini-dress more appropriate for rock or Rachmaninoff?
Pianist Yuja Wang struck a chord at the Hollywood Bowl this month and not just with her performance of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto. The 24-year-old Chinese soloist had necks craning, tongues wagging and flashbulbs popping when she walked on wearing an orange, thigh-grazing, body-hugging dress atop sparkly gold strappy stiletto sandals.
In particular, Wang's outfit was a hot topic at the concert and continued after Times music critic Mark Swed's review appeared in print and online. While Swed praised her delicacy, speed and grace at the piano, his fashion comments — including the observation: "Her dress Tuesday was so short and tight that had there been any less of it, the Bowl might have been forced to restrict admission to any music lover under 18 not accompanied by an adult" — have touched off a spirited debate among music critics and bloggers about what constitutes appropriate concert attire and conversely, whether a critique of a performer's clothes has any place in a music review.
-- Adam Tschorn for The Los Angeles Times
If you got it, why not use it, right? Sexiness on a woman is a stunngingly powerful thing. One worries a little more about what it means for male performers who only have good classical style in their playing, as well as for women who do not have that kind of sexual voltage. I suppose they could still beat out a living, but the edge toward supestardom would probably go to the talented babe. We like what we like. Maybe this edge that women enjoy in music helps a little to make up for the edge that men enjoy in sports, such as football, basketball, and baseball, where there is a premium on sheer power.
Pianist Yuja Wang struck a chord at the Hollywood Bowl this month and not just with her performance of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto. The 24-year-old Chinese soloist had necks craning, tongues wagging and flashbulbs popping when she walked on wearing an orange, thigh-grazing, body-hugging dress atop sparkly gold strappy stiletto sandals.
In particular, Wang's outfit was a hot topic at the concert and continued after Times music critic Mark Swed's review appeared in print and online. While Swed praised her delicacy, speed and grace at the piano, his fashion comments — including the observation: "Her dress Tuesday was so short and tight that had there been any less of it, the Bowl might have been forced to restrict admission to any music lover under 18 not accompanied by an adult" — have touched off a spirited debate among music critics and bloggers about what constitutes appropriate concert attire and conversely, whether a critique of a performer's clothes has any place in a music review.
-- Adam Tschorn for The Los Angeles Times
If you got it, why not use it, right? Sexiness on a woman is a stunngingly powerful thing. One worries a little more about what it means for male performers who only have good classical style in their playing, as well as for women who do not have that kind of sexual voltage. I suppose they could still beat out a living, but the edge toward supestardom would probably go to the talented babe. We like what we like. Maybe this edge that women enjoy in music helps a little to make up for the edge that men enjoy in sports, such as football, basketball, and baseball, where there is a premium on sheer power.
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Date: 2011-08-21 01:17 pm (UTC)From: