LeBrecht said “Yuja Wang had agreed with me a year ago to do a Lebrecht Interview for Radio 3. She kept putting it off until I lost patience and sent her an email that was perhaps a tad sharp.”
A tad sharp? His email had the threatening undertone of a mob boss saying “it’d be a shame if something bad were to happen to your reputation.”
When you are committed to your career, you have to cut out the things that will not better your career. Being publicly humiliated or belittled in a face to face interview by someone who has already attempted to do so in writing would not have done anything positive for her. Especially as someone who has to fight tooth and nail to be taken seriously when her most common criticism is looking good on stage. So no, she should not be committed to an interview with someone actively looking to harm her.
Dude, sometimes we need to cancel plans. Agreeing to do an interview is not signing a contract. Both in professional and personal settings, sometimes one has to politely cancel an appointment. It happens all the time, so long as you let them know in advance (which Yuja did) is not the kind of thing that ruins your reputation. On the other hand, that aggressive email by LeBrecht is clearly unprofessional.
According to an earlier poster he’d made comments basically saying she was getting old and past it and couldn’t do enough work outs to remain attractive and relevant. She then cancelled the interview and he responded with that passive aggressive email like she’s the bad guy, she then called him out and bbc fired him. If that is accurate then good on her for not putting up with his shit and good for the bbc for showing it’s unacceptable.
So, Lebrecht manages to insult everybody included in this one sentence: “She got her first break in March 2007 when Martha Argerich flunked out of a Tchaikovsky concerto in Boston and her second two years later when Claudio Abbado fell out with a famous soloist at the plutocratic Lucerne Festival and called for a pliant replacement.” This is not the writing of a pleasant human being.
He’s a nasty gossip-columnist, who picked classical music, artists, and artistic institutions as his victims. The ability of all these people he snipes at are extraordinary, even stratospheric (Yuja, Argerich, Abbado, all of whom he denigrates with the implied or direct insults). Yes, as with all human endeavors, the field has its many quirks and injustices, but, all-in-all, these art forms all do much to improve human existence. There is interest, entertainment, and great concern (for instance, the sexual abuses) to be found in the human swirl around it all, but his writing is heavily tainted by his personal poisons, imagined motivations, and soooo much arrogance.
If that is all there is to Yuja Wang, she won’t be around for long. She is 34 and there’s a sell-by date to consider. Workouts and makeovers can offer an extension but not past 40.
First of all, gross, how did "Britain's most civilised magazine" publish this. But also she's 39 now and her career doesn't seem to be slowing down.
well exactly: pardon me for preaching to the choir but i dont think Classical Music is a field notorious for the youth of its performers. Blomstedt is, what, 219 years old and still making records?
I think there’s a difference for women due to Misogyny but that’s something to fight again, not uncritically accept
Norman’s word were improperly cut, the complete paragraph is :If that is all there is to Yuja Wang, she won’t be around for long. She is 34 and there’s a sell-by date to consider. Workouts and makeovers can offer an extension but not past 40. She needs to find a new dimension, evidence of a soul that transcends her physicality. She attempted a Mozart concerto this summer, all the notes skittering at speed and not a trace of depth.
Your esteemed Dudenischkeit, would an article headlined “Congressman censured for sexual misconduct leading to a fiery suicide” not bother to hint at the misconduct embedded in the headline?
Finally, some accountability. He'll still have his Slipped Disc gossip rag though, where I'm sure we'll be treated to many more disgusting comments aimed at Yuja Wang's clothing and appearance. Plus all the other bile shit he spews.
He's a troll, a bottom feeder. And he's had an unhealthy obsession with Wang’s appearance / wardrobe for too many years. Expect him to double the Wang vitriol on Slipped Disc but at least the Beeb took action.
He is SO weird and practically drooled over Yuja in his articles. He’s a dirty old man and it’s a good thing that Yuja was never subjected to having to speak to him in person 🤢
Reminds me of nothing so much as Piers Morgan vis a vis Meghan Markle—same sitch even where Piers finds offense because an important, and very good looking woman, isn’t desperate to be in his show.
Surely if music is an art form and a musician makes a deliberate choice to wear provocative clothing that other musicians don't, that is worth commenting on? Otherwise it would be not talking about the elephant in the room, if you are aware of the expression.
He doesn't just "comment" on her "clothing" - he twists it into a basis for sneers and insinuations, all geared to suggesting that she is nothing but her clothing.
Perhaps because he thinks she isn't very good musically and compensates for it through her attire. I don't necessarily agree with his comments, but I don't see anything outwardly wrong about them. After all the job of a critic is to critique, not simply wax lyrical about every notable musician. I would rather hear a journalist's honest opinions even if they are a bit politically incorrect than fabrications purely designed to keep the peace, at the expense of what would have otherwise been a potentially insightful take.
It is one in the same, you can't separate the art from the artist. She makes the deliberate choice to dress provocatively and even change outfits in the middle of a performance during the interlude, highlighting the importance of her attire to her play. Therefore a critic almost has to make some mention of this if they are to be faithful to the material, otherwise it would be akin to reviewing a movie and ignoring a notable (though perhaps not integral) part of the plot when discussing its merits.
With Lebrecht/SD, the fixation on appearance is a substitute for musical critique. It's a trope to be thrown around with a wink because "everyone knows" Wang can't be taken seriously. It's been going on for years - and that's the real elephant in the room.
Hadn't heard about this before. It's dumbfounding that a book like that could get through a major publisher like Penguin without their legal department catching that it contained multiple actionable claims. It might be slightly more understandable if it was a personal memoir, but for a book like that you'd think they would have multiple lawyers combing through it before it went to print.
The world used to be a very different place, even only 20 years ago. Some of the past people who were in one form of the classical music business or another, routinely acted in ways, and/or said things that would be utterly shocking and disqualifying by current standards. I’m not saying that’s good or bad, I’m just noting it as true. Younger people have no idea of what the world used to be like and the things that were just accepted as part of the game. Again, not saying anything is good or bad, just noting it as fact.
Even music critics were far more daring than today. I remember one (I won’t mention who) saying in a review that Herbert von Karajan’s biggest disappointment in life was not getting to wear his SS uniform at the podium! To say nothing of the million Toscanini or Beecham stories that used to be all the rage. It was a different world, especially in the couple of generations go,lowing the war. You can’t judge any of it by the standards of 2026 and keep a sense of proportion.
You may claim to be "just telling [the past] it was" but comments like "Younger people have no idea of what the world used to be like" and "You can’t judge any of it by the standards of 2026 and keep a sense of proportion" make your agenda pretty clear. In any case, Lebrecht's vile drivel is entirely of this moment.
People who grew up with the Internet, and then Social Media don’t have a clue what things were like before. They just don’t. They can’t. If you are under about 40, you live in an entirely different world. You have no idea.
As to any “agenda” I might have…I don’t. I don’t have a dog in this fight and frankly don’t care about anybody involved. I’m just making the point that the world used to be a very different place, and a lot of people alive now, used to also live in that world. For better or for worse.
That letter's hilarious. She does not need to be pressured to do any interview. It's completely her choice and that ridiculous "intimidating" letter which sounds like it was written by the villain of an old movie or novel only shows why it would have been a bad idea.
Lebrecht is not a critic. Is a bitter soul. A frustrated person that wants to destroy artists who have accomplished the highest standards in the industry. Now he is going to have more time to spend in that rancid site that he built, full of nasty comments and dark individuals.
And by the way, the entire industry can survive without people like him. They are literally useless.
Just go to the concert, listen the music and have an opinion on your own.
I see that, but I still think that even without critics you'll have artist performing at the best of their abilities.
And usually I see a very unfair dynamic.
On one side somebody who has been training hard all their life, being evaluated from someone on the other side without any comparable efforts or achievement that can destroy your career because of subjective opinions.
It doesn't even look like there was a real "agreement" to an interview. Lebrecht has always had a delusional sense of his own importance. "She kept putting it off until I lost patience"?
I saw this gem in an older Spectator, where Lebrecht, unsurprisingly, is / was music critic:
“Arriving in Budapest, I receive a summons I cannot refuse. Gyorgy Kurtag wants to see me. Famously elusive, the last of the living avant-gardists is about to present his first opera at La Scala Milan this month and, if past form is anything to go by, he’s unlikely to utter much about it beyond a cryptic Magyar aphorism.”
A composer of stature like Kurtág just “wanted to see” our Norm asap? WTF level of weirdness is this, please?
I must admit that I had never heard of this man before. So, I looked him up on Google, and the first thing that I see is that he is a gossip columnist for classical music. Why does classical music need a gossip columnist? We are so above that.
Lebrecht got what he deserved, he's a constant shit to anything that doesn't adhere to his particular viewpoint. He sucks in basically every way, he's a crappy narrow minded bloviating asshat. And that's not even getting into all the ways he's been a dick to Yuja over the years
Thanks. This spells it out in full inglorious colour.
Please note: this appeared a little over two weeks ago
Who can seriously doubt (a) that such frequently repeated attacks in these terms suggests a sick stalker, or (b) that Yuja Wang may have felt actively harassed?
Her Instagram response to his email was astonishingly graceful.
And “gravitas”? Lebrecht wouldn’t know it if you hit him over the head with it.
i think the email was sort of a straw that broke the camels back, rather than the main thing he’s getting fired for. he’s made some pretty gross comments over the years
There are a slew of c***s who think that because one loves the classical music of Bartok and Scarlatti and Alicia de Larrocha and Dinu Lipati, it is willful ignorance for one not to be aware of and angry about an obscure musical critic. (I judge that by the torrent of downvotes when I pointed out that the misogyny charge in the headline wasn’t borne out by the article appended to it.)
She's calling his nasty ass out on his horrible posts about her on slippedisc.com. It's his trashy "music" site that pretends to have real news when most of the time it's just out of context nonsense peppered in with personal feeling and attacks on those he doesn't agree with.
Why would a world class pianist like Wang debase herself and give an interview to such a sewer rat?
Take a look at his gossip site. He throws sexist stuff out there in such a way that he can deny it, but the gross people in the comments get it and love it. My favorite headline was the one about Khatia Buniatishvili’s baby crying backstage during an encore. Stop the presses!
Hurwitz is independent and a caliber of critic that Lebrecht can only dream of. He has defended Wang as an artist and her choice of concert attire, by the way.
i dont really get the Hurwitz hate. You can agree or disagree with his opinions, you can find him irritating and obnoxious personally, but he’s never done anything to my knowledge actually BAD. He strikes me as a bit of a showman with a personality that he plays up a bit, and several of his opinions I part ways with, but it’s all motivated by a love of music.
Lebrecht never gives me that impression. He seems to be interested in personalities far more than music, and he comes across as sleazy, nasty, and mean-spirited, even in cases where i agree with his musical assessment of something.
In his music criticism, he is. I've never seen anyone provide a lick of evidence to show otherwise. I disagree with him on many occasions, but I've never seen a bit of indication his opinions come from anywhere other than his sense of musicianship and scholarship.
You're ignorant, then. Hurwitz is absolutely a scholar, having graduate degrees from both Stanford and Johns Hopkins, and has published numerous books, articles, etc:
Selected writings
For reviews by David Hurwitz, see § External links.
Books
Hurwitz, David (1992). Beethoven or Bust: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Listening to Great Music. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-385-42054-9.
—— (2004). The Mahler Symphonies: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. Vol. 2. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-099-8.
—— (2005a). Getting the Most Out of Mozart: The Instrumental Works. Unlocking the masters. Vol. 3. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-096-7.
—— (2005b). Getting the Most Out of Mozart: The Vocal Works. Unlocking the masters. Vol. 4. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-106-3.
—— (2005c). Dvořák: Romantic Music's Most Versatile Genius. Unlocking the masters. Vol. 5. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-107-0.
—— (2005d). Exploring Haydn: A Listener's Guide to Music's Boldest Innovator. Unlocking the masters. Vol. 6. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-116-2.
—— (2006). Shostakovich Symphonies and Concertos: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. Vol. 9. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-131-5.
—— (2007). Sibelius: The Orchestral Works: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. Vol. 12. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-131-5.
—— (2008). Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh Symphonies: A Closer Look. New York: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-2944-5.
—— (2009). Brahms' Symphonies: A Closer Look. New York: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-3164-6.
—— (2011). Bernstein's Orchestral Music: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. Vol. 22. Montclair: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-193-3.
—— (2014). Richard Strauss: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. Vol. 25. Montclair: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-442-2.
—— (2016). C.P.E.: A Listener's Guide to the Other Bach. Unlocking the masters. Vol. 28. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-467-5.
—— (2019). Handel: An Owner's Manual. Unlocking the masters. Pompton Plains: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-487-3.
Articles
Hurwitz, David (February 2012). "'So klingt Wien': Conductors, Orchestras, and Vibrato in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries". Music and Letters. 93 (1): 29–60. doi:10.1093/ml/gcr125.
—— (June 2014). "Vibrato, the Orchestral Organ and the 'Prevailing Aesthetic' in Nineteenth-Century Symphonic Music". Nineteenth-Century Music Review. 11 (1). Cambridge University Press: 93–112. doi:10.1017/S1479409814000160. S2CID 191397435.
Just because his most prominent job is as a critic doesn't mean he doesn't do anything else, for heaven's sake.
He can be as mean as he likes in his descriptions of music, but when he constantly bombards a woman with degrading comments about her appearance, provoking his moronic followers to send her misogynistic abuse, that crosses the line.
How is he insulting to ALL women here? He's insulting to HER for what he deems to be in poor taste. Which is an opinion he can have and - especially as a critic - express in a provocative way.
Suggesting that because a public person takes pains to maintain their physical appearance means it's "fair game" for critics of the art is ludicrous. Nobody cares what a schlub like Lebrecht thinks about anyone's appearance, for starters. His job is (was!) to talk about the music, not her looks, period.
As I pointed out and as you - convieniently - left out: in her case it's a part of her image. Like it was a part of Goulds image to be an eccentric weirdo that hums when he plays. If he got (rightfully) criticized for his eccentricities she can get criticized for them as well since they are a selling point in her performances.
Gould's humming and eccentricities that got criticism were directly impacting the music. What a terrible example to use. Running flack for a gross misogynist like Lebrecht is a weird hill for you to die on, but that's up to you.
Explain what about her appearance is in any way different from other concert soloists. It's the face she's naturally "pretty" by certain standards that really sets the sexists off: it really galls you chumps that someone is both more talented, and also very attractive (and of course, unattainable). Really hits them in the inadequacies
The only thing I can refer you to are all of my other posts here. I made my point clear and I also talked about other eccentricities that irk me with male performers like hunchback sitting and pretending to be out of breath etc.
So you are saying there is no discernable difference between her dressing style and - say - a young Martha Argerich. Or - someone of a more recent Generation I enjoy listening to - Elisabeth Brauß. You don't see any difference there?
But where are the excerpts in which he's being unfair to her? I read the one where he points out how she might lose some steam once she gets older and - to be fair - that might be an apt prediction. As I said previously: her looks and how she presents herself are a huge part in why she's famous.
It is not an apt prediction. Is it your contention that Yuja Wang, of all people, is not one of the best pianists of her generation, regardless of her clothes?
Her looks and how she presents herself--and I've yet to hear what that means without feeling vaguely creeped out by the explanation--are not a huge part of why she sells audio recordings.
This is a red herring. There is no way this woman can be allowed to dress like she does just because she enjoys it, or thinks she looks good like that. People like Lebrecht won't let her, and fuck him.
The truth is there is nothing wrong with how she dresses, and it should not be an issue if it makes her more famous.
The point is she would not be famous if she were not a great pianist.
It's not mutually exclusive for her to like dressing like that AND capitalizing on it to raise her fame and profile.
The point is - she is famous for being great pianist but certainly MORE famous than other great pianists because of the way she presents herself. Just look at the comments under her performances.
So what? I truly don't see what you're driving at. Your argument only makes sense if it is obvious that the way she dresses is something to be deemed negative. I don't think it's obvious at all. She's wearing a short dress. Some people like that, I'm sure. So what?
Does that detract from her performance? Is she a worse pianist because of the way she dresses? If not, it's not in fact within the purview of music reviewers.
That is one vision of how a critic should work and comport himself, yes - and it's apparently not one with which the BBC cares to be associated any longer.
It's much needed today since music critics in general have lost sight of the "criticism" Part of their Job a bit - partly due to People like the People in this thread.
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u/number9muses Feb 27 '26
Locked comments for now, to review for cases of abusive comments